Who or What is right or wrong?

fnc6810

This is an extension to a previous post.

I have a problem with everybody’s favourite utility company British Gas....
Anyway I wont go Into it right now but if anybody is interested then just reply to this and I'll post it...Right now I'm gathering information if anyone can help...Here are my questions...

1) What would I have to do to use 8460 Kwh of Electric?...i.e. have every light on 24 hours a day for a whole year along with a boiling kettle...

2) Can Meters go Wrong? I've been told by British Gas their meters can't

3) Would anyone think or even know whether there is a similarity in Energy usage...I'll explain it.. On average is the Electric bill bigger than the Gas or vice versa and just say on average if an Electric bill is a £1000 on average a gas bill would be £600 ... you could roughly estimate someone’s Gas bill by looking at the Electricity.....

4) How accurate are these Electricity monitors?

I know there are some strange questions there but all are relevant so any info would be appreciated

I'll give you the reasons for my Questions

1. The burning of 8460 kWh ...This to me seems a lot of electricity usage when I fall into the Medium usage category

Your average medium user will use 20,500 kWhs of gas and 3,300 kWhs of electricity annually. Medium users will tend to live in mid-sized houses (two or three bedroom) and consist of parents who work in the day and are therefore likely to use more power in the evenings and on weekends. A nuclear family basically. My electricity usage is nearly treble but my Gas is a third less, which is the reason for question 3.

Question 2 is a simple answer and anybody in the world could answer even if they had never seen a meter...Yes of course they can they are man made. How often and how bad any fault could be I don't know but for them to tell me they can't is stupid...

So to question 4. How accurate are these electricity monitors...

Well in the Instructions it says that its primary use is as an educational device and not to replace the accurate electricity revenue meter..

That’s fine I don't want to work my bill out on it, just see what I'm using and save money.................Brilliant just saved money just by turning it on....It’s registered that I used 9.82kWh in 24 hours..... My meter said I used 22kWh in 24 hours....

Now what’s brought it all about is a year ago I was persuaded to switch from eon to BG with promises made of Reducing my direct debits, matching eon's prices and fixing the price till 2012. He said they didn't do a duel fuel discount but the primary allowance was set lower than Eon's so I would make my money back with that. I switched in November 08 then on Dec 1st 08 I registered on the internet and noticed they do duel fuel discount. So I emailed them to ask why their salesman had told me different and they promptly replied on the 27 Nov 09 (yes a year later) saying yes they do a duel fuel discount and I have received it...and my direct debits were not enough to cover the bills so they have raised them...From £83 total a month to £227 a month total...It turns out there is no D/D discount ...Their prices are higher ....yes they did lower the D/D payments only to raise them again to a price I cannot afford to maintain and it is capped so if I want to get out of it I have to pay £70....But they have apologised and said Sorry its taken them so long to reply and that their salesman shouldn't have told me what he did...How nice an apology was that...I feel so much better now and I only have to pay the £800 debt back + any more gas and electric I use and I can move company’s again...

But forget the debt and the price of the Gas and Electric this threw up another question....Usage
I've told people what I was paying before with Eon and they told me that was a lot, and even BG said it was quite high useage...and I have been suspicious of this before but no way of proving it and with the deterrent of a bill for any test if the meter is accurate.
But I am Investigating and gathering as much information as I can....I have even got all my old bills from the attic which point out something interesting.....On Dec 3 2001 we had our meter changed and usage before that averaged out at 1100kWh per Quarter then the very first bill the usage shot up to 2340 kWh and has very rarely dropped below the 2000kWh mark per quarter so that’s interesting...

I appreciate any help or advice on this or story’s of similar situations, I do think its one of those things that throws up more questions than answers
Anyway that’s my story if anyone wants more information just ask...Thanks for reading
Cheers fnc6810

kippen_noedel

fnc6810 wrote: »

It’s registered that I used 9.82kWh in 24 hours..... My meter said I used 22kWh in 24 hours....

Dec 3 2001 we had our meter changed and usage before that averaged out at 1100kWh per Quarter then the very first bill the usage shot up to 2340 kWh and has very rarely dropped below the 2000kWh mark per quarter so that’s interesting...

something does seem wrong, I suggest start with turning everything off for an hour, including the fridge/freezer at the socket, take a meter reading and again at the end of the hour. don;t forget to turn off the GCH if you have it.

if nothing shows when you turn things off, start by only turning back on fridge/freezer for an hour, repeating the meter reading process, then the GCH again repeating the process. By a process of elimination you should be able to narrow down why your usage is so high.
At the same time use the electricity monitor to measure usage * keep a log of both

should you then still have serious questions over your usage, get BG out to do a meter test, if they find nothing wrong you will be charged for it but given the circumstances I think you'll have to bite the bullet and put your mind at rest.

good excuse for a short visit to family or friends

my usage is considered high at 7500kwh pa but I know what I'm using it on. .

KimYeovil

Your new meter may well be gubbed. Why did you not investigate this back in 2002 when it was installed and the readings changed when your useage hadn't?

It's certainly worth gambling £70 to £80 to get your meter checked.

penrhyn

In answer to your question about electricity monitors, they have an accuracy of around 10%. However below around 200 watts their accuracy is very poor.
The fact that your monitor is reading half the amount your meter reads suggests to me that you have it connected to the Neutral feed rather than the live feed from your meter.
Have a look, If the wires are colour coded its the Red one you want (or possibly Brown ).

factoryworker

fnc6810 wrote: »

1) What would I have to do to use 8460 Kwh of Electric?...i.e. have every light on 24 hours a day for a whole year along with a boiling kettle...

2) Can Meters go Wrong? I've been told by British Gas their meters can't

On Dec 3 2001 we had our meter changed and usage before that averaged out at 1100kWh per Quarter then the very first bill the usage shot up to 2340 kWh and has very rarely dropped below the 2000kWh mark per quarter so that’s interesting...

Firstly it is extremely rare for meters to be wrong; if you have ameter check done most suppliers refund the cost if found to be faulty; if you are certain its the meter, money well spend.

To answer how do you use 8460 elec, easy. generally the industry works on a split of 60/40 gaas/elec so a £100 per month fuel cost would be £40 elec; i find it striking your gas usage is so very low-this suggests use of elec heating (underfloor or heaters in a conservatory) or towel rail/fan/dehumidifier

lets say you have an extra old freezer (10 y.o), theres 700kwh, a PC on constantly, add 1500 kwh, add conservatory heater on 4hrs in winter , 700 kwh, add 2 dusk to dawn security sensors, 250 kwh; add to this halogen lighting, fan assisted elec oven, large plasma screen with sky box never turned off, security camera and a fishtank pump on 24/7 and you can easily use the 4000 or so that seems excessive; the list is endless (cordles / mobile charger bases left on, daily use of dishwasher etc).

things i would be asking myself....when the quarterly usage doubled, was there any change in your home i.e. installed underfloor heating/started working with ahome office, had an extension added, child come to stay etc; also do the quarterly usages fluctuate between winter quarters greatly; if they don't suggests a lot of appliances used constantly, if it does fluctuate higher in winter this suggest elec heat and exterior lighting. prev advice to turn everything off and check is the best; as long as you dont open fridge/freezer they will cope for an hour and half; you use nearly a Kwh every hour; so at 3 o clock turn absolutely everything off, read at 4, then put everything back on and read at 5; if it doesn't move between 3/4 but moves about 1 between 4/5 its your lifestyle and not the meter

Premier_2

fnc6810 wrote: »

...So to question 4. How accurate are these electricity monitors...
...It’s registered that I used 9.82kWh in 24 hours..... My meter said I used 22kWh in 24 hours...

The replies I provided in your earlier thread on this subject still apply
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2139951

A quick and easy way to check tha accuracy of the monitor (which should certainly be better than 50%) would be to turn off every electrical device in the property.

Your meter and monitor should not be measuring any consumption.

Then go to your kettle and find its rating - it'll probably be either 2200W or 3000W. Fill it with cold water, turn it on and see what you monitor measures as current energy consumption.
If the monitor does not register the rated value of the kettle (approximately) then you have either set up the moinitor wrong it it is faulty.

dunloadin

The first cable going into the meter on the left-hand side is the live coming in from the mains. If you put the monitor lead onto this cable you will get the right result (subject to the accuracy of the monitor), this is the best one to use if you are not sure or have eco7/10 as it will record all usage, be it high or low rate.