I remember some years ago, London Electricity wanted to change my meter, when I enquired why they said it was company policy to change them every 20 years.

They replaced the old meter with the same type, that had been 'refurbished' - I have no idea what the point of the exercise was.

Not sure if this is helpful in any way!

HI again Ian,

Your not going to believe it but today I received a letter from Siemens telling me that my meter is going to be changed. And the letter states that "Under the terms of the Electricity Act,all meters have to be exchanged after they have been in use for a set period of time." But it does not state the length of time. EDF do not seem to know this.

You couldn't make it up, could you.

Regards David.

Hi David I'm glad my information was of use to you,

This site does not allow commercial activities and I do not want to upset the site moderators, so i cannot post my contact details here,

"would EDF take notice of your report if the meter is faulty.?" they should but there is no guarantee, they may need to verify the findings themselves, but they cannot charge you for the visit if the meter is incorrect. If you find your meter is within limits or if that it is slow they almost certainly will take notice because it is in their interest to do so,but if you have an independent test done it is up to you if you tell them the results or not, if its wrong and you have been overpaying then you could be due a refund, as you can imagine they will want their own tests to confirm this and if they believe it is incorrect they will also change the meter, your old meter will then be sent off to a laboratory for testing in controlled conditions.

this is right and proper, although it may sound as if they are being difficult, that is not the case. A responsible supplier cannot leave an inaccurate metering device in use and it is the energy companies that replace meters, so they will need to come out to your premises.

full details on the approved process is available on the OFGEM website (type "ofgem meter accuracy test" into Google and you will see a PDF fact sheet ,)

It is worth noting as an independent tester we have no commercial interest whether a meter is right or wrong, we either provide peace of mind that your being charged correctly or give you the tools to ask your supplier to look into the matter further, charges are made for this service and it is unlikely that you will be able to recover the cost from your supplier. In contrast you supplier will charge you only if they find the meter is operating correctly , if you are convinced it is incorrect my advice is always to go to your supplier.

If your meter is a sub meter owned by a landlord the situation is different and you may have no alternatives but to use an independent

Ian

HI Ian,

Thanks for the information about electric meters, very helpful. As you are an independent company, how much would it cost to have a meter checked,(i live near Stansted) and would EDF take notice of your report if the meter is faulty.

My meter is; SANGAMO SCHLUMBERGER, S309-5 FLOTON, No S87E 106761 if this is any help.

Regards David

Energy suppliers do not have to replace old meters unless they are faulty, although if there are found to be a particular model that has a high number of faults OFGEN will instruct replacements.

OFGEN nor the utility companies publish the quantity of faults or the model details public.

all electric meters are supposed to be replaced by 2020 with smart meters, however at this time they have not agreed on which of several standards will be in use for the UK, as a consiquence none of the major suppiers have yet started a replacement program in case they choose the wrong standard and have to re-install.

If you know that your meter is not accurate you should contact your supplier, you will have to be persistant as they all seem to try and deter actualy checking thier meters, if you persist they will come out but only if you agree to pay them around £90 if the meter is found to be OK.

I run an independent electric meter checking company and meters are regularly found to be outside allowed tollerances


Ian

The electricity meter belongs to and is maintained by the elecricity company. If they have checked it and it's measuring electricity units accurately, then there is no problem. If you think it's faulty then you can have it checked, but if it is ok you may have to pay for the check.

I would take regular readings over a period, even daily at the same time of day to see how much you are using. You can work out the cost from your electricity bill.

There is a general plan I beleive to have all meters replaced in the next few years with smart meters which send info back to the company so they don't have to use meter readers. Yours will probably be done then.

HI,

I have an electric meter that is 25years old. I recently requested a new meter and was told that mine had been checked in 2009 and was OK then, and was not due to be changed until 2019. Is this normal, I was under the immpression that they had to be replaced after a certain time. Can anyone explain the correct procedure.