IEE Regulations regarding communal lighting tariffs

[strapkass]

IEE Regulations regarding communal lighting tariffs

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Hi

I am not an electrician, but a council tenant who has been systematically overcharged by my local council for communal electricity charges. I live in one of seven blocks each containing 6 flats. Each block has communal lighting and in each block there is a meter, presumably to log the communal lighting and door entry systems electricity consumption. Despite this, my council insist on estimating the charges and despite the clearly rated low energy bulbs that are fitted, they insist on the following:

IEE regulations page 85, appendix 1, note 2 states that Final circuits for discharge lighting must be arranged so as to be capable of carrying the total steady current, viz. that of the lamp(s) and any associated gear and also the harmonic currents. Where more exact information is not available, the demand in volt-amperes is taken as the rated lamp watts multiplied by not less than 1.8. This multiplier is based upon the assumption that the circuit is corrected to a power of not less that 0.85 lagging and takes into account control gear losses and harmonic current.

Like I said, I'm not an electrician and this is all gobbledegook to me, especially as there is a meter present and all I ask for is the bill to be reflected by the meter reading and not some mystical mathematical formula which in my opinion bears no relevance to the problem at hand...namely overcharging residents for communal electricity by a factor of 1.8 and then some....

Does anybody have any information as to whether this is fair and accurate information on the part of the council and where I can check it for myself please. Every electrician I have spoken to including E.D.F., the supply company have no idea what I am talking about...

 

[PAUL M]

the 1.8 is a correction factor for designers to use when working out the design current when sizing their cables,the 1.8 is associated with discharge lighting,they are not multiplying your bill by 1.8 mate,i hope this helps allay your fears.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

It appears that from your letter the invoice is prepared from the design of the lighting, not actual meter readings. Probably a way to save money on their part. Do you have access to the meter to calculate your own figures ?

 

[kme]

To clarify the point.

IEE regs do not, in any way shape or form, concern themselves with billing. As Paul says, that has no relevance to your issue.

read the meter, and divide the reading by the number of tenants paying. This will tell you the number of units you should each be billed for.

HTH

KME

 

[strapkass]

Thanks for your help guys...Unfortunately I think they are multiplying my bill by a factor of 1.8. Here is an extract from an earlier letter as follows:

I have since our last conversation received confirmation from our senior electrical engineer who has inspected the block and carried out calculations to establish what he believes the average annual charge should be for the block.

6 lamps x 28 watts x 7 entrances = 1176 watts

4 x external lamps x 16 watts = 64 watts

3 lamp posts x 70 watts = 210 watts

Total = 1450 watts

Industry standard of 1.8 applied as loss of energy 1.8 x 1450 = 2610 watts

Using an average of 10 hours = 10 x 2610 = 26,100 watts

In kilowatts this will be 26100/1000 = 26.10 kw

charge per day is 0.0838 (electricity rate) x 26.10 =

 

[kme]

Ok......

Technically, the calculations add up - however.

What I would look at doing is reading the meter, over the course of, say, 7 days.

Then calculate that usage; using the 8.38p per unit charge, keeping a note of the times they come on / go off.

(Thought: are the lights on a time switch, or a sensor?).

The meter will calculate the units used in a given period.

So if you read the meter this afternoon, and, suppose it reads 000000

The lights come on at 6.00p.m

They go off at 7.00 a.m.

That equates to thirteen hours, though ten is the average....

Tomorrow morning you read the meter, which shows 000185, maybe

so its used 185 units for thirteen hours.

divide by 13, times by ten

gives 142.3 units for ten hours.

So, in 1 hour, you`ve ACTUALLY used 14.23 units

Which would equal 1423 Watts.

Then we use their own calculations against them:

charge per day = 0.0838 x 142.3 =

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

In addition to KME's post normally this sort of supply is on a duel rate meter, giving a cheaper supply overnight. Has this been allowed for ? It is also possible other electrical items which do not directly link to your charges ( ie, street lighting) are fed via the same meter. The council may be doing you a favour by calculating your blocks charge rather than reading the meter ?

These problems only came to light (no pun intended) a few years after the 'Right to buy' schemes had taken off. Before this there was no need to seperate meters and charges, so the wiring was grouped together.

 

[Apache]

Do you have some kind of tenancy agreement? Does this set out how you will be charged for this electricity?

If you've signed saying you'll pay on calculated usage then you haven't a leg to stand on!

 

[strapkass]

As far as I am aware, it's not a dual rate meter and the only other charges to take into account are the 3 external 70 watt street lamps. EDF, the supplier inadvertantly told me that the charges per block, presumably excluding the street lamps, was an average of