Meter faults

To check whether a meter’s circuit or installation is faulty, turn off all appliances (including pilot lights) and see if the meter is still registering. If an electricity meter is still registering, there may be a short circuit or a leak to earth. If a gas meter is still registering, there may be a gas leak. Apart from the effect on the bill, they are both dangerous and should be dealt with immediately. Once everything is turned off and the meter has ceased to register, each appliance can be checked to ensure it is registering a reasonable level of consumption by using the formulae given for checking the meter (see here and here).

In rented accommodation, landlords are nearly always responsible for gas piping and electrical wiring. Your landlord must keep in repair and proper working order installations for space heating, heating water and the supply of gas and electricity.1s11(1)(b) and (c) LTA 1985; Sch 10 para 3(1)(b) H(S)A 1987 If you have informed your landlord about defects in installations or in wiring/piping, you should ask them to fix the problem and to pay the difference between a high bill and the normal level of the bill, if the difference is due to the defects.

 

1     s11(1)(b) and (c) LTA 1985; Sch 10 para 3(1)(b) H(S)A 1987 »