Fischer heating - please help

hrm1987

I’ll be honest, I’m extremely naive with this stuff so please do pardon my stupidity. The reading we originally supplied to the previous owner was 91724 on the day after we moved in. That said we were left no instructions how to read this meter and there are lots of different readings as it’s quite hard to see - so in our naivety we assumed Octopus were getting direct readings (they told us this when we called).

I’ve attached a picture in case that helps decipher but to me the closest to anything looks like 92015. But I’m not sure if I’m reading the right figure (just going off common sense being the nearest like figure).

Clearly the internet is crap here too hence the 2 posts (please don’t say I shouldn’t have moved - we love it in the country but want to be able to afford to live!!). 

QrizB

That mettis a Secure Liberty 100. There's two different ways to read it, depending on whether it's set for single-rate or multi-rate use.

I suggest you do both and share all the readings (total, R01, R02) here.

Here's a video from Octopus that explains what readings to look for:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gFeQ_y5LRrM

matelodave

As others have said, £250 means nothing without the supporting information of your tariff (charge per kwh), actual meter readings (take some yourself from the meter, you dont need the IHD to do that).  You were warned that Fischer heating was the spawn of the devil, so you;ve either got to live with them or do something about them.

The only way to get a handle on what you are consuming is to monitor it yourself rather than waiting for a bill and then getting a nasty shock.

If you do have a smart meter then try using something like the Bright app which allows you to download meter data (even  without having the IHD) in half hourly chunks (I can read data going back over several years). If you dont have a smart meter then you'd have to do it yourself by reading your own meter. 

Ideally do it daily for a couple of weeks, once before you go to bed and again when you get up but before you turn anything on.

That should give you some idea of what is being used overnight when you are asleep and using the least as well as during the day when your consumption increases. Keep a spreadsheet (or even a notebook to record it all together with all the stuff thats been turned on).

Its a bit of a pain but its the only way to find out what you are using and when. If you dont monitor it you cant understand what is going on and you therefore cant control it.

QrizB

Could you also share a photo of your consumer unit/s showing all the circuits and how they're labelled?

There might be some clues there.

PS I'm glad you stopped your mum from getting a Fischer system!

hrm1987

Thank you. I tried the 6 button (pressed 9 before - this is the only info the previous owner told me) and no readings like anything we’ve been given on the 6 (economy 7). I provided the standard reading from pressing the 9. Octopus won’t offer us any kind of economy 7 tariff. 

Not sure if this helps understand any better but this is why we are so confused.

Does it sound like their reading is way off?

Either way, should we be switching to an E7 for this stupid system? Of course hard to tell at the moment as no heating on, but want to do the best for the future (though the immediate issue is clearly sort now what we should be on to avoid paying £225 a month for no heating!).

I’m sorry I sound stupid - no instructions left and normally just bumbled along. 

Robin9

hrm1987 said:

 

18 June: 91683
19 July: 92538
 

 What is the letter against these readings - A C E S or our read/your read ?

I guess its E as it doesn't tie in with the photo 92015    (watch out for the decimal point when you read these meters)  

If so an over estimate of 500 units - about £125 

hrm1987

Do these help at all?!

mmmmikey

Hi - as you can tell folks here are allergic to Fischer heaters :-) With good reason - they are silly-money expensive to buy and run and there are lots of complaints about misselling.  BUT they are very easy to change without huge expense (which is exactly what I did with mine, I sold them on eBay, used the cash to buy storage heaters and had enough leftove to pay for the electrical work which was fairly minimal). And you don't need to do them all in one go. 

FWIW I personally wouldn't think twice about buying a house with Fischer heaters just like I wouldn't think twice about buying a house with a crappy carpets, kitchen or windows.  It would just be one thing I'd factor it into my thinking when choosing the house and/or assessing it's value which sounds like what you've done. You just need to get your head around running costs (which is exactly what you're doing in this thread) and get them swapped as soon as you can.

hrm1987

Instructions from previous owner:

Scot_39

Yes 6 and 9.

Note the OPs second photo is showing IMP kVARH and not the single rate we want - IMP kWh or IMP R001 / 002 for the option 6 on a multirate - which is what he needs respecitvely (could be the next one in button sequence).

Although domestically most tend not to worry about VA / VAR - only W and kW for power, kWh for energy.

Ideally the OP should try both options in case the home used to have off peak tariff loading.