Hi All,
We have bought a house recently which has a small PV Solar panels. Our retailer is Energy Australia and energy provider is Endeavour Energy.
Our energy consumption came 5 times more compared to our previous residential places.
Can you guys advise how we should get smart meter and how much does it cost?
Thanks a lot. Do you know how much EA would charge me?
The only reason to get smart meter is to check which appliances are consuming the most electricity. For example if we turn on the aircon for an hour or full night vs standing in front of the meter box for hours checking to see the digital numbers.
For smart meter thanks a lot for letting me know my rates would change to few different categories.
When I called EA today they found they guesstimated our meter read even though I paid for the meter read guy. Now they are sending someone to get the manual meter reads.
How does this work? How can they check what my meter reading was 3 months ago when we moved to 90 days of billing cycle?
Can I argue to get a discount?
"5 times more" is pretty meaningless. Move from an apartment with gas heating to a large, draughty house with electric heating will do that easily.
Anyway, answer is simple, call EA and google how much it costs to get a vague idea but it likely varies depending on where you are and what work needs to be done.
I didn’t have gas heater. We used more electricity in an apartment where we used to turn on ducted aircon almost half a day mostly heating during winter and cooling during summer.
My issue now is two folds 1) How can EA go back and find out initial meter readings for which they guesstimated 2) Having a smart meter I can turn off devices for a day to check which appliances are consuming for electricity.
Regarding smart meter installation I thought only EA can provide that or I can purchase this and get a licensed electrician to install it?
Our energy consumption came 5 times more compared to our previous residential places.
This could be something to do with bad insulation and different surface area.
You live in a house, so you will have access to both meters unrestricted unlike in an apartment. Cant you write down the readings daily without a smart meter? Smart meter may provide you to see hourly usage on EA. Do you need that?
To isolate which appliance consumes most, your can achieve that with something simple like this for $20.
Thanks mate. I’m suspecting the oven and aircon both has no internal power outlets. This device won’t be of use :(
Quite the contrary. Oven and aircon dont have much standby power. So you would use these devices to find out standby/average power of your appliances. If you want to find out how much your oven and aircon uses, then write down the readings before and after you use them. :)
Shouldn't cost anything to organise a meter exchange to a smart meter - however your tariff may change, but you may need to check with Endeavour if you're able to change to a Single Rate + Solar (N70+GENR) once your on a COMMS4 meter.
If you're on a basic meter and on solar, you may be on gross metering (which means the solar you're generating isn't used by the house, it goes back to the grid). Which I guess would explain the high consumption without solar offsetting the usage.
But dont quote me on it, check with Endeavour and EA
Wow I had no clue on this. Not sure calling Endeavour would help as EA is my retailer. The issue with EA is their call centre is overseas and anything outside their script they are very good in deflecting the issue and keeps repeating the same thing.
Regardless I’ll call them on Monday to find out.
Distributor doesn’t talk to consumer directly. You will organise via retailer.
You should be able to call EA and ask for a smart meter to be installed. But be warned if you install a smart meter your tariff might change, as in you might go from single rate to a time of use tariff (peak, off peak and shoulder). I would recommend turning off all your appliances and turning them on one by one to see what is drawing so much usage. Your meter will tell you what is causing it. Could be a faulty plug or appliance. It’s extremely rare a meter is at fault.