I recently did some electrical work on a family members house and noticed that someone had bypass some of the supply from the meter, directly to the consumer unit.
Now obviously I realise this is illegal, but the owner says its been like it for years, and that there is no chance of getting caught.
Can anyone enlighten me about if this is common practice and whether it is full proof?
Regards
Dave
There is always someone out there who thinks he can cheat the system? Sometimes it is true.
Here in Quebec, this is how it happens. Typically the power comes into the house via an electrical entrance cap, usually mounted above the meter.
After the installation the utility company verifies the work before installing the meter (plug in) and then applying a seal.
It used to be that the guy reading the meter every month would also verify the seal for it's integrity.
Some guys would carefully pry off the seal and pass a cable through the back of the meter to a secondary panel (make a bypass for the power) and feed some circuits off of this panel. They would then re-apply the seal and nobody would be the wiser.
In order for the utility company to save money, the meter guys stopped comming to your house every month. The utility company now asks you to send in your own meter readings on a bi-monthly basis. Then they send a guy once a year to verify your numbers, you pay the balance if you read the meter wrong.
Since nobody comes by that often chances are you won't get caught. Especially if it's winter when the guy comes to check your meter and it's cold outside.
However, you have to be careful not to use too much off the secondary panel because the people who analyse your bill would start to wonder how you cut your consumption down by 40-50%. These days there are computers that analyse your bill and consumption. They red flag any abnormalities.
On a similar note the utlity company's computer found it odd that 10-12 houses in a particular district were all pulling double the consumption load that there neighbors were using. After an investigation by the police it was found that a gang had bought 12 houses and was growing marijuanna in the basements of each of these houses. They were using high wattage lighting to produce the plants. The meter was literally spinning at the speed of a record player. Nobody said anything because the bills were paid very punctually. This went on for about 2-3 years.
Paul Electrician / Estimator
Thanks for that.
Another thing I've heard is that in the UK we have meters that switch between higher rates during the day to cheaper rates during the night. Some say its possible to switch of the contactor inside to prevent the higher rate ever applying, and thus saving you money while still actually paying.
Any ideas???
Well, that would be instantly obvious to the supplier.
The switch used to be driven by mains timeclocks on synchronous motors years ago, and those were often hours out after running for
10 or more years and never being corrected after the odd power cut. You couldn't even correct it yourself as the timeclock was protected with a seal too.With no love lost for my serving utility (cut the power twice in 5 years, and took their sweet time restoring it - Low life on the next street - same house number - frequently doesn't pay his bill) I decided to have some fun with them.
Caring for elderly parents, we spent about six months, three or more weeks at a time, away from our home. After the third month of bills reduced by more than 75%, the utility sent a letter wanting to know if we had changed our lifestyle, or was there another logical reason for the drastic reduction in our bill (over the winter & electric heat, no baths). I tried to sound very non-technical, and indicated no lifestyle changes here, it's just that my friend showed me how to make the electric meter "more efficient". After bantering back, and forth about access, and other issues I relented, and granted them access to my home (we had returned full time after parents recovered). The comedy that followed was very interesting, and I must say they were very thorough in their investigation. Finally the investigator admitted to me that after two different meters, and close examination of the installation, they couldn't find anything wrong. He also asked me off the record how I accomplished what they perceived as power theft. I explained that there never was any theft, we were gone most of the time, and it was an effort to cause them a small portion of the grief we experienced as a result of their failure to correct the recurring problem of our power being cut off.
I realize that my actions were inappropriate, but my power hasn't been chopped in the 5+ years since the event.
Louis--
********************************************* Remove the two fish in address to respond
I'd suggest to them to fix it fast. If the utility discovered it, they can be under a load of legal problems and perhaps even jail time. Who wants to pay back years of service and have a criminal record? Not a risk I would dare take. John
Its easy enough to do and as fool proof as any dodgy scheme.
A friend of mine stuck a hugh nail through a cooker circuit, then called me up because he had lost all power.
I replaced the main cutout fuse for him but told him he would have to get the board out to reseal the fuse....which he never done.
This was around 5 years ago, and no meter reader has ever asked him why the seal is broken.
The meter men are not what they used to be..........
On a side note(UK), has anyone got a number where you can call up and talk to an engineer at the board? like you use to ?
sQuick...
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