Could somebody be stealing my electric?

PrincesaGuerrera

Morning all.
This morning I noticed my electricity meter was flashing much quicker than normal for what I was using ( which was basically nothing). All i had on at the time was my fridge freezer (fairly small one), phone charging basic smart phone and a couple of digital radios on standby and my wi-fi, and my electric timer on the boiler. The light was flashing red about every 1.5 seconds. Now being a good MSEer this struck me as quite fast so I turned everything off bar the boiler ( this is not working at the moment anyway so i never use it) and there was no significant change. I checked it again 5mins laterwith the wi-fi being the only thing I've turned back on (so I can post this) and it was flashing about every 3 seconds and now I've checked it again about 10 minutes later and its every 15 seconds which is what I would expect and usually see. Could somebody be stealing my electric? Some new neighbours moved in directly above me a couple of weeks ago and they seem quite troublesome already, lots of late night music, comings and goings, shouting and bawling. This morning they were hammering at the floor. I don't want to cast aspersions but I'm getting a bit paranoid.
Could anyone offer any advice? TIA.

matelodave

Try turning your power off at the main switch - your freezer and fridge won't notice for a couple of hours or so as long as you dont keep opening the doors.

Otherwise just unplug everything (and I mean everything) to make sure that nothing is using more leccy than you expect. What about the cooker, microwave, washing machine, or any Tv or computer stuff - anything that has a touch button to switch it on or off will use some power albeit not a lot.

We found our cooker used more than we anticipated when just the clock was on, likewise our reclining chairs, used around 15w each when just plugged in.

That will give you an indication of whether your meter still flashes, and shutting of the leccy might annoy them a bit if they are actually nicking it from your supply.

Where is your meter & distribution board located - in your flat or in a communal area

PrincesaGuerrera

Ok I have turned my electricity off at the mains and the meter is still flashing between 3 and 5 seconds? My meter is in my hallway and the flat upstairs is exactly the same layout so I guess their meter is in the same place. Why would my meter still be flashing if the electric is turned off does that mean my meter is faulty?

System

Wait until you can hear music etc from upstairs and turn off your mains switch. If it all goes quiet then you know that you have an issue. I suspect that you haven't.

A more sensible approach is to look at your usage over a period of time. No doubt you have been giving your supplier a monthly meter reading and your bills are accurate, so hopefully this isn't too much of a problem? Out-of interest, what information is there on the front of your meter re LED flashes? The meter will show something like 1000 imp/kWh: meaning that the LED has to flash 1000 times to consume 1 kWh of electricity.

If it is 1000 imp/kWh then a flash every 3 secs is equivalent to 20 flashes a minute/1200 flashes an hour or 1.2Kwhs. If it is now once every 15 secs, then this is equivalent to 4 flashes per minute or 240 per hour. Or, put another way, your background usage is about 240 watts per hour which is by no means high. A computer can use that amount quite easily.

System

PrincesaGuerrera wrote: »

Ok I have turned my electricity off at the mains and the meter is still flashing between 3 and 5 seconds? My meter is in my hallway and the flat upstairs is exactly the same layout so I guess their meter is in the same place. Why would my meter still be flashing if the electric is turned off does that mean my meter is faulty?

How is your hot water heated? Have you turned this off as well? Are you sure that you have turned off the mains switch: this should isolate everything irrespective of switch position in your home.

PrincesaGuerrera

My water is electric emersion heater which is permanently turned off. I only have cold water in the taps and boil kettles for washing up and have an electric shower. I turned the electric off an the switch next to my meter, I have noticed my heating/water timer and boiler is no longer displaying and my meter is still flashing i would normally expect it to flash about every 10-15 sexonds with just the basics on. I don't have a computer or tv., Just a tablet which usually charges over night. I've been a bit slack recently about giving my meter reading. I was also using an electric heater over the winter this year as my boiler has packed in. But I'm purelym basing this on what I am seeing on the meter today.

PrincesaGuerrera

I just videoed it on my phone if that helps.

System

If you have turned off the mains switch, then there should be no usage of electricity. If it is still flashing then it means that the meter is still recording usage BUT this is only possible if your mains(isolation) switch is faulty. Are you sure that you have isolated the correct meter/supply?

matelodave

A photo of your electric meter and the cables between it and the distribution board might show if there are any "extra" connections. It's more difficult to see if additional cabling has been added from the distribution side of the board.

Under normal circumstances, I'd expect the light to stop flashing if you shut off the main switch on the distribution panel

footyguy

PrincesaGuerrera wrote: »

Ok I have turned my electricity off at the mains and the meter is still flashing between 3 and 5 seconds? My meter is in my hallway and the flat upstairs is exactly the same layout so I guess their meter is in the same place. Why would my meter still be flashing if the electric is turned off does that mean my meter is faulty?

If you have turned your electricity supply off at the mains i.e at the Consumer Unit/Fusebox, then your meter should not be recording any consumption.

A flashing light suggests it is recording consumption, despite you having turned off the supply.

Are you certain it is your meter you are looking at?
(will depend on where you live and location of your meter - if someone lives above you, it suggest you live in an apartment, flat, tenement, etc where it may be easy to confuse which meter serves which property)

I suggest you contact your supplier and ask them to assist you further.
If for no other reason, there is a potential safety risk if you cannot isolate your supply properly.
I would simply tell the supplier suggest you suspect a faulty meter as it records electricity consumption despite you having isolated the supply.
(that's probably not the root cause, but it should get the supplier out to assist you - you may simply have the incorrect meter attributed to your property)

PrincesaGuerrera

It's definitely my meter as it's inside my flat and when i turn the switch off all the power goes off. I cant put a photo up for some reason even to show you but I got a video too of the light flashing when the electricity was switched off. I will contact First Utility asap.