Electricity Metering

W

Wasp_21

Expert Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2009
Messages
2,881
Reaction score
43
Location
Currently 18m down
Hi All,

Need some assistance.

I have my brother living with me, and he will be moving into a small flat i have on the property. I don't have aircons etc, but he wants to put aircon in his flat. I also, can't carry that cost of an Aircone running 8 hours a day. So, i wanted to install a meter between the flat and the house, that i can charge the correct amount of electricty to him. Any suggestions or ways i can do this?

Thanks
 
Wasp_21 said:
Hi All,

Need some assistance.

I have my brother living with me, and he will be moving into a small flat i have on the property. I don't have aircons etc, but he wants to put aircon in his flat. I also, can't carry that cost of an Aircone running 8 hours a day. So, i wanted to install a meter between the flat and the house, that i can charge the correct amount of electricty to him. Any suggestions or ways i can do this?

Thanks
Click to expand...

http://www.prepaidmeters.co.za/
 
FYI the prepaid meters take quite a while to get approved so you'd best get onto it asap.
 
Electric said:
FYI the prepaid meters take quite a while to get approved so you'd best get onto it asap.
Click to expand...

Not submetering (where it runs off your DB and the tenant pays you directly)
 
Wasp_21 said:
Hi All,

Need some assistance.

I have my brother living with me, and he will be moving into a small flat i have on the property. I don't have aircons etc, but he wants to put aircon in his flat. I also, can't carry that cost of an Aircone running 8 hours a day. So, i wanted to install a meter between the flat and the house, that i can charge the correct amount of electricty to him. Any suggestions or ways i can do this?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I seriously doubt if you will be allowed to do this. Also why would the aircon run 8 hours a day?

Do you have an ave. usage of electricity at the moment? Just bill him all the extra usage after the aircon has been installed.
 
Why would you not be allowed to install a second prepaid meter?
You just apply for it and pay the money.
 
Electric said:
Why would you not be allowed to install a second prepaid meter?
You just apply for it and pay the money.
Click to expand...

Hum...I don't know why. I based my comment on info from other threads where people in a complex were not allowed by the council to install their own meter for their unit, since the tenants were not happy with current billing in the complex.
 
Ok, i'm not in a complex. Freestanding house. I even don't mind just getting an actual usage and then he pays me the amount off my monthly bill. I do have an average usage, but at the moment i am super strict on what is used. He loves aircon, and i know that it will be put on at bed time, and only off when he leaves the house for work. He pays a sum total for the rent, but thats for one room, our bathroom, a fan, and his tv/computer. If he is in the flat, it will be tv/computer, fan, aircon, a second geyser for the shower/ and 3 lights instead of the 1. More usage that i would like to say, ok, from the meter, this month you used 300 units, so thats R600. Just cleaner and easier. Can't afford to carry that balance
 
Install a clip in mounted KWh meter in your DB.

Like these:

watt-hour-font-b-meter-b-font-din-rail-font-b-kwh-b-font-font-b.jpg

You should first check your Distribution Board for the type of railing that is fitted.
There are two type Mini rail or Din Rail.
Mini rail breakers escutcheon (the part that sticks out are 57mm); These are CBI breakers only. For these you'll need to get the CBI EC320CM meter.

The DIN rail breakers escutcheon are 46mm. These are everyone else. There are many brands available.

Most electrical wholesalers should be able to supply you both.
 
Wasp_21 said:
Ok, i'm not in a complex. Freestanding house. I even don't mind just getting an actual usage and then he pays me the amount off my monthly bill. I do have an average usage, but at the moment i am super strict on what is used. He loves aircon, and i know that it will be put on at bed time, and only off when he leaves the house for work. He pays a sum total for the rent, but thats for one room, our bathroom, a fan, and his tv/computer. If he is in the flat, it will be tv/computer, fan, aircon, a second geyser for the shower/ and 3 lights instead of the 1. More usage that i would like to say, ok, from the meter, this month you used 300 units, so thats R600. Just cleaner and easier. Can't afford to carry that balance
Click to expand...
I've had similar situation with a tenant, we agreed in the lease that I would continue paying what I paid for electricity before he moved in and he would pay the difference. What I did was say to him, here's the average consumption for the last 6 months, e.g. xxx kWh, and this is the current increased usage since you moved in. We made an assumption initially (I pay R600 he pays R200) but then after 3 months we were able to agree on a fixed amount that he would pay me per month. In winter he used more electricity so I would lose out but in Summer he’d use less than he was paying so it sorta averaged out. I mostly lost out on the deal but I didn’t mind because it was a small amount and he was a great tenant (which are hard to find these days).
 
Wasp_21 said:
Ok, i'm not in a complex. Freestanding house. I even don't mind just getting an actual usage and then he pays me the amount off my monthly bill. I do have an average usage, but at the moment i am super strict on what is used. He loves aircon, and i know that it will be put on at bed time, and only off when he leaves the house for work. He pays a sum total for the rent, but thats for one room, our bathroom, a fan, and his tv/computer. If he is in the flat, it will be tv/computer, fan, aircon, a second geyser for the shower/ and 3 lights instead of the 1. More usage that i would like to say, ok, from the meter, this month you used 300 units, so thats R600. Just cleaner and easier. Can't afford to carry that balance
Click to expand...

For you the prepaidmeters.co.za submeter is perfect.
 
Aircons runs at basically R1 per hour if it's not too big an area it has to cool down. You can easily work out an estimate from that.
 
I will be doing the PrePaid meter thing in my granny flat in the not too distant future...

I would rather take the 10% knock on the electricity, and not have to worry about my tenant going completely bonkers and leaving everything running and costing me an absolute fortune....

I will decrease the rent somewhat but leave enough meat in it to cover the 10% admin fees that come with submetering.
 
250 a month on average. Self managed though...
 
Sinbad said:
250 a month on average. Self managed though...
Click to expand...

Ahhh see.. I don't want to self manage...

I want them to manage, then I can't get the pleading eyes to please add more electricity and we'll pay you tomorrow thing...

If they manage, then when they run out, they have to go to the shop and do it themselves.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Ahhh see.. I don't want to self manage...

I want them to manage, then I can't get the pleading eyes to please add more electricity and we'll pay you tomorrow thing...

If they manage, then when they run out, they have to go to the shop and do it themselves.
Click to expand...

My tenants are pretty good. I just keep a record of their topups and they add it to the rent payment at the end of the month. If they don't, it's a single breaker on my DB ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X