Prepaid sub-meters, plug points and lights, Vaal Triangle.
Renting out a cottage and tired of guessing whose units those were? I fit a private prepaid sub-meter on your side of the supply, priced once I have looked at the run. While I'm there: plug points, light fittings, downlights, ceiling fans, a switch or a plug replaced. Send me the list and I'll price the lot on WhatsApp. I never touch the municipal meter..
I don't touch the municipal meter.
Let's get this straight before anything else, because it is the question I'm asked most and the one most people get wrong advice about.
Your prepaid meter — the municipal one, or the BXC smart meter fitted during the rollout — belongs to the supplier. Not to you, and not to me. I don't open it, move it, repair it or replace it. My work starts on your side of that meter: your main switch, your board, your circuits, your plugs and lights.
If the meter itself is the problem, the municipality is the one who fixes it. Blank display, an error on the screen, units that don't match what you paid, a meter that was fitted wrong — all of that is theirs. Phone them, keep every receipt and every token slip, and log it in writing.
Meters do go wrong: units that do not match what you paid, a display that has gone blank, a meter loaded with the wrong settings. None of that is fixed by an electrician, and anyone who says otherwise is about to take your money. Phone the supplier, keep every receipt and token slip, and log it in writing.
Save these in your phone now, before you need them. The BXC smart meter rollout has been running through Vanderbijlpark and out into CW4, CW5, Miami Sands, Powerville Park, parts of Boipatong, Peacehaven, Vereeniging and Sebokeng Hostel.
Stop arguing about the cottage's units.
A sub-meter is a private meter on your side of the municipal supply. It goes on the circuit feeding the cottage, the flatlet or the granny flat, and it measures exactly what that unit uses.
The municipal meter stays exactly where it is and stays in your name. Nothing about your municipal account changes. What changes is that you now have a reading instead of an argument at the end of every month.
People fit these for three reasons. A backyard cottage or flatlet let to a tenant. A granny flat where the family wants to split the bill fairly. A workshop, a salon or an office on the same stand as the house.
Price: on site. I'm not going to publish a number I can't stand behind. What it costs depends on where your board is, where the cottage is, how far the cable has to run and whether the circuit already exists. Send me a photo of the board and one of the cottage and tell me the distance between them. I'll give you a realistic range on WhatsApp, then the firm written price once I've seen the run.
sub-meter on a cottage feed
real job photo · under 120 kB
Two things I'll say up front, because they matter. First, a sub-meter does not make your tenant a municipal customer — the municipal account and bill stay yours. How you handle the billing is between you, your tenant and your lease. Second, the cottage circuit itself must be safe and correctly protected before a meter goes anywhere near it. If it isn't, I'll quote that separately and you decide.
The little list on the fridge.
The plug that's been dangling since Christmas. The downlights the last guy never finished. The fan for the main bedroom before summer. Small jobs, done properly, with the same paperwork as a big one.
Here's how to make them cheap: do them together. Most of the cost of a small job is getting there, moving your furniture and switching off. Six downlights done together cost a fraction of six jobs booked separately. Send me the whole list and you get one written price for the lot.
All of these are straightforward enough for me to price on WhatsApp. What moves the figure is how far the cable has to run, whether I can get at the ceiling, and whether you want me to supply the fittings or you're buying them yourself. You get the exact figure in writing before I start.
Before you phone.
Can you fix my municipal prepaid meter?
Will you bypass my meter?
I paid for units and only got half of them. What now?
Can you install a prepaid sub-meter for my cottage?
Does a sub-meter mean my tenant pays the municipality directly?
How much is a plug point or a light?
Is it cheaper to do several small jobs at once?
Do I need a certificate for new plugs and lights?
Who signs my CoC?
Praat jy Afrikaans?
Send the list.
Get one price.
Sub-meter for the cottage, four downlights, a fan and that plug in the garage. Send it as one message and you get one written price for all of it.