electric bill jumped nearly 8 fold

[gymrat]

Hey guys, just wandering is it possible for the electric guys who come around to tamper with meter, mine is post paid..

We usually spend 500-600k rup per month.. 3 air cond running during the night and not much during the day..

Only 3 of us in house and im away working overseas most time, missus works during day and daughter at school..

April bill went up to nearly 4 million.. we did drain and refill the pool but didnt think we would use that much.

i calculated lately we use less than 50kw per 24hrs. alot less but say 50 for now...so 1500kw per month (30x50) roughly... april was around 2500kw.

I checked the meter after we got this bill only two days later from the end meter read and now already used 1600kw in a few days..:icon_eek:

Any ideas?

 

[ronb]

No they don't tamper. One possibility is they missed readings and just estimated, then it turns out those estimates were low so you are catching up.

 

[gymrat]

No they don't tamper. One possibility is they missed readings and just estimated, then it turns out those estimates were low so you are catching up.

A possibility but the bill said 8569300-8817700 for meter. which i was given a day or two after meter man came. So i checked meter and was 8979000.
an increase of 1600kw or so in two days...

Such a difference from the bill meter reading...

thats another months worth in two days.. we use less than 50kw per 24hrs

 

[Joe Writeson]

Check your incoming wiring for evidence of someone hooking into your supply with jump leads and crocodile clips ...

 

[Fred2]

Turn you power off at night & see which neighbours lights go out.

 

[davita]

Check your incoming wiring for evidence of someone hooking into your supply with jump leads and crocodile clips ...

If someone jumps the wire before the meter it will not record the useage on the meter. The meter only records the watts consumed thru' the meter and beyond. That's why PLN will not allow their wires, up to the meter, to be covered. Similarly, anything after the meter is yours so, if anyone has access to jump that wire, then it's on your bill!

It is possible that there is a leak to ground but that would be massive and probably cause a circuit breaker (C/B) to pop. If not then check each distribution C/B and see if any are HOT.

Maybe something is running and you are unaware...this can be checked by selectively switching OFF C/Bs and watching if the meter reading slows down. Once you identify which part of the distribution circuitry is using the power it is easier to identify the culprit motor/pump/A.C. etc.

I had a similar case recently. One of our toilets didn't stop flushing so our well pump had to run continuously to refill the water tank that was flushing down the toilet...a vicious cycle...that cost me money!

 

[sfjoe2000]

Meters can be faulty or tampered with

The owner of our villa put a meter on our unit to record the amount of electricity we were using. I see in your original message that you are talking kWh and not the pulsa meter. We had a kWh meter attached as well. It was not for tracking pulsa, but just to track our usage or electricity. To be nice, I will say that our meter was faulty. The reality was most likely the that owner wanted to get as much money out of us as possible. I was suspicious of our electrical usage as it seemed so high, so I unplugged everything in our house including water heaters and TVs and fridge. EVERYTHING. The meter actually started to turn backwards ever so slightly, but that's to be expected, I believe, due to the fraction of power needed to actually run the meter itself. In any case, I plugged in a 15w bulb and measured the meter before and after a 1 hour period. The meter should have increased 15w or .015kw it read an increase of .06kw or 4 times the amount. I then unplugged the lamp and plugged in the fridge, noting the wattage usage on the back of the fridge. Again, it read 4 times the amount we were using. The meter was reading our usage as 4 times what it should have been. So, as some stated they do not tamper with meters. THEY DO! Unfortunately, the sad state of greed here in Bali makes it the individuals responsibility to question things like this. You can use my method above for proof. When I confronted our owner, his response was, "well then why did you pay it". My response was, "because I trusted you." Lesson learned.

 

[spicyayam]

The owner of our villa put a meter on our unit to record the amount of electricity we were using. I see in your original message that you are talking kWh and not the pulsa meter. We had a kWh meter attached as well. It was not for tracking pulsa, but just to track our usage or electricity. To be nice, I will say that our meter was faulty. The reality was most likely the that owner wanted to get as much money out of us as possible. I was suspicious of our electrical usage as it seemed so high, so I unplugged everything in our house including water heaters and TVs and fridge. EVERYTHING. The meter actually started to turn backwards ever so slightly, but that's to be expected, I believe, due to the fraction of power needed to actually run the meter itself. In any case, I plugged in a 15w bulb and measured the meter before and after a 1 hour period. The meter should have increased 15w or .015kw it read an increase of .06kw or 4 times the amount. I then unplugged the lamp and plugged in the fridge, noting the wattage usage on the back of the fridge. Again, it read 4 times the amount we were using. The meter was reading our usage as 4 times what it should have been. So, as some stated they do not tamper with meters. THEY DO! Unfortunately, the sad state of greed here in Bali makes it the individuals responsibility to question things like this. You can use my method above for proof. When I confronted our owner, his response was, "well then why did you pay it". My response was, "because I trusted you." Lesson learned.

So what did you have to do to get the meter fixed back to normal?

 

[sfjoe2000]

So what did you have to do to get the meter fixed back to normal?

The interaction between us and the local balinese owner, where I showed proof of the 'faulty meter', combined with his inability to save face in front of his family and neighbors, made it uncomfortable for all involved. We moved. He was not going to fix the meter, nor admit fault. There are plenty of other places to live in Bali and we didn't have to stand for this persons greed and lack of acknowledgment or ownership of the issue.

 

[davita]

My understanding is the meters belong to PLN and not the owner. When I bought my house (brand new) the meter had a failure so the builder broke the seal and bypassed the meter until the following day when PLN arrived and put in a new one. A bad connection inside the meter caused an internal wire to melt.

 

[balibule]

The owner of our villa put a meter on our unit to record the amount of electricity we were using.

Was that a PLN meter or a meter he bought and installed after the PLN meter?

 

[gymrat]

I dont deal with the owner at all just PLN direct, just checked my bill again today and its 2.5million on 6/6/14 is that for the whole month of may or just from 20th may till now?

 

[BKT]

I'm having the exact same problem, I put 100,000 in on Sunday and its already gone, we have 1 A/C going, refrigerator, TV and hones charging. We're using a pre-paid meter as well.

sfjoe2000's problem is common here, a lot of kos owners have dodgy meters, they offer their rooms at good rates and make up for it with high electricity bills.

 

[balibule]

I'm having the exact same problem, I put 100,000 in on Sunday and its already gone, we have 1 A/C going, refrigerator, TV and hones charging. We're using a pre-paid meter as well.

sfjoe2000's problem is common here, a lot of kos owners have dodgy meters, they offer their rooms at good rates and make up for it with high electricity bills.

Hi BKT, the 100k you enter is that on the PLN Meter? How can they corrupt the meter if it's sealed by PLN? Or is the owner tapping from your electricity after the meter?

 

[BKT]

Its a pre-paid meter you top up with pulsa. The owner is my father in law so it hasn't been tampered with. We're going to get PLN out to have a look at it. One of my friends who works at PLN said it might be a faulty wire or something.

 

[matsaleh]

BKT, until April I also had a pulsa meter. 12 months ago I was getting 94Kw on the meter for Rp100K top up, but I noticed at the end of last year that it reduced to 87Kw for Rp100K top up and for April, buying Rp100K only gave me Rp78Kw. The price of prepaid electricity seems to be increasing every second month or so.

I have since moved to a new house and now have post-paid electricity. I'm using the same amount of electricity, but it's costing me half as much.

 

[BKT]

Where did you buy Pulsa? I get mine through a cousin in law, 94Kw for 100k is what I paid today. We used to buy 500k worth but they're no longer selling it unless you go to the ATM. But if you buy 500k at the ATM they charge you 50k so you only get 447kw.

My problem is the power is being chewed up by something. 100k gone in 5 days is ridiculous.

 

[matsaleh]

I tried buying at several different places, admittedly mostly at phone pulsa counters. I was going through 100K every 2 or 3 weeks and I don't have A/C.

For the jump in power, maybe check your fridge. If the gas is leaking or the door seal is shot, it will eat up heaps of power.

 

[spicyayam]

And it is only going to get worse: Govt to Increase Indonesia Electricity Rates in July - The Jakarta Globe