New electricity meter - costs soared - any connection?

easylife73

Hi, this is goign to sound like a very vague question, but a few months ago our eletricity meter was "updated" and our last two bills have been much higher than usual. Is there likely to be a connection?

Previously we were paying £72 per month for gas & electricity, that then went up to £75.35, then £96 and now they're putting it up to £148.

Oor bills have been as follows:
21/10/09 - 30/11/09 £ 10.22
1/12/09 - 31/12/09 £ 8.27
1/1/10 - 30/3/10 £ 22.59
31/3/10 - 27/4/10 £ 5.19
28/4/10 - 18/8/10 £ 13.45
19/8/10 - 1/11/10 £ 158.32
1/11/10 - 4/1/11 £ 49.01
4/1/11 - 17/2/11 £ 34.47
17/2/11 - 18/5/11 £ 356.31

We are an average family of four - yes, the kids tend to leave the Playstation etc on, but this has always been the case, nothing has changed apart from the actual meter as far as I can tell. We have been on a fixed price tariff throughout the above periods, so it's not the price of the electricity itself that seems to be the problem, more the actual usage, but as I say, I don't think our habits have changed that much.

Could our new meter be behaving badly, or is it possible that the previous meter was for some reason giving false readings in our favour?

HappyMJ

Are these actual meter readings each time. Some of those bills for a family of 4 seem very low. Are these figures the outstanding amounts at the bill generation date or the actual usages. Some people get them confused. I just don't see how anyone could use £8.27 for the month of December 2009. The playstation alone would use that. It's a cold winter month and should be nearer to £150. Maybe £100 if you are frugal with it.

easylife73

The amounts are the amounts charged as per the bills, not the extra on top of the DD - the bills list the whole amounts charged and then the statement part shows these amounts less the DDs to show the balance at that point.

A lot of the figures were based on estimates but actual readings were used as at 27/4/10, 1/11/10 and 28/4/11. Having checked today, our actual reading now is higher than their estimate on our last bill. Hence my query about either one of the meters giving false readings. I agree that the earlier amounts seem very low, but am at a loss as to explain any of it unless one of the meters is faulty somehow.

easylife73

I should add the detailed figures are only for the electricty part of it, not the gas, but the DD figures are for the two combined, so whether it's cold or not shouldn't make too much of a difference, as our heating is gas. Only electrical heating is a wall heater when we occasionally use the conservatory.

victor2

You can do a quick check on your meter by switching everything off and just using a single device which takes a known amount of power, like a fan heater rated at 1 or 2 KW. Make sure you switch everything off before you do it, including your fridge - but make sure you switch it on again afterwards!
With everything off, check that your meter registers no usage, by taking a couple of readings 5 minutes apart. Then note the reading, run the appliance for 10 minutes and take another reading - you will have to note the tenths of kWh (preferably hundredths as well if it shows it) reported by the meter.
A 2KW heater should consume just over 0.3 kWh in 10 minutes. If your meter shows a lot more than that, then maybe it has an error - or your heater uses a lot more energy than you thought!
You can get your supplier to check the meter, but they will charge if it turns out to be OK, so only get them to do this if you have double checked everything and are sure it has a problem

easylife73

Thanks Victor, I'll get the other half to try that tomorrow when he's home from work...although I think there'll be protests from the kids for turning everything off!

mattcanary

I have to say the usage for a lot of the months is extremely low and was likely to have been grossly under-estimated.

However, the last bill does seem very high. I'm assuming this is for the period after the meter was changed. Does the bill show a meter change on it, or has it estimated usage based upon you still having the old meter that was taken out? Does your new meter have two readings or one? If it has two, has your supplier billed you the right way round?

easylife73

I agree the earlier usgae is low - it averages out at about £7/£8 per month up to April 2010 when there was an actual reading, so at that point it should have been correct. The estimated amount per month then drops to about £4 for a few months and then their estimates rise to £30 then £60. There was another actual reading on 1/11/10, so again it should have corrected itself at that point - this reading brought the average monthly cost for the previous six months to £30...which seems reasonable to me. Between then and now it has been estimates again, until an actual reading at the end of April (again, six months) - for this six month period the average cost rises to about £60 per month - and yet I am sure we have not doubled our usage in the last six months!

The bills do not show the meter change, and I am not sure when that actually happened. The meter has one digital reading as far as I can tell, so would presumably be difficult to mis-read it.

molerat

If you post the figures from your first post along with the opening and closing meter reads for them with Estimate or Actual (this will be on the bill) it will show what you are using. The meter should have a card/sticker by it with the date and actual close reading of the old meter and the opening reading of the new meter. Do your bills show the correct serial number of the new meter? One of the bills should have the meter change data on it.