Electric Meters - Coin Operated

Hi,  firstly, apologies if this isn't the correct place to ask this question.  my electric bill for last october was around euros 190 [for the two months prior].  we rented out the apartment to regular tennants for around 3 weeks.  as we live in UK we can't really check on what is used or what is being left on [eg air con, immersion heater] or for how long after tennants vacate the apartment. in fact, it is possible, i guess, that these things could be left on until our cleaner goes in and turns them off - [this might be days or even weeks!].  we've decided to see if we should have a coin operated pre-pay meter installed.  does anyone know anything about this type of meter for use in a spanish property? our apartment is in Playa Flamenca, Orihuela Costa.  thank you in advance for any feedback.  John

You can buy a card operated meter in the UK that will use sterling cards, say £10.00 at a time, so your visitors use the £10.00 credit up and if they want more they then buy a card from a friend in Spain that you trust for another £10.00.

You can wire this meter along side you're existing Spanish circuit / fuse box so the main house electricity goes through the UK box first, as visitors use electricity so the credit goes down. 

It will give you an emergency couple of ££££'s when you press the emergency button on it so your never left totally in the dark trying to get a new card.

If your handy with electrics it's a DIY job, or qualified electrician job if not.

Might be of some help to you.

As my trying to be helpfull post got a "THUMBS DOWN" would the person who put this on please help me out and be BIG enough to tell me why they didn't like the answer, perhaps then I could explain further.

baz1946... 'twernt me honest gov! Perfectly good response so far as I can see.

john123... Just had a look at my leccy bill for the same period... 230€, but lets not lose track of the fact that of that your bill of 190€ is inclusive of potentially up to 70€ which would have been payable anyway whether there was anyone in the house or not. Almost certainly someone has been running the airconn hard...

The standing charge for that period would have been between 40 and 50€ depending on your contracted rate which is payable whether anyone is in the property or not and VAT (IVA) is payable at 21% on the sum of the standing charge, the actual consumption charge and the special electricity tax which is calculated at 5% of the sum of the standing charge and the actual consumption charge. In my case the standing charge was 57.51€, the consumption charge was 122.26€, the special tax 9.19€, and a meter rental charge of 1.14€. VAT (IVA) at 21%, adds a further 39.92€.  So, even if the property had been empty for the whole period you would still have had a bill for around 60-70€.

Things will only get more expensive now that the supply companies have jacked up the standing charge rate and the consumption charge

To be honest, I dont think airconn is a necessity down on the coast be it on the Costa del Sol or the Costa Blanca, it's an unnecessary and very expensive to run luxury. Its invariably 10 degrees cooler on the coast tham inland especially in the Jaen, Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla areas where summertime temps hit 40C and higher between May and September. It always stikes me as odd that holidaymakers pour onto the CDS and CB from the UK  to 'get some sun' and then promptly turn the airconn on because they cannot cope with the heat! 

As an alternative to fitting an additonal PAYG meter, why not vary the terms of your Rental agreement with your client(s) and add a 100€ part refundable deposit to cover the costs of the electricity (and water) they use during their stay?

As another alternative, some little while ago someone on this forum was talking about a movement sensor device which can be plugged into the socket where the airconn is normally plugged in. If no movement is sensed during a preset period of say ten minutes the airconn unit turns itself off...

Just a thought...

Hi, I had movement sensors in my old place near the coast. they are ok, but are noisy as they click on and off. Especially at bed time, when you either found yourself waving a leg in the air to reactivate it, or being woken up as it clicks on or off. I also understand they are not so great for the aircon units they are attached to and create premature wear and tear on them.

Be sure to get an inverter unit which is cheaper to run. Personally, I found it was an expense (albeit often a very expensive one) that I had to swallow - although the gas, water and electric used was tax deductable against my letting income. Also, get your unit serviced on a regular basis.

Carl

There are several companies in your area which supply and fit electric meters. Some are coin operated and others are card operated (you can give them a 10 euro card when they arrive and then they can buy extra ones from you for example). I think the card ones would be a better idea as no temptation to break into the meter box. 

One such company (and I'm not recommeding them as I've never used them, just pointing out a name) is Cool and Secure. I'm sure the local directories would have more.

Regarding the electric costs, our last bill was rather higher than normal even though we haven't been using the heating in a silly way. There are about six different rates shown on the bill to reflect the ups and downs of standing charges and taxes but the bottom line shows that 69% of the bill is for taxes and charges and only 31% of the bill is actually for cost of electricity used. 

wow!  many thanks for all your responses.  they really are appreciated.  we can all help one another; and do, on great forums like this one. what goes around comes around [like my electic meter] so they say.

you've given me a lot to think about here and a number of alternatives, which is brilliant.  i've been told that some of our guests let their family and friends [staying in their houses on our street] use our shower and new washing machine! whether this is true or not i can't say for sure but i think i have to do something about the ever increasing utility bills.

good point about installing a card meter rather than a coin one! apart from worrying about the theft aspect i was wondering what to do when it got full and i was here in uk.  i wonder if tennants would still get power [without paying for it] in that case.  we've had our air-con for about 14 years and never got round to having it serviced!   might consider not replacing it in future as we only use the apartment for 4 or 5 weeks each year and only rent it out for 5 or 6. 

anyway, many thanks for your very helpful responses.

cheers,

John