Digital meter with only one figure for units

whatstherush

Hi,

Was looking at my digital meter yesterday, and it only had one reading, say 10000 units. I'm on two different tariffs for night and day. When I get my bill, it says I have used X amount of day units and Y amount of night units. How do ye work out those figures when there is only a single figure on the meter.

Thanks

Electric Ireland: David

Hi whatstherush,

Regarding your digital meter, it would be best to PM me your account details so I could check the model, but in general, it can take quite a few presses of the main button on the front panel to get the breakdown of the day/night consumption. For example:

Initial display: Total units (single tariff customers need go no further)
1st press: date
2nd press: time
3rd press: total (again)
4th press: day
5th press: night

It's worth noting that on some models the day reading is often labelled '2', while the night reading is labelled '1'. This, I admit, is somewhat counter-intuitive, but once you understand the display sequence, it's sure to become second-nature.

I hope the above information helps, but if you need me to go into more detail with you, please feel free to PM me.

Thanks,

David.

whatstherush

Cheers for the quick response David, Will try those instructions later and see how I get.

hiscan

On the subject of day and night meters,I have one in my house and I've been told that because I don't have underfloor heating I am actually paying more for my ESB than I would be with a Single Tarriff Meter.
Is this correct?

Electric Ireland: David

hiscan wrote:

On the subject of day and night meters,I have one in my house and I've been told that because I don't have underfloor heating I am actually paying more for my ESB than I would be with a Single Tarriff Meter.
Is this correct?

Hi hiscan,

No, fortunately it isn't correct, but I understand why you might have been told this.

If you have a nightsaver meter installed, but aren't using the recommended minimum of between 3-5 units per night (in the stipulated hours of 11pm - 8am in wintertime, and 12am - 9am in summertime), then the more expensive standing charge will mean that a single-tariff meter could work out cheaper (for more info on pricing, click here). This is why we advice customers to gauge their suitability for such a tariff in advance, before they have the nightsaver meter installed.

However, just to be clear on this, a nightsaver meter isn't restricted to making savings with underfloor heating; anything at all that is used in the aforementioned hours will be charged at the reduced rate. Night storage heating is a popular choice in this respect, as would timing immersions for early in the morning etc.

I hope that clarifies the issue, but if you have any more questions about it, just give a shout.

Thanks,

David.

hiscan

ESB CS: David wrote: »

Hi hiscan,

No, fortunately it isn't correct, but I understand why you might have been told this.

If you have a nightsaver meter installed, but aren't using the recommended minimum of between 3-5 units per night (in the stipulated hours of 11pm - 8am in wintertime, and 12am - 9am in summertime), then the more expensive standing charge will mean that a single-tariff meter could work out cheaper (for more info on pricing, click here). This is why we advice customers to gauge their suitability for such a tariff in advance, before they have the nightsaver meter installed.

However, just to be clear on this, a nightsaver meter isn't restricted to making savings with underfloor heating; anything at all that is used in the aforementioned hours will be charged at the reduced rate. Night storage heating is a popular choice in this respect, as would timing immersions for early in the morning etc.

I hope that clarifies the issue, but if you have any more questions about it, just give a shout.

Thanks,

David.

Just on that highlighted point,it was actually a woman in the ESB office that asked me before I got my power connected,"Did I want a Double Tariff Meter installed?"
When I asked her what it was she said it was for cheaper electricity at night and that if I wanted to put it in later it would cost me to change.
That's why I put it in.This was when I was getting power connected to a new house about 3 years ago.

Davy

hiscan wrote: »

Just on that highlighted point,it was actually a woman in the ESB office that asked me before I got my power connected,"Did I want a Double Tariff Meter installed?"
When I asked her what it was she said it was for cheaper electricity at night and that if I wanted to put it in later it would cost me to change.
That's why I put it in.This was when I was getting power connected to a new house about 3 years ago.

Its free to put in, its costs (about €190 iirc) to have it changed back to a ST

hiscan

Davy wrote: »

Its free to put in, its costs (about €190 iirc) to have it changed back to a ST

Yes but I had no meter installed at all at this stage so I would have just put in the Single Tariff meter only for she mentioned to me about the cheaper electricity.
She never mentioned that I would have to be using a certain amount for it to be feasible for me to have this meter nor did she mention about the higher Standing Charges.
I would have factored all this into my decision if I knew this beforehand whereas now I have to pay 190 Euro to get it changed :mad: when this was something I was misinformed about in the first place.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi hiscan,

I'm sorry if you were misinformed in any way.

If you were advised of this prior to being connected, you would have been speaking to ESB Networks, a separate company from ESB Customer Supply (generally speaking, Networks look after the physical side of things on behalf of all electricity providers).

If you PM your account details, I'd be more than happy to help you get the best out of your current tariff. Our online app, the Appliance Calculator, could also be very useful in this regard.

I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me anytime about this.

Thanks,

David.

hiscan

Thanks,PM sent.