Faulty Meter??

[Deleted User]

Hi all
Im going through bills trying to make savings.. already save over 1600 for the next 12 months... but just wondering if i have faulty meter
live in flat (me & WEife), sitting room kitchen one room... bedroom, and bathroom.. that all i have..
all is eletric.. not turn heating on yet.. so my hot water just keeping warm in tank.. obv the oven and other house hold basic..

Im paying 102 a month since Nov 2014 or using 500 Kwh (21st Aug - 23 Sept)

This is way too much and 2 years ago i was only paying 46 quid.

How can i find out if i have a faulty meter?

D_M_E

500kwh in about a month - that's about 15kwh a day - far too much for what you describe, I think.

Has your heating fired up - this will account for some of the increase, but if the meter is not faulty then the colder weather means the immersion heater in the hot water tank could account for a big chunk of the increase.

I would start by turning off the hot water and only turn it on for 15 minutes before it's wanted for things like showers and for other things, such as washing up, boil a kettle of water.

If you must have it on 24/7 then turn the temperature down a bit - there's no need to have it set at maximum which is far too hot and just wastes energy and money.

naedanger

Iain79 wrote: »

Hi all
Im going through bills trying to make savings.. already save over 1600 for the next 12 months... but just wondering if i have faulty meter
live in flat (me & WEife), sitting room kitchen one room... bedroom, and bathroom.. that all i have..
all is eletric.. not turn heating on yet.. so my hot water just keeping warm in tank.. obv the oven and other house hold basic..

Im paying 102 a month since Nov 2014 or using 500 Kwh (21st Aug - 23 Sept)

This is way too much and 2 years ago i was only paying 46 quid.

How can i find out if i have a faulty meter?

You can ask your supplier to check it, but they will charge you if it turns out not to be faulty.

Alternatively you could do some very basic checks yourself e.g. turn everything off at the mains and see if the meter is still moving, or switch everything off for an hour apart from one high drain appliance you know the power rating of. Then see if the meter moves the correct amount e.g. two units if the only appliance on for an hour is a 2kWh heater (which is on the whole time - so check there is not a thermostat operating during the test hour). (I suspect this test will have a high margin of error so will not be conclusive unless there is a large fault.)

Also are you sure what you were paying reflects your actual usage? Could the reason you are now paying over £100 is you built up a debt when paying £46. (In other words your true usage is between the two figures.)

[Deleted User]

naedanger wrote: »

You can ask your supplier to check it, but they will charge you if it turns out not to be faulty.

Alternatively you could do some very basic checks yourself e.g. turn everything off at the mains and see if the meter is still moving, or switch everything off for an hour apart from one high drain appliance you know the power rating of. Then see if the meter moves the correct amount e.g. two units if the only appliance on for an hour is a 2kWh heater (which is on the whole time - so check there is not a thermostat operating during the test hour). (I suspect this test will have a high margin of error so will not be conclusive unless there is a large fault.)

Also are you sure what you were paying reflects your actual usage? Could the reason you are now paying over £100 is you built up a debt when paying £46. (In other words your true usage is between the two figures.)

No the usage has double, from avg 200 in summer to 300 Kwh in winter now 500 a month.

I have an immersion heater.. thou have two switch one is off.. but both switch for the hot water opne says bottom tank other says top! Now would tank be half or like one 3 quaters of tank and one a quater as with only the 2 of us small tank will do.. only thing is i dont know what bigger as all in one tank. Also how long does it take for the immerson heater to warm water for shower

naedanger

Iain79 wrote: »

No the usage has double, from avg 200 in summer to 300 Kwh in winter now 500 a month.

I have an immersion heater.. thou have two switch one is off.. but both switch for the hot water opne says bottom tank other says top! Now would tank be half or like one 3 quaters of tank and one a quater as with only the 2 of us small tank will do.. only thing is i dont know what bigger as all in one tank. Also how long does it take for the immerson heater to warm water for shower

Has the use of the immersion heater changed over the same period as your usage has doubled?

[Deleted User]

naedanger wrote: »

Has the use of the immersion heater changed over the same period as your usage has doubled?

Nope! Always had it on.. Just wondering if one of the switch is wrong as we normally only have one heater on but i have 2 switch.. one says top heater other say bottom heater

[Deleted User]

naedanger wrote: »

Has the use of the immersion heater changed over the same period as your usage has doubled?

going to turn the switch of tonight and switch bottom one on for the month as i think tanks inside split in two yet one is smaller so lest water to heat etc

[Deleted User]

Hi,

usually the bottom element is heated by your E7/cheap rate and top element, used for a boost, by your normal day rate.

naedanger

Iain79 wrote: »

Nope! Always had it on.. Just wondering if one of the switch is wrong as we normally only have one heater on but i have 2 switch.. one says top heater other say bottom heater

So that can't be the cause of the large increase in your usage from 200-300 kWh to 500 kWh. It would seem worthwhile doing some checks on your meter.

D_M_E

As I said in my previous post, turn off both immersion heaters and, when you want a shower, turn on the TOP one only for 15 minutes then turn it off and have your shower.

15 minutes should be enough if the tank is close to your shower - if it's not then allow 20 minutes.

Also, check your meter number matches the one on your bill as you could have had a bill for someone else's meter.