Off-Peak HWS/ Power Meter Clock Issues, Who Pays for The Fix?

tunzafun001 on 06/09/2021 - 23:03

Got a message from my tenant that the 300L HWS isn't working. Property manager had sent out an electrician. Spoke to all parties. Tenant suggests the sparkie "gave it a boost session". It worked for a day, then went cold again. Electrician went back again and "fixed it" the second time.

Spoke to electrician front desk. The girl says the HWS was all fine, tried just adding a boost first, and when called back, looked and saw the off-peak clock in the meter was out of sync, so they simply bypassed the clock. So the implication is, the HWS was getting cold by the time it powered on again. No idea if the poor tenant is now paying full rate for HWS power, the girl couldn't answer that question. Asked for a definitive answer from the person who did the job. Also couldn't tell me what "ran an initial boost" means…

Now the power company was supposed to put in a smart meter years ago, sounds like they haven't, or its faulty. If it is a smart meter, the plumbers "boost job" would be pushing the boost button on the smart meter.

So a couple of things going on here it would seem.

  1. The tenant is using a lot of water. Even if the clock was out, it still shouldn't be "cold" in under 24 hrs. The thermostat is set at 65C. The unit is a standard Rheem HWS about 3 years old. Ran perfect until now.

  2. The fault has been attributed to the supply and metering of the HWS + heavy use. I spoke to the power supplier (SAPN), and they said all metering issues are now covered by the retailer (ie AGL etc).

  3. I'm getting hit with electrician invoices and call outs, but there is actually nothing wrong with the HWS.

I only get $160 per week rent, so any costs are significant. Since the issue is a meter problem, it would seem it's AGLs responsibility. But the agent called out the sparkie, and let's face it, AGL would have their own contractors and won't cover the called out sparkies bill, or should they? Ie. How else would it be diagnosed?

Or should the sparky have known better and said straight up the issue is the meter and you need to chase the retailer for a fix?

Also, since the tenant is basically using all the water (which would mean someone is having an hour shower per day, as there is only 2 people renting the house (or there are other people undeclared staying at the house), should they cover some of the cost?

Basically been a series of these type of events. I've copped a few on the chin, but its such cheap rent and I need to draw a line in the sand (as long as its fair)?

Anyone advise me on how to proceed with this fairly?

Cheers

Home & Garden

Comments

  • oscargamer on 06/09/2021 - 23:06
    +1

    You are paying for a property manager? and you're doing all the running around? How does that work?

    • tunzafun001 on 07/09/2021 - 20:53

      Yep, that's the reality. They are beyond hopeless (changed 3 times), you wouldn't believe the work they have caused me over the years. I wish I had the confidence and time to take them to court, but till then I'll just take it on the chin. Would turf them completely, but you need a professional manager for insurance cover.

      • oscargamer on 07/09/2021 - 21:14

        I know that, but your jokers are not professional !

  • AuzzieGumtree on 07/09/2021 - 08:46

    i dont think the boost function will heat the whole of the 300 litres of water - just a small amount of the tank to give it a quick boost until the main off-peak heater can kick in. If the water has 2 elements (one for boost and one for off-peak heating) maybe one of the elements has gone? Did the electrician test both eleemnts (if there are 2.)

    If there is an issue with the timer then i would think that is upto AGL to sort out.

    • tunzafun001 on 07/09/2021 - 20:56

      Front desk girls "have no information on that". But it's a single element system, and it is heating, so must be ok. I'm looking more at the thermostat. Sadly, doing a 400km drive tomorrow to go sort it all out myself.

  • rbr85 on 07/09/2021 - 09:35

    If you don't yet have a smart meter, you should get AGL to install one. It is free in NSW - should be the same in SA.
    In any case, shouldn't your HWS be on a controlled load? If so I would have thought the timing would be controlled by SAPN rather than at your property.

    • tunzafun001 on 07/09/2021 - 20:58

      Yep, was supposed to go in around Sept 2018! Will find out when I get there if it's still the old analog meter (which the feedback suggests it is).

  • Duckie2hh on 07/09/2021 - 09:36

    As someone who had similar-ish experience to you, unfortunately it won't be the tenants fault. The root cause ultimately came to a combination of poor quality plumber (who should have identified the issue on the first call out) and the HWS/clock/meter out of sync problem.

    Although I wouldn't hold my breath, I would try to dispute the second call out fee of the plumber to see if they would discount it.

  • Switchblade88 on 07/09/2021 - 10:27

    Likely the meter needs replacing if the element etc is working fine in boost. Ring the local electricity distributor, explain the symptoms & diagnosed as a faulty meter, they will replace for free.

    If the distributor said to call the supplier (AGL) then do that instead, they will organise the meter replacement with the distributor.

  • Wardey69 on 07/09/2021 - 11:15

    AuzzieGumtree is correct, the boost function only heats a small portion of the tank, usually the top third.

    If the meter is an old mechanical style meter with 2 registers, or if you have 2 meters (one peak and one off peak) and the time switch is only out of time, this should make no difference to the peak/off peak, as long as the time switch is still operating.

    i.e. you will not be getting charged the peak rate when the time switch engages.

    What will happen is the hot water will be heated when the time switch engages, and the consumption should all be registered on the off peak register/meter.

    • tunzafun001 on 07/09/2021 - 21:01

      The sparkies notes say "bypassed the time clock"…so does that mean it is still offpeak/ controlled load. It doesn't effect me, but trying to do the right thing by the tenant who doesn't understand how it all works.

      • Wardey69 on 09/09/2021 - 13:58

        If the sparkies notes are "bypassed the time clock" then i would expect that the hot water is heating all of the time (only controlled by the thermostat in the hot water service), the sparky would have wired the hot water service directly to the main switch (which will all be metered on the peak meter)
        Have seen it happen plenty of times

        • tunzafun001 on 09/09/2021 - 14:42

          Right, so the tenant will now be paying around double for their hot water. So in 3 months time they will say "something is wrong with this hotwater system" it's costing heaps… Next minute..another sparky call out…that I will have to pay for.

          Will put it in writing to the tenant, as ultimately they have the contract with the retailer that needs to fix it.

          • Wardey69 on 09/09/2021 - 15:26

            @tunzafun001: Correct, It would have been the network up until December 2017 (I think) that would have taken care of this, but since then, the retailer will have to arrange for the metering to be fixed (thanks Power of Choice)
            In Victoria, the network still looks after all of these issues.
            Your tenant will have the contract with the retailer, so it will be up to them to arrange the repair/replacement

            • tunzafun001 on 09/09/2021 - 15:45

              @Wardey69: Yeah, but the bloody agent has already paid the invoice on my behalf. I just wrote to them to say to recoup the cost from the tenant, and they can chase it via the retailer.

              *Update - sparky called me and said they are now allowed to put the HWS permanently on J tarrif (not peak). Said something about being asbestos boards, so they won't touch/ update the meter. Just simply bridge it.

              He said he fixed the timer first, but said they still complained. So simply just bridged the J tarrif clock and leaving it to the thermostat to regulate.

              Either way, shouldn't be my cost. Looks like a bit of a shit fight coming.

              Cheers for your help.

  • brad1-8tsi on 07/09/2021 - 11:42

    Yes the meter should be the retailers responsibility.

    We managed to get Jemena to pay for a plumbers callout for our gas supply recently because Jemena didn't have a clue what they were doing.

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