Meter Readings and crappy GB Energy

mbramwell

Second post about this, but this one takes a different angle. Over the past few weeks I've noticed that my electric usage is just completely wrong, huge day time usage and slim to no night time, and thats with Storage and Immersion heaters on Economy 7....

So, the other day I waited for it to switch over to the night rate, it switched on at 11:04PM real time, which is actually 10:30 on the dot on the meters slightly behind time, and my readings were as follows: DAY - 32866, NIGHT - 36911. I then got up and took readings again on my way out to work, and was surprised to see that at 7:30am real time, 6:56 on the meter, it was still on the night rate... but even more surprising, my night rate had gone up by a measly 3 units, but my day had shot up by 11! Now, with Immersion and Storage heaters I would expect my night usage to be about 11, but how can my day change through the night??

I have measured my actual day usage by checking it when I get up and again when I go to bed and it is usually about 2, maybe 3 units at a push.

Its a digital meter, the Ampy 5224E. I've spoken to my supplier, GB Energy, who were incredibly unhelpful, their only suggestion was to switch onto a single rate tariff because it would be cheaper because almost all of my usage is in the day, completely ignoring the fact that my day usage is rocketing through the night, not the day.

Anyone got any suggestions at all? I'm at a complete loss as to what to do at the moment.

footyguy

mbramwell wrote: »

Second post about this, but this one takes a different angle. Over the past few weeks I've noticed that my electric usage is just completely wrong, huge day time usage and slim to no night time, and thats with Storage and Immersion heaters on Economy 7....

So, the other day I waited for it to switch over to the night rate, it switched on at 11:04PM real time, which is actually 10:30 on the dot on the meters slightly behind time, and my readings were as follows: DAY - 32866, NIGHT - 36911. I then got up and took readings again on my way out to work, and was surprised to see that at 7:30am real time, 6:56 on the meter, it was still on the night rate... but even more surprising, my night rate had gone up by a measly 3 units, but my day had shot up by 11! Now, with Immersion and Storage heaters I would expect my night usage to be about 11, but how can my day change through the night??

I have measured my actual day usage by checking it when I get up and again when I go to bed and it is usually about 2, maybe 3 units at a push.

Its a digital meter, the Ampy 5224E. I've spoken to my supplier, GB Energy, who were incredibly unhelpful, their only suggestion was to switch onto a single rate tariff because it would be cheaper because almost all of my usage is in the day, completely ignoring the fact that my day usage is rocketing through the night, not the day.

Anyone got any suggestions at all? I'm at a complete loss as to what to do at the moment.

If you believe the meter to be faulty, you can request it to be checked. A charge may apply (which will be fully refunded in the event your complaint is upheld)

Autumnella

It sounds like your storage heaters are connected to your day rate? So the 3 units your meter is recording is your normal night time usage and the day units recorded are what your heaters are using. I'm not sure if it would be a private electrician or your supplier who would sort that though.

System

Autumnella wrote: »

It sounds like your storage heaters are connected to your day rate? So the 3 units your meter is recording is your normal night time usage and the day units recorded are what your heaters are using. I'm not sure if it would be a private electrician or your supplier who would sort that though.

Wiring upstream of the meter is the responsibility of the homeowner. The OP needs to be careful that he doesn't commit to costs until he has checked what is going on by running some checks by turning electrical equipment on/off and checking the meter. Two things that need to be eliminated first:

1. Is the meter being read correctly?

2. Are the meter readings the OP is providing to GB being annotated to the right 'boxes'' on the account?

mbramwell

Thanks for the replies guys, I didnt actually know it was possible to wire them up that way, I just assumed the meter switched and from that point all usage recorded to that. This is why I wanted to post on here first, just to see if there was something I was missing

I'm fairly certain the I'm reading it correctly, from what I've read about that meter, it always shows the currently active rate unless you manually cycle, and I have seen it switch to the night rate at just after 11 so I'm pretty sure. I've also checked with GB and they are definitely in the right places.

I will see about getting an electrician round to have a look at the whole wiring upstream thing, and see if that is my problem.

[Deleted User]

Are you sure that the meter is nt on night rate approx 4pm to 11 pm ( a great time for the 7 hrs eco 7 actually ) and day rate from 11 pm at night through to 4pm the next evening . In other words , its just a transposed day/night reading.
If you are saying that night is still on at 7.30 am and started at 11pm at night , that is longer than the 7 hours of a normal eco 7 meter.
Some meters can be set for 10 hrs or more like EDFs 20/20 meter or an Npower/Eon eco 10.
The Ampy meter ( with a blue button ) usually flashes on the reading which is active. There are three readings, day/night and T for total plus a clock. Its normal for that meter to drift an hour or two over time. Its internal clock will stay at GMT all year so will be at least an hour out in BST even if it was spot on.

jeniegarnem

Was great dealing with this company, switch went smoothly and timely. I was advised that the first Direct Debit would be taken before the switch was complete, so an informed choice and agreed. The website is easy peasy to follow and incredibly user friendly. Meter readings are easy to add, and as long as I have a running table of readings (I will write them down also) am okay with GB Energy. Only downside for me is not having a monthly record of usage and statement showing tarriff details. If GB get this together it will be a welcome bonus.:j

System

jeniegarnem wrote: »

Only downside for me is not having a monthly record of usage and statement showing tarriff details. If GB get this together it will be a welcome bonus.:j

Hi - welcome to the forum. I am not sure what you mean. GB's bills show all the meter readings that the customer has provided, and details of the tariff (name, standing charge, unit cost etc) and an estimate of how much energy you will use in the coming year (in £s). GB also complies with Ofgem's "Could You Pay Less' billing requirements.

The statements are available by e-mail and on GB's website.

Rubidium

mbramwell wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys, I didnt actually know it was possible to wire them up that way, I just assumed the meter switched and from that point all usage recorded to that. This is why I wanted to post on here first, just to see if there was something I was missing

I'm fairly certain the I'm reading it correctly, from what I've read about that meter, it always shows the currently active rate unless you manually cycle, and I have seen it switch to the night rate at just after 11 so I'm pretty sure. I've also checked with GB and they are definitely in the right places.

I will see about getting an electrician round to have a look at the whole wiring upstream thing, and see if that is my problem.

It is not possible for your downstream wiring to be incorrectly wired.

The Ampy 5224E is an internally switched multi-rate meter which displays the active rate by default. It will only display the other registers if you press the blue button.

All usage is recorded on the rate 1 or rate 2 registers. If the internal clock fails, then all usage is recorded on the rate 1 register but that does not appear to be happening in your case.

An electrician will not be able to check your meter any better than you can check it yourself e.g. a simply load test using a high wattage device to check that the meter increments by the correct amount on the right register.

mbramwell

Okay so, I'll explain what happens exactly. There is a rate 1 and a rate 2. The Rate 1 shows as active on the display from 8am right the way through to 11pm. At 11pm roughly, it switches to Rate 2 and that stays on again until roughly 8am. Between 11pm and 8am, both rates usually increase, but Rate 1 will increase by about 10 or 11 units, but Rate 2 only increases by 3 at most. During the day, Rate 1 increases, but Rate 2 doesnt change.

None of it makes sense to me, over night both of them increase, during the day only Rate 1 increases.

Rubidium

mbramwell wrote: »

Okay so, I'll explain what happens exactly. There is a rate 1 and a rate 2. The Rate 1 shows as active on the display from 8am right the way through to 11pm. At 11pm roughly, it switches to Rate 2 and that stays on again until roughly 8am. Between 11pm and 8am, both rates usually increase, but Rate 1 will increase by about 10 or 11 units, but Rate 2 only increases by 3 at most. During the day, Rate 1 increases, but Rate 2 doesnt change.

None of it makes sense to me, over night both of them increase, during the day only Rate 1 increases.

That should not happen - only one register should increment at any time during the 24 hour cycle, either rate 1 OR rate 2. If both registers are incrementing then that suggests a faulty meter.