want to change my meter back

sickpuppy32

I was convinced a few years ago by ESB to change to a night saver meter - was made all sort of promises about how much i would save and I was told the installation was free so it seemed a no brainer

Turned out i should have used my brain because its actually costing me a fortune. Even when i ran my dishwasher and washing machine at night it still cost more.
I've since found out that disherwasher/washing machine manufacturers as well as firefighters all recommend you do not turn them on at night as they can go on fire. It might also void my house insurance.
Anyway since my girlfriend moved in, she wont put them on at night because they are so noisy and i must admit i sleep a lot better due to not been woken at 4am when the spin cycle starts.
Due to all these points the decision was made to change back to the normal meter.
....and then the money racket starts!
I have to pay circa 190 euro for the installation of the "old" meter.
I have to pay for an electrician to be on standby in case anything goes wrong!
When i made the call, i had to go through ten minutes of someone trying to convince me to keep the meter even when i explained it was costing me more!


The ESB seem to think that if they mess up when installing the old meter, they can walk away and my electrician can deal with it!
They wont explain how one meter is free and the other one is 190 euro!
They wont admit they mis- sold me the nightsaver meter , i asked them to assess me for one and they insisted i'd save money.
Usually i'd go to a different vendor if i was unhappy with a service but there is no other vendor - its a rip -off!

Al Capwned

Have you contacted the Commission for Energy Regulation for advice? Might not be a bad idea....

Seems to me that if you were mis-sold something you shouldn't have to pay to have things put right.....

Davy

It has been the case for a long time that you can change free of charge, but charged to switch back. They want to promote night-time use, its more efficient, hence why its half price at night to encourage people to do so. This should have been made clear from day one.

Once you use minimal usage, ( i think 4 units iirc but open to correction) at night-time you will be making savings on your bill, so shouldn't be costing you more.

sickpuppy32

its not more efficient when your disherwasher has gone on fire during the night and burned the house down or when your washing machine goes into spin and wakes the misses and the neighbors!
I live in a tiny mid- terrace and its my own fault for not realizing that something like that might be ok for a detached house with a laundry room well away from the bedrooms but not for me.
I also real must question the "assessment" they originally did of my usage - a (then) single bloke who mostly eats out and heats the water from the gas system doesn't use as much electricity as the average family of 2 adults and kids.
I feel its a real joke that they are demanding i get "Eamon the dodgy local electrician" in separately to supervise what i imagine are the more professional ESB electricians.

Davy

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

its not more efficient when your disherwasher has gone on fire during the night and burned the house down or when your washing machine goes into spin and wakes the misses and the neighbors!
I live in a tiny mid- terrace and its my own fault for not realizing that something like that might be ok for a detached house with a laundry room well away from the bedrooms but not for me.
I also real must question the "assessment" they originally did of my usage - a (then) single bloke who mostly eats out and heats the water from the gas system doesn't use as much electricity as the average family of 2 adults and kids.
I feel its a real joke that they are demanding i get "Eamon the dodgy local electrician" in separately to supervise what i imagine are the more professional ESB electricians.

The electrician is just encase their is a problem that you wiring needs to be altered slightly. They cant touch anything apart from their wiring and meter, hence the reason for your sparks. New meter could be bigger, meaning your tails might be to short etc. If that was the case, and they couldn't fit it, they might charge you for the wasted visit

sickpuppy32

Davy wrote: »

The electrician is just encase their is a problem that you wiring needs to be altered slightly. They cant touch anything apart from their wiring and meter, hence the reason for your sparks. New meter could be bigger, meaning your tails might be to short etc. If that was the case, and they couldn't fit it, they might charge you for the wasted visit

actually i'm reliably informed that there is no physical removal of the meter - they just change the setting as it is a digital meter. Also they were able to install the night saver meter with no electrician present so why now?
Also i'm paying them 190 euro, they should do all the work correctly - its a rip off
Really got the impression they were making up excuses not to change it.

EI: Una

Hi Sickpuppy32,

And thanks Davy for your input.

Our colleagues ESB Networks are the people to contact regarding this - they operate separately to us in Electric Ireland and do not have a presence on Boards.ie, so here is a page of their contact details.

Regards,
Una

hohojojo

most of what you are saying is just rubish there isn't anyway its more expensive but esb price have risen

you seem to be using the machines going on fire a lot, but really if you wash your clothes during the day do you sit there and watch it the whole time or do you go out during the cycle

this idea of turning things off when going to bed is an old time atitude we are far more protected now with newer switchboards and if you think about it you have your fridge turn on all the time and id say you never even give it a second thought

you also probably have things pluged in and not in use around thehouse some with displays and some not but any thing plugged in can pull in up to 20 amps if there is a fault on a standard socket circuit

and no insurance company will void your insurance if you run your appliances during the night as who are they to say what time you go to bed at and get up at

and the last if there was a fire within the house that is why there should be smoke and fire alarms in the house things like this will save you

sickpuppy32

hohojojo wrote: »

most of what you are saying is just rubish there isn't anyway its more expensive but esb price have risen

you seem to be using the machines going on fire a lot, but really if you wash your clothes during the day do you sit there and watch it the whole time or do you go out during the cycle

this idea of turning things off when going to bed is an old time atitude we are far more protected now with newer switchboards and if you think about it you have your fridge turn on all the time and id say you never even give it a second thought

you also probably have things pluged in and not in use around thehouse some with displays and some not but any thing plugged in can pull in up to 20 amps if there is a fault on a standard socket circuit

and no insurance company will void your insurance if you run your appliances during the night as who are they to say what time you go to bed at and get up at

and the last if there was a fire within the house that is why there should be smoke and fire alarms in the house things like this will save you

I was advised by a senior fire officer who showed me pictures on his phone of the last few fires he investigated - nearly all dishwashers/ dryers/ washing machines that had been running through the night.
I plug everything out at night and as regards the insurance - i noticed a lot of the instructions on said appliances say not to run them at night - maybe that will void my insurance maybe it wont

sickpuppy32

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

Hi Sickpuppy32,

And thanks Davy for your input.

Our colleagues ESB Networks are the people to contact regarding this - they operate separately to us in Electric Ireland and do not have a presence on Boards.ie, so here is a page of their contact details.

Regards,
Una

I rang ESB networks and they told me to get on to you! They do the job but its my provider that arranges it and it was electric ireland who gave me allt hose crazy stipulations. I rerang ESB networks and they told me that Electric ireland were wrong - there is no requirement for my electrician to be there! I shouldn't have be ringing around the houses to get something simple done like this!

Electric Ireland: David

Hi sickpuppy32,

sickpuppy32 wrote:

They wont explain how one meter is free and the other one is 190 euro!

Previously, there had been a charge to switch to a Nightsaver meter, but to encourage customers to avail of the discounted night unit rates, we removed this charge.

The charge of €186.14 (incl. VAT) to change to a Single Tariff meter remains.

sickpuppy32 wrote:

They wont admit they mis- sold me the nightsaver meter , i asked them to assess me for one and they insisted i'd save money.

Generally, we would advise that the Nightsaver tariff is only beneficial if you use approximately 25% of your total usage within the designated night-rate hours. That would equate to using about 3 to 4 units between midnight and 9am (or between 11pm and 8am in wintertime).*


See also the following sections on our website, which are useful for working out what would consume the required amount of units:

• What is one unit?
• Appliance Calculators

sickpuppy32 wrote:

I rang ESB networks and they told me to get on to you! They do the job but its my provider that arranges it

That's correct, if you have decided to go ahead with the change of meter we arrange for an ESB Networks technician to go out and do the necessary work. Please send myself and Electric Ireland: Una a group PM if you wish to go ahead with this, including:

• Your full name and address
• Your account number, contact number and date of birth for account security

sickpuppy32 wrote:

Electric ireland were wrong - there is no requirement for my electrician to be there!

For the reasons outlined by Davy above, an electrician would have been required. However, as you pointed out in a subsequent post, with your meter being digital, this would not be relevant.

Thanks,

David.


* This is based on average annual usage of approx. 5,300 kWhs, which works out at between 14 and 15 units per day.