Electricty reading so high, I'm puzzled

Khanivore

Hello

I'm on MSE British Gas Collective Fix Oct 2017 deal for Dual Fuel, paying £59/mo and living alone in a 1 bedroom flat.

This morning I read a British Gas email reminding me that my bill is ready. I log in and view the bill and noticed that the electricity reading taken by the engineer is quoted astonishingly very high.

I checked the meter and the reading taken 5 days ago by the engineer was indeed 47407... but this is insane.

I'm always providing meter readings as and when I remember and keep a log of it all. So it's hard to understand what could cause my meter to suddenly show an increase of 1605 kW - in just 51 days.

Here is a log of readings from this year so far, all photographed too...

11/01/17 44626
30/01/17 44877
09/03/17 45355
07/07/17 45858 (the last reading I took)
22/08/17 47407 (engineer's reading on bill)
27/08/17 47463 (today's reading minus reading from 7th July = 1605 kw ... in just 51 days!!)

I'm just bewildered. How could I have used 1605 kW in just 51 days?

I'm not running anything that would eat so much power.

The equipment in the flat I use cannot justify this increase. Apart from the usual basic appliances in a household, I have a fairly new combi boiler and an electric shower, which I use twice a day for no more than 5-8 mins. I don't have a TV but I have an always-on laptop running in eco mode which provides me everything I need for news, information and entertainment.

In the last 8-9 hours I've used a total of 3 kW (47466), and that includes a washing machine run too. Later I will have a shower so I will take a reading before and after. Overall I intend to take a 24-hr reading, most likely over a few days period as I'm freaked out a bit.

Up till now I was paying £59/mo and sometimes I would end up in a fair bit of credit. Never did I need to pay more than £60/mo since I signed up for MSE British Gas Collective Fix Oct 2017.

Any ideas as to what could have caused this huge increase?

Really perplexed about this.

p.s. Apologies for the long post.

molerat

Looking at the averages for each reading and over the whole period I reckon you misread the meter on 7 Jul. All the averages are around 11 - 13 per day except your 7 Jul one at 4 and the meter reader's one at 33 which catches up on your mis read. Taken over the whole period up until the meter reader's is 12.5 reinforcing my assumption about your read. If 7 Jul was 46858 everything averages out correctly. Still high use though at 12 per day.

11/01/17 44626
30/01/17 44877 13.2 per day
09/03/17 45355 12.6
07/07/17 45858 4.2
22/08/17 47407 33.7
27/08/17 47463 11.2

11/01/17 44626
30/01/17 44877 13.2 per day
09/03/17 45355 12.6
07/07/17 46858 12.5
22/08/17 47407 11.9
27/08/17 47463 11.2

victor2

Are you sure the reading you took on 7/7/17 is correct?
If it should have been 46858 for example, you would have used an average of around 12.5kWh per day for the period from the previous reading to that, instead of the 4.2 kWh it works out at.
Your average usage for the entire period shown is 12.4 kWh per day, which is not unreasonable.

It is a good idea to take readings daily for a week or two, to get an idea of what you use. You could also try switching off the main breaker for the flat and verifying that the meter doesn't record any usage.

Kayalana99

Just a quick glance, it seems that it's around about 1000 kw more then you normally use (worked out based on your normal rate being about 13kw a day)

Are you SURE you've been giving them the correct reading by the thousand? It would be an easy mistake to make as they usually ask you for the last 4 digits I think? So perhaps somewhere down the line a mistake has been made and it's been misread -1000 less then what it should be which has only been corrected once the engineer came out.

Kayalana99

Actually yes that seems correct, there was a 4 month gap so lets est 120 days, at 13 kwl that's 1500 + and you only gave them a 500 + reading. It seems you put the wrong thousand in on your last reading.

Khanivore

Guys, thank you so much for your helpful replies, I think molerat nipped it in the bud. I'm actually severely disabled so I'm unable to get out and see for myself. I had my carer take a picture and email it to me. I have the photo but I don't know how to post it here as I'm a new user.

In the photo it looks like a 5 but it's very hard to tell... Hmm I think you guys are correct that the 5 is actually a 6 in this photo and my daily routine doesn't change. It has to be a 6. Thank you eagle-eyed molerat!

Khanivore

victor2, thank you for the suggestion, I think I will switch off the mains box but i think the food in freezer may defrost after 1 hour? Is it okay to do it?

Khanivore

Out of interest, earlier on I took a reading before shower and it was 47467 and after shower it's 47468.

molerat

Khanivore wrote: »

Out of interest, earlier on I took a reading before shower and it was 47467 and after shower it's 47468.

Modern electric showers are around 8 - 10 Kw so a 10 minute shower uses around 1.3 - 1.7 units.

Khanivore

molerat wrote: »

Modern electric showers are around 8 - 10 Kw so a 10 minute shower uses around 1.3 - 1.7 units.

Yes it makes sense as my shower uses something like 8 to 9 kW and I take about 8 mins, then factoring in everything else running in the flat, it looks fine.

elsien

Khanivore wrote: »

victor2, thank you for the suggestion, I think I will switch off the mains box but i think the food in freezer may defrost after 1 hour? Is it okay to do it?

As long as you don't open the freezer at all, it should be fine for a good few hours.