Electric - meter showing 15k units in 4 months

baldrick45_2

Hi there. Hoping someone can shed some light on this.

I live in NI and am with Airtricity for my electric but the problem is not NI specific.

My last actual meter reading was in mid March and was roughly 62,500 units. Airtricity bill you every other month and so I have since had and paid a couple of estimated bills for 8-900 units each but yesterday I got a call from Airtricity credit department asking me to confirm my meter reading as their latest reading (done by NIE, the only other large electricity company in NI) was showing I have consumed 15,500 units over this period and that if correct I would be getting billed for £2100.

The meter (one of the modern LCD display ones) is now showing 77,200 units so the reading is correct but I am utterly baffled how this can possibly be accurate. We have been in the house 10 years, have had no major change of electrical appliances for the last 4-5 years and have never (even in winter) used more than 1200-1500 units a quarter.

A smart-meter Airtricity gave me indicates that over the last month I have only used 349kwh and the meter is only showing a 'normal' consumption pattern (18-20 ) units since yesterday.

Airtricity have agreed to test the main meter but are saying that if the meter is not faulty, I must have just left an appliance turned on and I will be liable for the full cost plus a further £100 for the test....

I have not left anything on, I have 3 kids who I constantly berate about leaving on lights / computers etc and I always work to keep my Smart meter down to approx. a 500W draw when I am not cooking, using washing machine etc. It's become the source of much family amusement that I glance at the meter every time I pass it and get very excited if it is too high.

I have been living in the house throughout the 4 months and I know my usage pattern has not changed, that the immersion heater hasn't been running solidly for 4 months and yet I appear to have no comeback here. If the meter is not faulty under test then I'm screwed!

Can anyone shed any light on either possible causes of a spike in my meter reading or any legal basis to contest this bill?

I do know that we had a major power outage during heavy snow in late March. Also the electricity box in the street closest to our house (2 foot by 3 foot grey box set into the pavement) was demolished by a careless driver during April and needed to be completely replaced. Could any of these have caused an error in my reading <clutching at straws here I think>.

Bottom line - I know I haven't used more than 2 years worth of electricity over this period but obviously my word and last 10 years consumption history count for nothing and the company believe that anyone contesting a bill is just a swindler out to damage their profits.

HELP!!

macman

The major consumers of energy in the home is for heating and hot water-you mention an immersion heater, but no mention of how you heat the property? Since you are presumably on E7, I assume storage heaters? So how many units are you using on each register?
It's normal to charge for a meter change or test if it's found to be correct.
That consumption is unfeasible for 5 months. Since you will only pay if the meter is found to be OK, what have you got to lose? The alternative is to get a sparky in to investigate.

baldrick45_2

Thanks for the reply. I use oil heating (like most people in NI) so storage heaters / incorrect 'Economy 7 settings' (Is it even still called that?) are not in issue.

Immersions heater, Washing machine, dishwasher and cooker are the only major appliances in the house and I'd have noticed any of those running constantly during the 3-4 months in question.

I will request the meter check, as you say, nothing to lose but since it now seems to be behaving I'm not holding out much hope there.

I fundamentally just feel frustrated that if the test shows nothing, from my electricity providers perspective it appears to be a case of 'tough sh*t' you have to pay us the money.

A 'common sense' human analysis and adjustment based on 'How likely is it that this guy has used 2 1/2 years of his previous consumption in 3 months' is not on offer in any shape or form.

At this stage I'm already getting stressed to the point were if they offered to reduce the bill to £7-800 I'd probably agree to pay as the propsect of £2k is so incredibly, life b*ggeringly bad that 3-4 times my usual bill seems positively enticing. :rotfl:

macman

So as I said, nothing to lose. Given no electric heating, it's either a meter fault or a major electrical fault on your home wiring, which can be traced by any competent sparky.
I suggest that you also use a cheap Owl monitor or similar for a few days to see if the usage shown by that in any way corresponds with the meter.
If you are drawing a steady 500W 24/7, then that alone would use about 4,400kWh pa.
Your supplier can only go by the data they have: for all they know you have installed 10 tropical fish tanks and a cannabis factory in the loft. Most suppliers have specialist advisers to advise on high consumption-you might try speaking ot one of them rather than the ill-informed tier 1 call centre drones.
However, given such extreme apparent usage, I'd just proceed with the meter test ASAP.