187% increase in gas usage

macman

Forget kettles, fridges and PC's-it's heating and hot water that account for maybe 80% of your total usage.
Please can you tell us the rating of your dog heater and estimate the approx number of hours you run it per year.

macman

Why don't you pay someone to go and lag your loft, obviously with the proper protective clothing?
In the meantime please switch to the cheapest tariff with your current supplier-you can do that now and start cutting your bils immediately, along with a switch to monthly DD.
If it's a 3KW heater then for 6 hours that is 18kWh at your unit rate.
Stop obsessing about your lights or router, these items simply don't matter as they use a tiny amount-you could run the router for a year for what you spend on the heater in a night.
The tumble drier is also a big user of power if you use it every day.

zeupater

DAKOTA45 wrote: »

Hi Zeupater….today's reading is 14177… so fairly consistent.

Obviously, if I were to cook a Sunday lunch and do a boil wash and a tumble dry, this would probably shoot up a fair bit…

Most days I just pop something in the microwave, as it's just me & the dogs here…

It was a bit misleading to say the tv is on 24/7, as once I have fallen asleep I usually wake up after an hour and switch the telly off for the rest of the night, so it is on for about 18 hours a day… still a lot but it is quite comforting to have it droning away in the background… I would get cabin fever without it!!

Now… the loft insulation WAS fitted 'free'… there was no mention that it would be added to my bill, and if it has been and I wasn't told, then I would be quite angry, especially as they didn't complete the job properly in leaving the space above one of the rooms (the study where the dogs sleep) unlagged because of the asbestos tank…

When I said the computer was plugged in, I meant the router… sorry for the confusion! I have wifi, so it's just the router that's on all the time.. apart from when I charge the laptop.

I fill the kettle about quarter each time… enough for a cup of tea and to fill my hot water bottle as I have bad circulation and am cold all the time.

As for security lights… I loathe them! I have a 60W light bulb by the front door which I might switch on very occasionally if i need to get something from the car at night.

Although remote and without any street lighting, I feel perfectly safe with my two bull terriers on guard!!

At the moment, it all points to this heater in the study, which I wouldn't need if the loft space above had been lagged properly.

So… the previous readings were without the heater, tonight I will switch it on for 6 hours and see what the difference is tomorrow.
!

Many thanks for your posts!

Hi

At the sizes given it sounds like a 2kW oil filled rad similar to (http://www.dimplex.co.uk/products/domestic_heating/portable_heating/oil_filled_radiators/essentials_oil_filled_column/index.htm), so low would normally be around 800W to 1000W .... 6 hours/night for 4 months on low would to be ~720kWh, nowhere near what you'd be looking for, even on full it's almost insignificant compared to your £2k/year bill ....

Regarding Sunday lunch, washing etc, we all cook and wash therefore it's already within the typical usage ... if you're not constantly heating the DHW and are using appliances as described there's no way that you should be using considerably more than average. As Hengus mentioned, if the TV's a big 1st generation plasma IDTV over (say) 5years old, it could be power hungry, but even at 18hrs/day nowhere near what we're looking for .....

The reason I asked about the halogen security lights is that we're pretty rural & have a number of friends with multiple 500W halogen security lights around various outbuildings which are either on dusk/dawn or IR movement sensors, which with foxes, cats, bats & owls along with the dogs fulfilling their needs, results in one or more of them being on for a good proportion of the night .... with only a 60W bulb you've discounted this possibility.

Your computer isn't on 24x7 and a router should be costing around £5 to £10/year, the kettle's not the issue either .... you sound like an 'average' type user, if not below ...

If it was me, I'd switch absolutely everything off and see whether the meter was still registering any usage, if so switch the supply off at the main consumer board and check again ..... from what you've described about your usage I'd be thinking about the possibility of the meter feeding other outbuilding and/or circuits in the main house next door and has been since the properties were split .... does anyone else nearby have a workshop/annex (etc) in another/attached outbuilding ??

Regarding the insulation and/or other improvements being added to the bill, this would only have been added if they were recent improvements (last couple of years) and both an EPC and GDAR assessment had been done, then you agreed to the finance package ... it's probably not the case, but was worth checking - if it's not shown on your bill as a separate charge line, then there's no need to worry ...

In the meantime, keep taking the readings & start to look for a better deal with your supplier as per macman's post above ...

HTH
Z

gazapc

Yes if you can get a plug in monitor, they are only a few quid of ebay and record the power and energy through whatever is plugged into them. Then go around and try it on different things.

I think I read this but immersion heaters, if you have one is it definitely turned off? Even if the switch is off can you get to it and double check it hasn't been wired incorrectly?

Keep up the daily readings and when you go out for a day turn off the electricity at the consumer unit. Write down before and after readings, should be zero difference.

Edit: if you are supplying another building or something then they should notice something when their power goes of (although not say if they are out at work)

macman

Meter reading date: this info is all shown on your bill. The closing read date will be the date it was read, unless the bill is estimated-in which case you need to submit actual reads and get rebilled ASAP.
The supplier only has to read every 2 years, all intermediate reads are down to you if you want to avoid big catch-up bills. Which I suspect is part of the problem here.
Talk to the supplier about a DD and they will probably give you 6m to pay if off, with your DD hiked accordingly. Sitting with your head in the sand doing nothing is not really an option.

molerat

Your supplier should set you up on a DD and will allow you to pay the bill over a period by setting the DD to take the debt as well as the energy used going forward.

The immersion could come in handy to do a load test. Most immersions are 3Kw so in 20 minutes will use 1 unit. Turn everything off and take a meter reading. Turn the immersion on and leave it for 20 minutes then take a meter reading. It should have advanced by 1 unit, anything drastically different means your meter is shot. A simple but effective test.

molerat

No, the red dial is 1/10th unit

molerat

13635 - 09891 = 3744 x .13913 = £520.90 + 120 x .26019 = £31.22 = £552.12 (+ VAT = £579.73 ?)
14192 - 09891 = 4301 x .13913 = £598.39 + standing charges and VAT

Their estimate for Feb was possibly a bit high - 3744 over 4 months = 936 kWh per month, 4301 over 5 months = 860 kWh per month - but not way off your actual use which is coming out at about 3 times the national average !

Without exact dates it is difficult to be completely accurate.

macman

What you should have done is supplied an actual read when you got the estimated Feb bill. They they would rebill it. But, as above, it's not too far out, given your actual reading today.
If the bills are not showing in your online account, and you are on paperless billing, then how are you reading the February bill?

lstar337

You said your house was part of another larger building at some point?

You are probably supplying somebody else as well as yourself.

Have you tried turning your whole house of at the consumer unit and looking at the meter to see if it is still turning/flashing?

If your meter is OK (as you found with your test), then either you are using the energy somewhere and don't realise, or somebody else is using your energy and do/do not realise.