Many thanks for any advice!
Two meters - two standing charges?
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Hi - I have recently moved into a property that has two electricity meters - one for the house, and another for an out-building (my home office - which is not a separate dwelling, not separate for Council Tax purposes etc). I am told that because of the two separate meters, I will be liable for two sets of standing charges. This seems nuts. Is there anything I can do?
Many thanks for any advice! -
8 Replies
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Best Answer
Best Answer@HelenSS
Have a look on an electricity bill for the property. If you have two separate MPAN numbers for the two meters then you have two supplies, each liable to a standing charge. If there is only one MPAN for the property, then you will only pay one charge and the second meter is simply a sub-meter. You will only need to read the main meter if that is the case.
Might be worth getting an electrician in to double check, but an easy way to tell is if the meter in the outbuilding has a large fuse on the incoming supply. If not, turn off the main isolator switch in the house consumer unit. If the outbuilding still has power, it could be a separate supply which will incur standing charges.Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. I DON'T work for or on behalf of EON.Next, but am willing to try and help if I can. Not on mains gas, mobile network or mains drainage. House heated almost entirely by baby dragons. -
Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
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Thanks for the replies. Sadly there are two separate MPANs. And the supplies are completely separate. But since it is one property, in a single domestic curtilage, single Council Tax bill etc, do I not have any right to ask them to be merged and therefore only pay one standing charge?
Any thoughts / advice on a workaround?... (When I hope to have some money in a couple of years to do various bits of building work, I'll look to get the outbuilding supplied from the main house, but imagine that'll cost ££s....) -
That's the workaround. Get the supply fed from the main house and then arrange to have the meter removed. Every meter has an MPAN and a standing charge. The two cannot be merged so you either pay for two supplies or have one removed.
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@HelenSS
The other factor to consider is how much power the outbuildings are using. It may be that a prior incumbent had a hobby workshop or something with a lot of power tools they they simply didn't have enough capacity for on the regular domestic supply, or may be the outbuildings have electrical heating and/or hot water.
If it's just a few lights and sockets, then slaving off the house supply shouldn't be too difficult, but depending on terrain or distance, might not be a cheap job, for sure,
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Thank you - you're quite right. The outbuilding has electric heating - although I plan to change that in due course...
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@HelenSS Welcome to the community, I can see you have had some help from some of our lovely members with this. If there's ever anything else - pop back over to us, don't be a stranger 😁🌳Together we can work to achieve a more sustainable Future 🌳