Checking for a Meter Fault

Feeder

Hi there,

I recently called EI as I was concerned that my bills were getting progressively higher each month yet my habits and general consumption pattern has not changed.

I first thought it may be a discount that expired but the girl I spoke to suggested after reviewing my price plan that maybe there was a fault in an appliance or the meter so she sent out a key to open the box outside.

This morning I opened the box and watched the wheel turning slowly, there was very little on in the house, possibly the fridge being the only appliance and the rest on standby.

I turned off all circuit breakers inside, the RCD blue switch, the Red switch breaker marked mains and I removed the main fuse. I went back outside and the wheel is still turning on the meter.

Is there something I am missing to verify if I have a fault or not. I presumed by knocking off all the breakers and taking out the main fuse i should be consuming no power inside but maybe I have to isolate the house some other way.

Any suggestions are welcome before i call EI this evening.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi Feeder,

Feeder wrote:

Is there something I am missing to verify if I have a fault or not. I presumed by knocking off all the breakers and taking out the main fuse i should be consuming no power inside but maybe I have to isolate the house some other way.

Normally we would only ask customers in this position to turn off power at the main trip switch on the fuse board, so you've done more than you need to verify whether there is a fault or not. Bear in mind however that it can take 5 to 10 minutes before the rotating disc winds down, though the impression I get from your post is that you have waited (at least) this long.

The first step now is to get an electrician to check the internal wiring (see Finding Electrical Contractors on our website); it would need to be confirmed that the fault is not internal before we could send out a technician. If the electrician confirms that there is a fault with the meter (and this is very rare - if/when they do occur, they tend to under- rather than over-record consumption) then we will send somebody out.

The other possibility is that your meter is "crossed" with another one; in other words, it could be mixed up with the meter for a different property (this usually only happens with apartments). An electrician would also be in a position to advise on this.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions we'll be happy to help.

Regards,
David

Feeder

Thanks for the quick reply David.

I phoned today to just be sure i had the house fully isolated and the guy on the phone took my details and is sending someone out to check out the issue in the next 2/3 days.

I will update as soon as I know more.

Electric Ireland: David

Thanks for getting back to us Feeder. If you have any other questions in the meantime, we'll be happy to help.

Regards,
David