backwards running meter

When I registered my panels we had to declare if the meter ran backwards, I did and never worried about it after that. It only ran back to the last digit being zero, so if it said 54578 in the morning then the lowest it ever would go was down to54570. Then in the evenings it would climb but very seldom would we use 10 in a night so with care we virtually had zero consumption for 4 years.
Eventually the supplier phoned me to discuss my extremely low usage, I said my meter runs backwards, she said it shouldn't and did I declare that on installation. I said yes and she said it was their fault then and forget it. She said had I not declared it then they could have charged me based on estimates.

3 months later they changed my meter..:(

KevinG wrote: »

That is an interesting point and one I have not seen discussed before. I did declare mine at installation as was not back-charged, but no-one seemed interested in the fact I had declared it.

Hi

It used to be one of the most discussed topics on these boards in the early days & it's still raised from time to time ....

One of the easiest ways to check analogue units is to look whether there's a ratchet symbol (circle with four non return teeth & a pawl) printed on the front of the meter ... if it's there the meter shouldn't return more than the back rotation required for the ratchet to catch ...

When we had our system the installer mentioned that the meter would probably run backwards, but had no idea that a quick glance at the meter itself may actually provide a clue ... he did when he left though! ...

HTH
Z

KevinG wrote: »

Yes, I know the subject has been discussed, I was referring specifically to the suggestion that back-charging was dependent on whether the backwards running had been declared at installation.

Hi

That's what I was referring to before mentioning the ratchet ...

Some initially believed that the suppliers wouldn't be able to back-charge unmetered usage on undeclared reversing meters .... until others received estimated usage bills that is!

Before the FiT scheme was launched all manufacturers were supposed to describe & declare the reverse operation of each model so that suppliers could cross-reference to installation sites when microgeneration was installed .... there's an authoritative published list somewhere (Ofgem/DECC ~2010?), so either the manufacturers supplied wrong information, the list was incomplete or the suppliers don't have/follow appropriate processes and procedures ....

HTH
Z