Can this meter be changed?

JC_Derby

Carrot007 said:

dogshome said:

It's a mechanical analogue meter, the reliabilty of which is far greater than the 'Smart' your supplier will replace it with

Who is the supplier? - The supply industry is under the hammer from the Govt to fit Smart meters, and some are useing all manner of excuses to get into the house to do it.

Which matters little since it is no longer (well shortly they will usualy contact 6 months prior) certified to be accurate and needs changing.

The same meter (new) will be fitted either with or without working comms. However in this country there are no down sides to a smart meter and a ever so tiny possitive that the supplier should get reads (the value of this increases depending on how hands off you are as a customer).

It is just your opinion that there are no downsides to having a smart meter.
 I could say for example, that certain meters have when their Customer has changed supplier, the smart meter decides that they have no credit and are on a prepayment meter....which is great....especially when small suppliers don’t always open at weekends. 

Or perhaps the massive expense and damage to the environment that is being caused by installing smart meters, when actually the only benefit to customers is that they can see their usage more easily.....

there are upsides too, but being sold it as a massive plus and more environmentally friendly is a fallacy that needs to be exposed as a myth/lie.
lastly and I don’t know the answer to this.....how digitally secure are they? How secure is zigbee?

Carrot007

JC_Derby said:

Carrot007 said:

dogshome said:

It's a mechanical analogue meter, the reliabilty of which is far greater than the 'Smart' your supplier will replace it with

Who is the supplier? - The supply industry is under the hammer from the Govt to fit Smart meters, and some are useing all manner of excuses to get into the house to do it.

Which matters little since it is no longer (well shortly they will usualy contact 6 months prior) certified to be accurate and needs changing.

The same meter (new) will be fitted either with or without working comms. However in this country there are no down sides to a smart meter and a ever so tiny possitive that the supplier should get reads (the value of this increases depending on how hands off you are as a customer).

It is just your opinion that there are no downsides to having a smart meter.
 I could say for example, that certain meters have when their Customer has changed supplier, the smart meter decides that they have no credit and are on a prepayment meter....which is great....especially when small suppliers don’t always open at weekends. 

Or perhaps the massive expense and damage to the environment that is being caused by installing smart meters, when actually the only benefit to customers is that they can see their usage more easily.....

there are upsides too, but being sold it as a massive plus and more environmentally friendly is a fallacy that needs to be exposed as a myth/lie.
lastly and I don’t know the answer to this.....how digitally secure are they? How secure is zigbee?

I would never recomend having a prepayment meter. In fact I would like them not to be an option. Not many countries have them and they cause more problems than they solve.

As for environmental damage. They cost no more than other meters. Replace meters that need changing. There should be no silly display unit as that is a environmental downside. Wanna see your usage, go online, the instant read out is useful for maybe 2 days. Prepayment meters with all the issues around them cause more environmental impact than smart meters which result in a lot less vists than prepayment once.

Blame the govenmnet for the spin environment spin though, left to themselves the companies would not have bothered. It fact do remember over 50% of you electric and gas bill goes to the government (it's a lot more than the tax part).

Security. Well depends on the meters. Should be no worse than the business side ones, which have been around for many many years (certainly since before privatisation in 97) without being hacked. Of course from a malicious employee, not so much but that can be said of any employee in a palce to abuse the job. Not much they can do though except get your reads, which is pretty boring and worthless. It's on the systems anyway. Yes they might now read it daily but it's still old data. (No meter is read any more than daily, even if they take 48 reads at that point, and many are read monthly even with HH interval data).

So as I said, not many downsides (I never said none, just the ups outwigh it a lot), and if you don;t want it smart you don;t have to. But are getting the same meter anyway.

MalMonroe

I'm just about to leave E.On because they are rubbish and also they tried to bully me into having a smart meter by saying I'd agreed to it when I signed up with them. I did no such thing.

You could have a smart meter installed to replace your electricity meter and that would be free of charge. If you don't want a smart meter, ask E.On if they will replace your meter for you. They probably won't though, since they want all their customers to go smart. 

There is some more very helpful information in this link from Ofgem - https://!!!!!!/36PXJl6

PS and by the way, you probably know this already but it is illegal to try to move your own meters. 

MalMonroe

Carrot007 said:

sb29 said:

Can we refuse to change the meter and get this done next year? Or are we legally required to change the meter right now because of the letter from the electric supplier?

Yes you can put it off. Tell the compnay the previous owner removed access and you need to fix it.

Do note though if you keep putting it off they will eventually get a warrant of entry. Though after seeing it they will probably go away again and tell you to fix it. So to avoid unneeded costs to yourself just keep them updated.

Think your previous owners are much like mine. A couple of months after moving in I had to get a new bathroom as they made a wet room without tanking and it leaked though the kitchen ceiling. Did want to change the bathroom anyway but the cost was not welcome so soon after moving. I could also mention the broken cooker that could only be turned off at the consumer unit (because the cooker switch was connected up all wrong, and many more! But I'll leave it there, ahh the joys of home owning.

Didn't you have insurance? Home owning's not so bad, if you are well insured. That might just be me.

Carrot007

MalMonroe said:

Carrot007 said:

sb29 said:

Can we refuse to change the meter and get this done next year? Or are we legally required to change the meter right now because of the letter from the electric supplier?

Yes you can put it off. Tell the compnay the previous owner removed access and you need to fix it.

Do note though if you keep putting it off they will eventually get a warrant of entry. Though after seeing it they will probably go away again and tell you to fix it. So to avoid unneeded costs to yourself just keep them updated.

Think your previous owners are much like mine. A couple of months after moving in I had to get a new bathroom as they made a wet room without tanking and it leaked though the kitchen ceiling. Did want to change the bathroom anyway but the cost was not welcome so soon after moving. I could also mention the broken cooker that could only be turned off at the consumer unit (because the cooker switch was connected up all wrong, and many more! But I'll leave it there, ahh the joys of home owning.

Didn't you have insurance? Home owning's not so bad, if you are well insured. That might just be me.

In what possible way would insurance cover bodges put in place by the previous owner? Yes could have gone down the leak route. But after they discovered a wet room with no tanking do you think they would cover it then you can add the cost of their people to your bill. (insurance if great and aI have it of course, but that is not what it is for (yes you may get away with it(Only cost around 5k to rip out the room, redo entire bathroom with new toilet (no toilet before), nice big shower cubicle and sink)).

Biggus_Dickus

OP,

You will be legally obliged to have your leccy meter replaced at some point but given the present turmoil I’d imagine you’d probably?? be able to delay the work for some considerable time if you made a concerted effort.

It’s difficult to tell from your photos but as stated upthread you’ll need to remove the wall cabinet completely to see what’s really going on behind there;...how deep is the recess behind the cabinet?

It certainly appears that you’ll need to improve access to the leccy meter (and its associated cabling) by removing at least some of the partition wall below the cupboard and immediately adjacent to the meter itself.

If the partition wall is plasterboard then it’s conceivable that you could cut out a hole large enough (with the cupboard removed) to give enough access for the leccy meter to be replaced. The access hole can then be cosmetically tidied-up by fitting an appropriately sized white plastic inspection/access panel door;...they are readily available and would give you permanent and easy’ish access to the meter.

Just to repeat,...from the photos it’s very difficult to be certain but on the face of it doesn’t seem to be an overly challenging job for someone with the appropriate skills and knowledge.

 

Carrot007

Biggus_Dickus said:

OP,

You will be legally obliged to have your leccy meter replaced at some point but given the present turmoil I’d imagine you’d probably?? be able to delay the work for some considerable time if you made a concerted effort.

It’s difficult to tell from your photos but as stated upthread you’ll need to remove the wall cabinet completely to see what’s really going on behind there;...how deep is the recess behind the cabinet?

It certainly appears that you’ll need to improve access to the leccy meter (and its associated cabling) by removing at least some of the partition wall below the cupboard and immediately adjacent to the meter itself.

If the partition wall is plasterboard then it’s conceivable that you could cut out a hole large enough (with the cupboard removed) to give enough access for the leccy meter to be replaced. The access hole can then be cosmetically tidied-up by fitting an appropriately sized white plastic inspection/access panel door;...they are readily available and would give you permanent and easy’ish access to the meter.

Just to repeat,...from the photos it’s very difficult to be certain but on the face of it doesn’t seem to be an overly challenging job for someone with the appropriate skills and knowledge.

 

Maybe not? I suspect the cutout will be at floor level and it will also need access. Hence why a move to an outside box would be probably be best. But without a teardown of probably everything on the wall around there and removing the whole false wall who knows. No one in t here right mid would have done that except as a quick bodge to see the house and make a wall look like it was actually useful rather than just for a meter!

Biggus_Dickus

Carrot007 said:

Biggus_Dickus said:

OP,

You will be legally obliged to have your leccy meter replaced at some point but given the present turmoil I’d imagine you’d probably?? be able to delay the work for some considerable time if you made a concerted effort.

It’s difficult to tell from your photos but as stated upthread you’ll need to remove the wall cabinet completely to see what’s really going on behind there;...how deep is the recess behind the cabinet?

It certainly appears that you’ll need to improve access to the leccy meter (and its associated cabling) by removing at least some of the partition wall below the cupboard and immediately adjacent to the meter itself.

If the partition wall is plasterboard then it’s conceivable that you could cut out a hole large enough (with the cupboard removed) to give enough access for the leccy meter to be replaced. The access hole can then be cosmetically tidied-up by fitting an appropriately sized white plastic inspection/access panel door;...they are readily available and would give you permanent and easy’ish access to the meter.

Just to repeat,...from the photos it’s very difficult to be certain but on the face of it doesn’t seem to be an overly challenging job for someone with the appropriate skills and knowledge.

 

Maybe not? I suspect the cutout will be at floor level and it will also need access. Hence why a move to an outside box would be probably be best. But without a teardown of probably everything on the wall around there and removing the whole false wall who knows. No one in t here right mid would have done that except as a quick bodge to see the house and make a wall look like it was actually useful rather than just for a meter!

My take on the thread-starter is that the ‘hole’ is in the wall unit at around chest height,...hence the picture of said wall unit;...but you may well be right and it’s actually in another unit just above floor level. Perhaps the OP could clarify.

Either way (and being mindful that I’m not armed with all the details) it doesn’t appear to be too onerous a task to make the area accessible enough for the fitter to get in there and change the meter.  Much like gynaecologists they’re well used to working in confined spaces.

Carrot007

Biggus_Dickus said:

Carrot007 said:

Biggus_Dickus said:

OP,

You will be legally obliged to have your leccy meter replaced at some point but given the present turmoil I’d imagine you’d probably?? be able to delay the work for some considerable time if you made a concerted effort.

It’s difficult to tell from your photos but as stated upthread you’ll need to remove the wall cabinet completely to see what’s really going on behind there;...how deep is the recess behind the cabinet?

It certainly appears that you’ll need to improve access to the leccy meter (and its associated cabling) by removing at least some of the partition wall below the cupboard and immediately adjacent to the meter itself.

If the partition wall is plasterboard then it’s conceivable that you could cut out a hole large enough (with the cupboard removed) to give enough access for the leccy meter to be replaced. The access hole can then be cosmetically tidied-up by fitting an appropriately sized white plastic inspection/access panel door;...they are readily available and would give you permanent and easy’ish access to the meter.

Just to repeat,...from the photos it’s very difficult to be certain but on the face of it doesn’t seem to be an overly challenging job for someone with the appropriate skills and knowledge.

 

Maybe not? I suspect the cutout will be at floor level and it will also need access. Hence why a move to an outside box would be probably be best. But without a teardown of probably everything on the wall around there and removing the whole false wall who knows. No one in t here right mid would have done that except as a quick bodge to see the house and make a wall look like it was actually useful rather than just for a meter!

My take on the thread-starter is that the ‘hole’ is in the wall unit at around chest height,...hence the picture of said wall unit;...but you may well be right and it’s actually in another unit just above floor level. Perhaps the OP could clarify.

Either way (and being mindful that I’m not armed with all the details) it doesn’t appear to be too onerous a task to make the area accessible enough for the fitter to get in there and change the meter.  Much like gynaecologists they’re well used to working in confined spaces.

Aye. Reminds me of plumbing. Plumbing = easy. Doing it in the places that require it because people like to hide it away = not so much ;-)