I can't understand why my electricity usage has doubled

six_pence

I use EDFand according to their meter readings my average daily usage has doubled since last year. I nothing in my lifestyle has changed since last year, so I can't understand how it has doubled. Could my meter be faulty. Who can I call to help me. Below is their readings and my calculations.

Date of Reading: Reading: Daily Average: Days bwt meter Readings:
16/05/2007 _____57912
02/08/2007 _____58384 ___6.05 _______78
06/11/2007 _____58992 ___6.33 _______96
11/02/2008 _____59685 ___7.07 _______98
12/05/2008 _____60322 ___7.00 _______91
12/08/2008 _____61109 ___8.55 _______92
10/11/2008 _____61855 ___8.29 _______90
10/02/2009 _____62971 ___12.13 ______92
13/05/2009 _____63991 ___11.09 ______92

Premier_2

You call your supplier and request a meter check. They'll bill you for this and only if the meter really is faulty will you receive that money back.

Rarely is the meter at fault.
Are you really sure you have not increased consumption?
For the price of a meter check, you can get yourself an electricity monitor and check for yourself. Obviously you wont get the money back if you by a monitor, but it's yours to keep and perhaps it's use will highlight where you are using electricity and more importantly where you can save.
I suppose you could always try & sell the monitor later if you wanted to recover some of the outlay.

Are the above figures all actual readings, or are some based on estimated readings?

The increase appears to relate to last winter, yet the previous winter saw no increase. I presume heating is not therefore by electricity. As last winter was particularly cold, did you supplement the heating by using electric heaters?

six_pence

Thanks Premier

All the readings are actual.

Can't be heating as this is Gas.

I'll look into getting a monitor, although I'm not sure how they would work (EG how can you check what the oven uses?).

Thanks again for the advice.

Premier_2

You need a monitor that checks the total usage (like the one OWL make), not a plug in monitor.

They work by placing a sensor/clip over the main incoming supply cable.

spiro

Suggest you may also want to take daily readings for a week or two to see the consumption pattern. Record it the same time every day or even multiple times a day if you want/can. This will potentially allow you to see any trends i.e. high use on Saturday when you do the laundry, Sundays when you have a roast dinner.

Have you recently got something like a Sky+ box which is on 24/7?