Discuss Dramatic increase in electricity bill since meter replacement..... in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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Noob2013

Hi all,

My parents have recently had a meter replacement and since then the electricity bill has increased dramatically. The installers claim the old meter must of been wrong. They will charge if the come out and nothing is wrong.

They have solar panels on the roof but this was already installed and was no problems beforehand.

Is this a common issue?

Is there anything I can do to prove it's a faulty meter or if it's actually OK?

Thanks
 
could be that the meter is not recording the solar input or even adding it to the grid supplied elec instead of subtracting. (not very well put, but i'm not well up on the solar thing).
 
could be that the meter is not recording the solar input or even adding it to the grid supplied elec instead of subtracting. (not very well put, but i'm not well up on the solar thing).

Yeah sounds possibly. Don't worry I understand what you mean :)
 
I have only had a quick look at the meter and cannot turn off supply until weekend due to my father's office. Also those damn seals need cutting ;)

However, at a quick glance this doesn't look right to me but may be my lack of experience.

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[URL=http://s1244.p.com/user/craig_saunders2/media/20161116_132743_zpsvwgyunce.jpg.html]Dramatic increase in electricity bill since meter replacement..... {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net[/URL]
 
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pic not very clear. what is the white led on the meter?
 
i can't see a N input cable to the meter.

That is what I noticed hence posting the picture.

I haven't seen the cut out wired like that before. Does the connection block on top have a line and neutral on the outgoing cable to the meter?
 
Back to you original question OP. I did some work for a customer. He was informed by his supplier, that his old meter had been recording incorrectly, and he was in debit to his supplier to several hundreds of pounds. Don't know how they worked that out, perhaps on an average compared to others (he has storage heaters). They agreed on a sum he would pay back. Apparently he wasn't alone.
 
Prehaps the old meter was analoge and the type that turned backwards when you generated electricidy with the solar. Hence you got the feed in tarrif and a reduced bill becaust the meter turned backwards. (cake and eat it)
Why was the meter changed ? I believe solar installers have to inform the DNO if the meter can run backwards.
 
Prehaps the old meter was analoge and the type that turned backwards when you generated electricidy with the solar. Hence you got the feed in tarrif and a reduced bill becaust the meter turned backwards. (cake and eat it)
Why was the meter changed ? I believe solar installers have to inform the DNO if the meter can run backwards.

Yeah perhaps that is the case.

Is there a way I can find out myself if the meter is exporting the generated electricity from the solar panels back to the grid?
 
Yeah perhaps that is the case.

Is there a way I can find out myself if the meter is exporting the generated electricity from the solar panels back to the grid?

The amount of electricidy you export into the grid is estimated usually 50% (amount could be wrong as solar is not my field)
So its not measured by the meter the red led (depending on your meter type) indicates power used or exported by flashing. (google your meter type for more details)

Cheers Myke
 
Yeah perhaps that is the case.

Is there a way I can find out myself if the meter is exporting the generated electricity from the solar panels back to the grid?

This will be it for sure. During the summer days my meter was spinning backwards from around lunchtime. Basically when the hot water tank was up to temp. So it would unwind at a rate of just under 4kW so pretty quick. It's like having your oven and kettle going in reverse.

I'll be resisting as art meter until the solicitors letter comes through third mail or they cut me off.
 

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