Huge electricity bill with smart meter

lme30005

Hi


We moved into our house last September and have a dual fuel smart meter with British Gas. Our first two bills looked ok but a little high so we were about to change suppliers. Our electricity bill from October to February (4 months) was £112 or 700kwh. However we got a bill today that was £700 or 5700kwh from Feb to April (2 months). Nothing has changed in our house to warrant an increase of 9 times as much. The gas bill from the winter was very high but possibly correct as it was winter. The energy team went through our usage today and reckoned about 25 units per day. Anyone have any experiences of such a huge increase as £700 on electric for 2 months just seems wrong.


Thanks

Robin9

Are the readings actual or estimated?

Do you provide monthly online readings ?

lme30005

Hi


They are actual readings as far as I know - it just says 'smart meter reading' on the bill and only check it at bill time. I think it's currently working ok as I have checked it twice today and we have used 1kwh. I'm wondering if the original readings in September, October and February were wrong and now it has caught up with what it should be. I'm just at a loss to know how we could have used that much in a 4 bed house with the usual household appliances and a few gadgets.

footyguy

lme30005 wrote: »

Hi


They are actual readings as far as I know - it just says 'smart meter reading' on the bill and only check it at bill time. I think it's currently working ok as I have checked it twice today and we have used 1kwh. I'm wondering if the original readings in September, October and February were wrong and now it has caught up with what it should be. I'm just at a loss to know how we could have used that much in a 4 bed house with the usual household appliances and a few gadgets.

A meter doesn't go wrong and then repair itself.

So if the readings are correct and the meter is working fine, then that's almost certainly what you consumed.

You could get the meter checked, but the supplier might charge you for that (unless it is found to be faulty)

Or you might want to look for any possibility of someone else tapping into your supply.


Do you have the consumers remote display panel? Keeping an eye on that should have alerted you to any significant change in consumption.

lme30005

Thanks. From Oct to Feb we used around 6 units per day (should be around 20). From Feb to April we used 91 units per day! Since the April bill, we have used around 25 units a day so correct. The call centre said our usage was very variable. Can't see how our electric would be getting tapped into either as we live in a normal cul de sac, nothing untoward!

macman

How is the property heated and hot watered?

Robin9

Robin9 wrote: »

Are the readings actual or estimated?

Do you provide monthly online readings ?

Apologies -I missed the word "smart"

The readings should be accurate but the SIM in my Smart meter failed and I have been getting estimated reads. Repaired this week so the next bill will be catch up.

lme30005

We have gas central heating and hot water. Our boiler has just packed up today but that's another problem! I don't know how I'm going to fight it with British Gas as I've never had this problem before.

MeterMan

Meters are rarely wrong, The little display should be able to tell you your usage over the last 12 months. I suggest you sit down and have a look through it.

First question, Do you have solar panels? (potential issue)

In order to view the previous usage, Click menu(bottom right) then select the history tile. You can view days, weeks, months, quarters and the year. Navigate backwards and see if and what times the energy was used.

You say you have gas central heating and hot water, do you have a combi boiler or do you have an external hot water tank. If you have a hot water tank, was the immersion heater switch for this left on? this could be the reason for your high bills.

From going back to customers with smart meters, I have noticed that most customers on average spend around a £1 a day in electric.

Hope this helps.

adindas

I have prepaid electricity meter which I inherited from the previous owners. The meter is owned by the British Gas.

I have relatively good credit records, so I believe it should not be that difficult to request for a fixed meter.

I prefer not to change it to permanent meter as I am considering to rent it in the near future given there is no difference between the two method of payment.

Did I pay more by pre-paid meter ??

Thanks

consultant31

adindas wrote: »

I have prepaid electricity meter which I inherited from the previous owners. The meter is owned by the British Gas.

I have relatively good credit records, so I believe it should be that difficult to request for a fixed meter.

I prefer not to change it to permanent meter as I am considering to rent it in the near future given there is no difference between the two method of payment.

Did I pay more by pre-paid meter ??

Thanks

You do pay considerably more per unit on a pre-paid meter I believe.