new meter ...

[motdaugrnds]

Well, it happened! I have heard of the electric meters being replaced; but didn't really think much about it. Today the meterman came and put in a new meter, telling us everyone this electric company serves is getting one because it will enable them to read the meter without anyone having to come out to our place to do so. (I am wondering what this actually means and am a real doubting Thomas .. even a little paranoid at times.)

[jwal10]

Yep, that is the way things are now. We have water meters the same way. They send signals out over radio waves. No one goes out to read anymore. Safer for personnel, no dog bites or traffic problems....James

[seagullplayer]

Big Brother gets to see one more thing without leaving the comfort of his chair...

[amwitched]

Unless the meters are "jacked up" like the ones they installed in our area last year. People were getting electric bills that were doubled or tripled from what their normal electric bill was. They had soooooooooooo many meetings with the electric company, but all they heard were excuses.

[houndlover]

We have been on readerless meters for several years, and our bills didn't change, in fact, they went down - the old meters were notoriously wrong. About once a year they send a guy out to spot check the readings against usage (we have three meters). They send a signal just like a cell phone signal. We have a small utility company and this way they aren't paying a meter reader and the reader doesn't have to deal with such a large rural area and DOGS.

[Timberline]

Originally Posted by houndlover

We have been on readerless meters for several years, and our bills didn't change, in fact, they went down - the old meters were notoriously wrong. About once a year they send a guy out to spot check the readings against usage (we have three meters). They send a signal just like a cell phone signal. We have a small utility company and this way they aren't paying a meter reader and the reader doesn't have to deal with such a large rural area and DOGS.

Same here. Our bill went down a little bit and they send someone out once a year to check things.

[Colorado]

Here we get a fee on the bill to read meter and bill it. Been this way on gas for some time and now the electric has a meter/billing fee. Same person does both same time. And they use a clicker now and when they put the electric on the gas one and gas on the electric on I got a very funny bill. I read the meters and called in and she said I think they reversed them. They sent me a new bill.

Over in the San Luis Valley you read your meter and marked the card and mailed it in. And once a year or so they did check. I have a new electric meter put a couple years back. He said it was old and needed to be replaced. Same thing as before.

[Beeman]

Last check gas was close to $4 a gallon and meter readers don't walk. Add the vehicle,gas,maintenance and the reader and you've got a lot of money. Old mechanical meters are prone to wear and inaccuracy.

[Danaus29]

Our electric meter reader walks, parks his car at the end of the road and walks down and back up, gets in his car and goes to the next road.

Our sewer bill is read by radio frequency. The meter reader still has to come down the road and stop at most houses because believe it or not there are some he can't read from the truck because of the location of the meter.

I hope the new meter at the guest house is a remote meter, I don't like the meter reader walking through my flower beds.

[TnAndy]

We've had radio meters for years also....no change in the bill. In fact, this month, mine is minus 17 bucks ( due to solar assist )

The original ones, the signal was fairly short range, and they had to drive thru the area holding the receiver out the window sometimes to get a reading. The new ones transmit to an area receiver, that then relays it on to the main office, sort of like mini cell towers. I'm completely in favor of the meters, as we have a gate I normally keep closed and they don't have to enter it anymore to get a reading. Add to that the savings on paying a meter reader to drive around, and I can't understand why anyone would object ( assuming they DO read accurately....which shouldn't be hard to compare to previous years and see )

[fishhead]

It sounds like a "turtle" meter. The guy that invented it has a sustainable campus about 30 miles from here. He called it turtle because it uses a slow transfer speed and sends the signal back through the electric line.

Google HUGS in Pine River Mn.

[Whisperwindkat]

Our bill went up when they changed ours and has stayed consistently higher each and every month in comparison with the same months in previous years. Absolutely no change in usage or how we do things, but we certainly pay more. Good luck. Kat

[Shrek]

Originally Posted by houndlover

We have been on readerless meters for several years, and our bills didn't change, in fact, they went down - the old meters were notoriously wrong. About once a year they send a guy out to spot check the readings against usage (we have three meters). They send a signal just like a cell phone signal. We have a small utility company and this way they aren't paying a meter reader and the reader doesn't have to deal with such a large rural area and DOGS.

Our electric meters were changed and my bill is about 15% lower. After the blackout a co-op employee did an in person reading to verify the memory had held the pre blackout reading from 10 days before when the main power first dropped.

He told me that the reading looked to be about right and smiled when I told him that I had noticed the same when I did my daily reading when the power restored and that it was the same as the reading I had taken 30 minutes before the power went out on the 27th.

As he left he told me he had met quite a few folks who are keeping meter logs since the change and surprised by the fact the meters have a 30 day no power memory and have lowered their bills 5 to 10 percent.

[Jean]

Had ours changed 3 years ago and the $ amount is the same. Had it happen 25 years ago when we were commercial and the bill doubled. We did fight that one but of course lost.
Jean

[Old John]

Our meters changed 5 or 6 years ago. The bill went down by about 5%. It saves the Co-op some money. That's probably a good thing.

[rambler]

What's a meter reader????

The REA coop we've been on has you enter the meter reading on the slip you send in with the bill, read your own meter. Once a year or so they stop by & confirm the meter & your numbers are about right - same time they inspect for tree branch problems on their lines.

Been that way since before was born when mom & dad were here, and that's been a while.

--->Paul

[MaineFarmMom]

We've had a turtle for about 10 years. It's much more efficient than the meter reader driving a quarter of a mile to several miles between houses to read meters.

[tiogacounty]

I worked with a another electrician who was in charge of upgrading tens of thousands of meters for a large utility. One thing I learned is that old style dial meters can, and will sometimes slow down as they wear out. This means that a limited number of customers had some real increases in their bill. The issue is not that the new meter is giving a false reading, the issue is that some people were lucky enough be undercharged for years, even decades. It can be awfully tough to get some people to believe that, however.

[Beeman]

Originally Posted by Whisperwindkat

Our bill went up when they changed ours and has stayed consistently higher each and every month in comparison with the same months in previous years. Absolutely no change in usage or how we do things, but we certainly pay more. Good luck. Kat

When you say no change in useage I guess you mean life style and not killowatts.

In reality you were probably getting lower then actual bills for years and are now paying the correct amount.

[suitcase_sally]

Originally Posted by seagullplayer

Big Brother gets to see one more thing without leaving the comfort of his chair...

uh, when did Big Brother buy the utility company? You sound paranoid.