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2. When you phone them, the telephone is answered and your problem is resolved.
3. They have an app that the tenant can use for electricity purchases that cuts out the participating retailers, so the tenant gets a little bit more electricity for their money.
A din rail mounted meter, with a wifi or blue tooth keypad.
Preferably a smart meter with an app to monitor usage.
CitiQ - According to the help desk, they dont do a smart meter and they do have a din mount meter, however it has a wired keypad which must be mounted next to the DB.
Netvender - waiting for them to return my call, the help desk couldn't answer my questions.
Recharge - The help desk couldn't answer the questions and was told to contact their orders department via email, no thanks.
So then I ask myself , is there not a smart meter I can purchase and manage myself via an app? You would think with all the smart tech out there someone would have created an app of something that can
Comments are my opinion, unless regulations are attached to support the comment. This is social media, not a court room.
There are many pre paid venders with many options.
I have a building which I wan to rent out individual rooms.
A self managed system might work out a lot cheaper for the tenant.
Check out the AUS-iot Monitor. A LoRa enabled electricity meter communicates with the LoRa network. No need for a gateway where there is existing cover.
The tenant gets an Android app to monitor his own meter and the manager/admin gets a dashboard to monitor all the meters.
Meters can be read from anywhere in the world. Data is stored in the cloud.
The meters are read on the hour and readings for the week/month can be downloaded in a CSV file or is also compatible to most accounting packages for billing purposes.
Cost effective and reliable. Subscription is R31 pm incl or discounted at R333.50 p.a.
Also available for water & gas. See flyer attached.
No, the AUS-ioT Monitor is not prepaid, but an AMR device for reading meters remotely from your armchair or office.
Connected to a water meter, it turns your meter into a smart meter and reading on your phone.
It gives you the reading on the hour as well as alerts for pipe bursts and leaks.
The system was developed by the same engineers who developed and registered the STS prepaid system as the world-wide standard for prepaid metering.
STS prepaid devices are expensive and a water meter with an AUS-iot monitor will cost less than 50% of a prepaid water meter.
There is not that much difference in electricity meters.
This is the ideal system for managing utilities in a complex, residential, commercial or even industrial. Accurate hourly measurement eliminates incorrect billing and disputes. As all the meters can be read simultaneously, statistical analysis is possible which can assist with budgeting and advance planning. It saves driving around to different properties to read the meters where sometimes access is impossible. Time can now be spent on repairing leaks or other maintenance work.
For a property manager there is a dashboard with all their properties and tenants. Accurate Water balancing can be done between incoming bulk supply and recoveries from tenants. Tenants have access to their own meters via an Android app.
Thanks for the help last night, it took a bit of force to remove the unit, but eventually it popped out.
A note for prepaid uses.
IF you are the owner and rent out your property, rather apply for a council meter, you pay the installation cost and then back to the normal rate that you would pay council. It saves you all the fees and hassle of buying power and paying the council.
If you fit a prepaid meter and decide to move back into the property, rather bypass the meter while you are living on the property, otherwise you just pay all the silly admin and service fees.
If you sub let a part of a building then use a private prepaid meter, but make sure you understand ALL the costs involved, some could be as high as 15 % of the bill.
IF you are renting a building make sure your landlord explains ALL the fees involved in the electricity, I get so many calls from tenants asking me to explain why their they only get a fraction of the electricity they purchase.
In our part of town the standard fee is R2.58 domestic and R3.14 for business and general.
If you are buying electricity from a chain store or from banks, there is a percentage taken off, then there the vender fee and sometimes other vender fees.
This is what we call money for jam.
Comments are my opinion, unless regulations are attached to support the comment. This is social media, not a court room.
By the way the meter installation was illegal, incorrect wire size used from the main switch to the meter and back to the busbar, which had resulted in brittle tails.
If you have a prepaid meter installed, make sure there is a COC issued for the installation. 6 mm wire tails just dont cut it when there is a 60 amp mcb used to protect the wire.
Comments are my opinion, unless regulations are attached to support the comment. This is social media, not a court room.
Still waiting for Netvender sales to return my call
Now I can see why tenants complain about how much electricity costs when using private prepaid meters.
One vender we contacted:
Chain store options = R25 ex vat per month/ per meter.
Vender admin/service fee is 10% of the value purchased plus vat (15%)
Private option: Buy vouchers.
Min of R1oo per voucher card.
If you buy a prepaid meter and decide to change the vender, make sure you understand the additional fees involved.
Electricity sales should be regulated and a standard fee landlord or tenant. Trying to understand admin/service fees and percentages become a small challenge. Throw in the council pricing structure and you need consultant at another fee to clear up all the confusion
Comments are my opinion, unless regulations are attached to support the comment. This is social media, not a court room.
Now I can see why tenants complain about how much electricity costs when using private prepaid meters.
One vender we contacted:
Chain store options = R25 ex vat per month/ per meter.
Vender admin/service fee is 10% of the value purchased plus vat (15%)
Private option: Buy vouchers.
Min of R1oo per voucher card.
If you buy a prepaid meter and decide to change the vender, make sure you understand the additional fees involved.
Electricity sales should be regulated and a standard fee landlord or tenant. Trying to understand admin/service fees and percentages become a small challenge. Throw in the council pricing structure and you need consultant at another fee to clear up all the confusion
The STS Association charge vendors enormous fees for registration and annual licencing fees. Even an equipment manufacturer who wants their product certified has to pay annual subscriptions. Vending infrastructure is expensive and vendors therefore charge between 10% to 15% on their vending fees. That is why users get less when they pay via a prepaid meter.
An alternative is to monitor and bill in arrears or to load a "wallet" from where credits can be drawn to pay for consumption. The AUS-ioT System is a monitoring system available for single users or multiple complexes. Billing can be done on your own accounting package or via the system either weekly, or monthly. Data is collected every hour so that you always have an up to date reading of the meters (water or electricity).
Coming soon for water users is a motorized valve that can be opened or closed remotely. Linked to a prepaid wallet it will greatly reduce the exorbitant STS fees.
@Blurock. Sounds like a wonderful system, however, at the end of the day, the biggest problem for landlords is getting the money from tenants for services consumed.
That is where prepaid is the easiest solution. You don't pay in advance for services, you don't get them. Problem solved.
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