# Forum More Stuff Debate & Technical Discussion  Origin electricity Off Peak in SA?

## bbbobbb

G'day guys & gals,Firstly mods. if this is in the wrong place..my sincerest apologies but am still finding my feet around here & im tired,tired,tired..... 
Righto,I'm hoping theres some fellow adelaideans on here preferably signed up with Origin for their electricity that can enlighten me as to whats the go with my meters & ultimately the bills im getting regards to them.
On a scrutinizing review of our latest bill i've realised that my "off peak" meter reading has not moved at all..& on further investigation thru my receipts/files it seems it is showing the same reading as it did on a bill from Oct./Nov. '08  !!!
My Questions are then :
      1.  What are the usual hours deemed as "off peak" regards to power consumption.?
              * I vaguely thought it was something like 11pm - 7am Mon.-Fri. & maybe some part of the weekend *
      2.If indeed there exists these "off peak" times as one would assume as there is an "off peak" meter in the meter box with corresponding meter numbers & that meter seizes/breaks/stops working,would the power being used during those "off peak" times simply not register(yeah right) or somehow just get registered thru the normal peak meter?
           * which is what i believe is happening as the way me & the mrs. live there is CONSTANTLY power usage 24/7 happening in this household *
     3.If thats whats happened...where do i stand in regards to reimbursement/compensation/legal recourse?
         *Ive lived here for approx.10 years & every 2-3years i have a cleanout of my files/receipts so the Oct. '08 bill is merely the oldest one i had kept.I've no real idea how far back this could go * 
Now before Olly obvious jumps in & says " just ring origin " & they will come & sort it out.Save both our times & dont reply because that just aint going to happen.Anyone else,Im open ears!!
   Also,for background , like i said ive been here approx.10years & i think the 1st 3-4years was with AGL.Got some hotty from Origin door-to-door sometime back then & converted over but for some reason im sure ive seen at least 1 bill from them early days with readings for the "off peak" meter.
  I presume were on the standard level "Home Value" plan.
  No access issues regarding meter readings so never had any estimate bills.
  I have attempted to source info.from Origin website to no avail really.
  Want to get my head around whats going on before i go alerting them to "dodgy" meters as past history counts against me on these type of dramas & i dont want to alert them to something thats going to come back & bite me on the a*se.
  This is not results from any tampering/bypassing power theft.     
These are some shots of the said meters....Left 1 is Peak...Right 1 is Off peak & below that is the time switch. 
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this & i await any replies.
 Cheers

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## commodorenut

Do you actually have an off-peak hot water service (or anything else) connected to it?
Unless there's a load connected, it won't tick the meter over. 
Have you switched to gas or solar power for your hot water service sometime in the last few years?  
Off-peak meters only measure the power to the circuit they run, which is normally a storage-tank style hot water service, which is on a completely seperate circuit to the rest of the house.
They don't actually measure the household power during an off-peak period, and then switch back to peak measuring during the day/evening (only the new smart meters can do that).

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