Please help me help my mum

kate230277

Hey everyone
Can someone please help me.
My mum (65yrs) is in awful trouble with her electricity bills (e-on)
She has no gas supply so is all electric. She is on economy 7. She has a 4 bedroom dorma bungalow, lives on her own but also runs a cat rescue shelter from home (on the same supply).
She is currently paying £230 per month DD and they've just billed her for a further £330 on top of £450 they billed her for in January.
She has just had her 6 month bill and it says she has used 19,039kwh in total over the 215 day period.
She had a new meter installed in Aug 09 because previous one was faulty and they sent her a bill for £17,000 which she nearly had a heart attack over.
I've looked at her meter and it keeps switching from rate 1 to rate 2 every few seconds, is this normal?
I think i'm correct in thinking that this useage of electricity is way over the normal household especially as its only over a 6 month period.

When we speak to Eon, as usual, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. One says she is in £1300 credit the other says she is in debit, hence the bills on top of her DD.
Please can someone help me.
Kate

WASHER

Kate,

Post this on the ultitity board as a representative of EON posts with permission on that board, he may be able to help you.

WASHER.x.

moneysaver599

Don't really have any useful info.

However, me and my OH in an all electric 2 bed semi between 25th Nov and 18th Feb managed to use over £609.00 so I can understand how expensive it can be, we were also on economy 7. Our rate 2 only ever moved during our offpeak times overnight though.

Numpty_Monkey

I think Washer has the best idea

It does sound like incorrect meter and billing

Sorry not to be of much use

just a thought is the cat rescue registered as a charity? there might be some tax type things see could get:huh:

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Kate

This is a staggering amount of electricity for a domestic property. Just a few questions, if I may.

Are your mum's bills based on actual rather than estimated meter readings? If actual, do the readings used correspond with any you have taken? Do they follow on logically?

What was the nature of the fault on the original meter? Was it also clocking up stacks of usage?

Did your mum have a check meter installed to run alongside the original meter? Check meters are used to establish if a meter is running fast or slow.

What appliances does your mum use? I'm afraid I have no idea what is involved in running a cat rescue shelter. Does it involve any particular appliances which may consume a lot of electricity? If so, are you able to post a brief description along with the kWh rating of each appliance?

Sorry for all the questions, Kate. I'm trying to form a picture of what could possibly be using so much electricity.

Initially, I'm thinking one of two things. Either the meter is still faulty or your mum does actually use this amount of electricity.

I have to say, although meters are not infallible, it is very rare to find two with similar faults at the same property.

Economy 7 meters now have three displays. Day, night and a total of both. Could the switching be between the day and total readings?

Also, if your mum does have a lot of appliances running through the meter, the overall load may be too high. This could possibly cause the meter to switch between registers. If this is the case, she will probably need a three phase meter rather than the standard single phase.

I'm not technical, though, so could be wrong. Definitely recommend you have a chat to our metering people about this.

Sorry if previous contact with us has been far from satisfactory but you definitely need to discuss this with a specialist team rather than a call centre.

If it turns out your mum has actually used this amount of electricity, we can have a look at ways she may be able to cut back. We can also look at setting up a payment arrangement to spread any debt over a more manageable period.

Sorry this is a bit vague, Kate. If you give me a bit more info I will do my best to advise further.

Malc

WASHER

Malc, how kind of you to post on this board instead of the utility one, I hope kate comes back and answers you.


Kate, come back and answer malc questions, I have seen his and helenas replies on the gas/electricity board , they genuinely will help you and your mum.

Numpty_Monkey

Probably not today, Washer , that is a lot of questions:eek:

Thanks Eon Malc:D

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

No problem at all WASHER. Helena, Brian and I are always happy to help where we can. :beer:

If anyone has any E.ON related questions please ask away. We will always do our best to try and answer them, either on the utility board or this one.

Many thanks for the kind words WASHER, they are much appreciated. :T

Thank you also Numpty Monkey.

Malc

kate230277

Hi All and thanks to every one who has answered.

In response to your questions

The meter reads Rate 1 and Rate 2. The display is constantly switching between both readings

My mum has been told that eon will not read her meter so she has been doing it herself so I do not know if they tally up. She is not coping very well with all this.

The cat rescue shelter has a sub meter and from what I can gather in an 89 day period between a reading taken on Dec 2 until March 2 there was 8061kwh used (march reading - dec reading)
In here she has 25 cat pens which has heat lamps set on a thermostat at 15 degrees. (not all pens are in use all the time) She has a fridge that is on constantly on and a washing maching (used at night only). Lighting is only used when she is in there. 2 storage heaters come on at night.
I still think this is an excessive reading.

In her house she has a fridge freezer on constantly, washing machine and tumble dryer which are only used at night time. 4 Storage heaters, an Electric oven, kettle and microwave, electric shower but she would most often have a bath.
Her water is heated by an oil fuled rayburn and she would mostly cook with this too.
Obviously lighting and tv.

About 6 years ago she sold a field that had permission for log cabins. There are now 4 occupied cabins on the site and I wonder if the electricity supply is tapped into my mum's house. Is this a possibility?

What do you think?

Many thanks
Kate

RAS

kate230277 wrote: »

She has a 4 bedroom dorma bungalow, lives on her own but also runs a cat rescue shelter from home (on the same supply).

She has just had her 6 month bill and it says she has used 19,039kwh in total over the 215 day period.

She had a new meter installed in Aug 09 because previous one was faulty and they sent her a bill for £17,000 which she nearly had a heart attack over.

kate230277 wrote: »

The cat rescue shelter has a sub meter and from what I can gather in an 89 day period between a reading taken on Dec 2 until March 2 there was 8061kwh used (march reading - dec reading)

So if the shelter sub-meter has recorded 8061kwh for three months then 19,039kwh in total over the 215 day period is quite reasonable, as she would not have used more than say 2000kwh for the house in that period.

Can i suggest tthat you and she need to go into the shelter, read the sub-meter, turn off everything including heat lamps, fridge, washing maching lighting and storage heaters. leave it off for 10 minutes, then check how much power is being used by the sub-meter.

Then switch ever item on one by one and work out how much it is using. Rember if you are using 3-400 watt heat lamps, each one could be using upto 8-10 kwh per day.

Numpty_Monkey

I really do think you should post the details on the utilities ., they are more used to going through numbers, tarrifs and the rest

I vaguely remember another MSE member having problems with Economy 7 meters
and meter readers/ readings