esb meter question??

kormak

hi folks,

we've been living in our new country home since June and all is rosey until last week when we received a ginourmous ESB bill for almost €350!!!
prev bills were around 160 or so...
phoned ESB and they say the last one was probably under estimated.
bla bla bla....
find this hard to believe.
we have a few things that are hard on power (lots of down lights, condenser dryer, pump for well) but i still can't see how these alone could drive it up so high???
there at the weekend i decided to power off all mains switch from trip switch.
all power off to the house and yet the meter wheel is STILL moving, allbeit crawling, it's still actually moving.
i've heard of "creeping meter" issues but heard they're quite rare.
so i phone ESB networks and the woman reckons "even if i power off evrything from the mains, the wheel will still crawl along??!!!" i asked her does it not stop with all power off and she says "no! he only time it will stop dead is if the actual fuse to the house is blown!"
IS THIS TRUE?
if it is a case that we need to cut down... well fair enough, but i wanna be damn sure of it first!
k

Rev. BlueJeans

No, the meter should not crawl at all

I've come across it before though, so it does happen, although many wouldn't be aware of it.

That lady was totally incorrect, if that's what she said. Even if you had a timeclock fitted at the meter for double tarriff/nightsaver heating, this should be fed from the unmetered side so it doesn't cost anything.

What you need to do is ask them to install a test meter for you. This is a second meter, wired in series with your own. Any discrepancy will show up fairly quickly. Here's the silly part, the check meter install costs €165! (I know ), but talk to your supplier first, as I'm 99.9% certain that you will recoup this, as well as any units you may have been billed for due to this error once a discrepancy is found.

Now, due to the fact that meters are not read for each bill (roll on self reading smart meters!), you may have been underestimated last time around, however I'd be more concerned about this creeping meter.

Best of luck, and drop back if you have any more questions. Be sure to clarify the procedure with ESBCS regarding the test meter though

Rev. BlueJeans

BTW, a note for the future-you can submit your own readings by phone-which will avoid any nasty surprises next time.

Davy

You can try the appliance calculator to give you an idea of the price for your usage: https://www.esb.ie/esbcustomersupply/residential/energy_efficiency/appliance_calc/appliance_calculator.jsp

Since your only in since june, i take it you have only had 3 bills, so the first two could be have been underestimated.

Aswell as phone, you can also submit the readings online, and it will keep all the usage details in an account so you can check at each bill: https://youraccountonline.esb.ie/ebilling/public/frameset_top_html.jsp

Fnergg

kormak wrote: »

hi folks,

....there at the weekend i decided to power off all mains switch from trip switch...all power off to the house and yet the meter wheel is STILL moving, allbeit crawling, it's still actually moving....

The meter dial will still revolve for several minutes after the trip switch is turned off. It should then come to a stop.

If it doesn't I suspect there is a fault in your installation and not in the meter. My advice is to get an electrical contractor to check it out.

Regards,

Fnergg

kormak

I've posted this on other forums as well as boards.
some people seem to think "yes - it should stop dead" others seem to think "it will stay moving very slowly".
I suppose I could try it again and leave it for 10/15 minutes to see if it stops.
i might also check my parents house and see what their meter does when i trip the mains switch.
when i do trip the mains in my house, the alarm still lights up as "fault"
presumable this is just an in-built battery keeping this alive?

we've since moved our bill to airtricity and I will be keeping a close eye on the meter readings from now on.

if I have to i'll look into getting a test meter setup but I wanna be 100% this is what is required.

will keep yee posted.

thanks for the comments.

k

Rev. BlueJeans

It should stop within seconds, as the mechanism is damped.

You can trust me on this one