Electric usage has quadrupled, what to do?

Smodlet · 14 February 2018 at 5:02PM

Kayleighb1 wrote: »

so 6000KWH is the norm for a 3-bed property over a 9 month period? if so maybe i just need to suck this up. just a shock at how much it has changed.

What kind of 3-bed property? I moved from a large, detached one to a semi-detached one half the size. Give us a clue. Do you cook with electricity? For your sake, I hope so with that usage. Do you have any electric fires/heated towel rails?

It does seem that 15000 over a year was way too low. You say you have no "suspects" to turn off. Have you tried turning absolutely everything off and watching the meter to see if the reading still moves? Yes, I mean everything, fridges, freezers (if you keep the doors closed, they will be fine for half an hour) even Alexa (you won't stop breathing) Wait a while and if, after half an hour the reading has not moved, it follows the only thing still using electricity is the meter itself. If it moves within a few minutes something, somewhere is still using electricity. Do you have an immersion heater in a hot water tank, perhaps? That would do it if left on all the time.

"Last reading taken was May 2017 and that one was 5311." Latest reading is 11213 = 5902 kwh used in 9 months = 655.777 per month = 21.859 kwh per day = 3 x our usage.

We cook with electricity; we also have solar panels which we estimate save 35-40% on our annual usage. So you are using more than twice as much as us. I have no idea what an Alexa is for but doubt she uses that much unless she is one of these sex robots I keep hearing about.

Lastly, as has been said already, take responsibility for your own energy account: Either submit meter readings at least once a month, on the same date every month, or face the situation you now find yourself in. So-called "smart" meters are at best controversial, at worst dumb when the supplier is changed. Try taking the old-fashioned approach for once and rely on yourself rather than on some "app" dressed up as an electricity meter.

ETA: Why can't you access your fridge power? Because you would have to pull the fridge out?

BooJewels · 14 February 2018 at 5:12PM

Kayleighb1 wrote: »

EDF have suggested shutting everything off and seeing if the meter still increases, but the only way i can do that is via the fuse box. cant access my fridge power for instance.

Can you not turn everything off except your fridge and/or freezer and use the energy rating for the model to see if the resultant usage looks right?

For comparison; our energy consumption is around 8000Kwh per year (your projected annual use on this higher reading)- which I expect to be higher than most households. But I work from home and have computers, power tools, TV, music player, lots of lighting etc going all day and use a kiln periodically which uses as much juice in a firing as the rest of the house for a week, so I know this is a large expense for me. Plus I heat and use a dehumidifier in the cellar to make it a usable room. I have however saved some more recently by replacing almost all my light bulbs now with LED lighting.

So the same amount for a household with people out at work during most days, does sound high. So even if it turns out to be correct, maybe this exercise will allow you to identify the culprit or modify the way you use power. But taking regular readings will put you in control - if you have lots of data for reference, you will start to see patterns and will soon see if there is a problem.

It might also be useful to go around each room and tot up what is using juice in that room and how much they use and for how long and see if the usage numbers are plausible.

Kayleighb1 · 14 February 2018 at 9:47PM

Well this is why I asked about turning things off at the fuse box, will that have the same effect as turning off at the wall?

The fridge can’t be removed without quite a lot of faff and unscrewing and removal of cupboards and I’m not keen to do that if I can find another way.

I’m not saying I can’t turn the things I mentioned off (Alexa etc) Just that they are the only things turned on at the wall all the time.

We cook some with electric (oven and slow cooker) and some with gas (hob).

I would like to stress our usage hasn’t changed since I went back to work nearly 3 years ago. This is why it’s a shock. Detached well insulated property - though the heating isn’t the issue here. No hot water tank, no immersion heater. No electric heating. 1 towel rail which is turned off as it burns legs.

We have been in this place for 6 years and only improved the energy efficiency in that time - we have never had bills over £1000 a year for dual fuel, and often much less.

Now we are looking at £1700 if I’ve calculated it correctly.

And enough of the accusations. We weren’t given a choice about having it installed and I haven’t relied on it to send readings. I have given readings when I have been asked for. Again hindsight is just wonderful but there isn’t a manual given to every bill payer stating perform monthly meter readings no matter what.

Smodlet · 14 February 2018 at 10:04PM

Sending monthly readings is common sense... Which I learned once I became a moneysaver on here so apologies if I ruffled any feathers but I would never rely on a machine to do my thinking for me; they cannot be trusted, imho.

Thank you for the information. It is beginning to sound as if your earlier bills were way below what they should have been and you are now reaping the results of that. If the energy has been used, you have to pay for it, as you know. If your estimated usage was way out, as seems possible, you now know the harsh reality of the situation.

Best advice you have already been given; turn stuff off and measure what uses what. I hope this link may be of some use: https://www.cse.org.uk/downloads/advice-leaflets/energy-advice/advice_leaflet_what_uses_watt.pdf

macman · 15 February 2018 at 10:11AM

As already stated, turning off your supply at the CU for a hour or so will not affect your fridge or freezer at all, as long as you keep the door shut.

Kayleighb1 · 15 February 2018 at 10:37AM

I'm not worried about it affecting the fridge.

What I said was, I cant physically get to the fridge plug, and will turning power off at the mains have the same effect on the meter i.e. if there is an error it will still go up.

I will be testing the meter the next chance I get by turning power off at the mains.

Incidentally last year's low bills were based on genuine readings both mine and theirs, and there was no flagging up that they were particularly low. So is there no culpability there for EDF?

Additionally, the meter is showing that my usage this year was high. ridiculously so. I don't understand why low usage last year would impact on that?

Based on the latest readings and new bill, EDF are now projecting a bill of £1900 for the next 12 months usage. Comparison sites are projecting £1200. Does anyone know if I can still switch if I am in debit on my account?

Kayleighb1 · 15 February 2018 at 10:39AM

At no point was I relying on a machine btw. I was relying on my energy
company to ask for meter readings when they needed them.

Not everyone knows this stuff without being told it and it's a bit harsh to take the line of "well you wouldn't be in this mess had you done monthly readings". I didn't know, I am in this mess, I can't afford the debit and knowing it was down to me not taking monthly readings doesn't help me right now.

Good to know going forward that that is the correct action to take.

Robin9 · 15 February 2018 at 10:57AM

Kayleighb1 wrote: »

At no point was I relying on a machine btw. I was relying on my energy
company to ask for meter readings when they needed them.

Not everyone knows this stuff without being told it and it's a bit harsh to take the line of "well you wouldn't be in this mess had you done monthly readings". I didn't know, I am in this mess, I can't afford the debit and knowing it was down to me not taking monthly readings doesn't help me right now.

Good to know going forward that that is the correct action to take.

Nobody is being harsh on you. The advice comes from a variety of users inc those who have been there and had the same agonising journey that you have.

Kayleighb1 · 15 February 2018 at 11:09AM

I have found this interesting.

These are a record of my meter readings just emailed to me by EDF:

GAS

26.05.2016- 891.000
20.02.2017- 1,646.000
31.05.2017- 1,104.000
13.02.2018- 2,483.000

All taken by EDF themselves. I was given a credit last May of £215. I didn't query this as i trusted them. (yes yes very dim of me).

It seems as though that reading in May was an error. So this has contributed to the big debit and also my monthly payments being reduced so much.

THis has affected the account to the tune of almost £500 that I can work out.

They are still investigating the meter readings for electric.

matelodave · 15 February 2018 at 11:36AM

The main thing is to read the meter yourself regularly and to make sure that any bills or statements have up do date and accurate readings - if they dont then you should get them corrected immediately. Don't just rely on the smart meter doing it for you - makes sure the bills are correct

Most of the queries and problems on this forum are related to errors or estimates that dont get corrected at the time they occur. They then become extremely difficult to rectify later. They also get compounded when meters are changed and the old readings get lost.

The best advice is to save copies of bills or statements, dont just chuck them away. You dont have to print them, just download and save PDFs even when you change suppliers. It helps you challenge any problems in the future if or when the suppliers website goes down or gets corrupted especially when they are no longer your supplier and you lose access to your account.

Suppliers are entitled to chase up any errors or arrears up to six years, so it's a good idea to make sure you've ammunition to refute it

Electric usage has quadrupled, what to do?

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