Electricity usage skyrocketed? Faulty meter?

cakster

So I've just got a nasty shock. A letter from npower wanting £1,600!

The penultimate proper reading was 31/7/2014. The last proper reading was 31/7/2015. The usage is 10,000 units. Breaking it down, that's about 30 units a day *on average*.

This is for a domestic property with one desktop computer on 9-5, one laptop computer on 9-5, one television monitor on 24/7 and about 8 6' fluorescent tubes on 9-5.

I cannot fathom how I can possibly have used anywhere near that amount of electricity.

I phoned npower and got some previous meter readings. Between July 2012 and July 2014 I used 9572 units. Breaking it down, that's about 13 units a day *on average*.

The only thing that's really changed between then and now is 2012-2014 we didn't have the television monitor. Otherwise, everything's the same.

A) Does it sound like I have a faulty meter?
If yes, how can I check this? If I turn off everything at the circuit breakers and watch the meter over the course of an hour, if it flashes red or increments will that show me something fishy is afoot?

Thank you so much for your help. I am very afraid about this huge bill.

[Deleted User]

First suspect..dial meter..Have you got a meter with 6 little rotating dials with pointers ?.Second suspect..digital meter where the 4 is read as a 9 because the reader did nt get down low/high enough.

D_M_E

The usage you describe I estimate to be about 6, possibly 7, units per day, assuming no electric heaters or heating turned on.

You also need to look at the rear of the monitor or google the model and see what its rating plate says about consumption to get a more accurate estimate.

I would turn everything off and switch off the supply and see if the meter still spins, and also check by unplugging everything then get someone to flick the kettle on/off while watching the meter and see if it is the one I am being billed for.

Also check the meter serial number on the bill is the same on actually on the meter.

I once knew someone who bought a new build and never had a bill in 4 years - turned out her property had been wired into the supply for next door and her meter wasn't connected, never did find out how it eventually got resolved.

cakster

sacsquacco wrote: »

First suspect..dial meter..Have you got a meter with 6 little rotating dials with pointers ?.Second suspect..digital meter where the 4 is read as a 9 because the reader did nt get down low/high enough.

No, the meter looks like this. Almost exactly like this. The number (year?) 2003 is on it, but I don't know the significance of this year.

jon00.me.uk/images/meter.gif

Can't post this as a link but maybe if you copy and paste the above into your browser address bar?
Thanks

cakster

D_M_E wrote: »

The usage you describe I estimate to be about 6, possibly 7, units per day, assuming no electric heaters or heating turned on.

You also need to look at the rear of the monitor or google the model and see what its rating plate says about consumption to get a more accurate estimate.

I would turn everything off and switch off the supply and see if the meter still spins, and also check by unplugging everything then get someone to flick the kettle on/off while watching the meter and see if it is the one I am being billed for.

Also check the meter serial number on the bill is the same on actually on the meter.

Thank you, I did already check the serial number, unfortunately it matches!

I will try turning everything off tomorrow morning. I'm really annoyed because I have a feeling a rogue piece of equipment or a wiring problem has actually 'used' this electricity rather than it being a faulty meter, much as I'd rather it was a faulty meter.

Cardew

You can buy an 'Owl' type monitor which will give you a pretty accurate comparison to check. Or I believe some libraries lend them out.


As said above the normal discrepancy is caused by a misread meter or something like an immersion heater switched on by mistake.

Cardew

cakster

OK I've been playing around.

So I turned everything off. And I thought I'd cracked it because after a short while the meter red lamp went on and stayed on. But a bit of digging showed this just meant the meter had entered no usage/anti-creep mode. Damn. In a way, of course.

So then I switched things back on and counted flashes. It flashes roughly every 16 seconds. I seemed to be using 0.225kW. I need to do some more tests with more equipment/lighting running/not running.

victor2

cakster wrote: »

So I've just got a nasty shock. A letter from npower wanting £1,600!

The penultimate proper reading was 31/7/2014. The last proper reading was 31/7/2015. The usage is 10,000 units. Breaking it down, that's about 30 units a day *on average*.

This is for a domestic property with one desktop computer on 9-5, one laptop computer on 9-5, one television monitor on 24/7 and about 8 6' fluorescent tubes on 9-5.

I cannot fathom how I can possibly have used anywhere near that amount of electricity.

I phoned npower and got some previous meter readings. Between July 2012 and July 2014 I used 9572 units. Breaking it down, that's about 13 units a day *on average*.

The only thing that's really changed between then and now is 2012-2014 we didn't have the television monitor. Otherwise, everything's the same.

A) Does it sound like I have a faulty meter?
If yes, how can I check this? If I turn off everything at the circuit breakers and watch the meter over the course of an hour, if it flashes red or increments will that show me something fishy is afoot?

Thank you so much for your help. I am very afraid about this huge bill.

Check your reading now against the actual reading on 31/7/15 and see what you've used so far this month. That will give you an idea if the 10,000kWh per annum is anywhere near what it is now recording...

ChumpusRex

The usual cause of suddenly increased energy consumption is some kind of space or water heating which has been accidentally left on and forgotten about. Any other appliance couldn't use 10,000 kWh without being obvious, but for heating, you could easily use this and never notice.

What type of heating does the house have? Are there any electric panel heaters? Is there a water tank with an immersion heater? Could anyone ever have turned the immersion heater on by mistake?

cakster

The house actually has no heating. In winter we just move propane heaters into rooms when and where they're needed.

There is an ancient old water tank but it's off (cold to the touch) and it's also switched off (there's a switch on a timeclock near the meter).

I will do as victor2 suggests and see what the difference is between 31/7 and now.

Thank you all, for assisting with what is, after all, someone else's problem! I do appreciate it.