Meter Reading, N Power

jellybeantinker1

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CashStrapped

Probably not to do with the reason you mention. But we can check that quite easily.....

To assist you.....

First, go back through your bill history and write down all the confirmed meter readings (these should have a C or A next to them) and the dates they were taken.

Ignore estimated ones.

Did you give a meter reading when you moved in?

If so, write that down here, the date it was taken. Then take one today and write that down too.

We will help you calculate your actual use.

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Secondly, what is the heating set-up in the property? I assume all electric.

But it was an E7 propertywhen you moved in. Are storage heaters still there? Are you using these still? Or, are you using portable heaters as well?

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In additon, write down your current tariff (pence per KWH) and any daily standing charge.

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Answer these questions and we will help you get to the bottom of it.


Thank you

CashStrapped

As you can see below, I have made a quick table showing your use from the readings. Those in light red are the difference between your readings. Those in dark red are the daily averages.



The daily averages enable us to see how outlandish the use is and if it is even possible. While the use is very high, it certainly is possible.

As you can see, there is a bit of consistency. While both your day and night readings are high. Something is consistently using a lot of electric during the day.

Use this high (60kwh+ daily) is do-able but can only be attributed to something that uses a lot of electricity. This is usually heating related.

While we seemingly can exclude your main house (oil) and there are no storage heaters installed, we have to consider other things.....

One thing you mentioned pricks my ears.....and that is "electric boilers". This also suggests there is more than one.

Now, you may have discounted these, but I fear these are the things that require further investigation.

How are they set-up? Are they on timers? Do they normally charge at night? This may be why the property had an E7 set-up. How many are there? What is their rating in KW?

Saying they used less when on constantly can be misleading as a way of excluding them. The incoming mains water temperature in July/August may have been a lot warmer so required far less heating (and therefore electric use) to reach the required temperature. They may have been used less, so did not have to reheat newly introduced cold water. There are lots of variables. How much insulation do they have?

The only way to test this is to turn them off. Then do daily meter readings.

What is their make and model numbers? Do they store water in tanks? Or are they instant use electric water heaters?

Further information required.

But apart from considering an issue with the meter, I feel these should be the first area of investigation.

* I do not think the 0 and number of digits is the issue. Most suppliers ignore the zeros when calculating the bill. So zero or not, they will have just looked at the difference between the actual numbers.

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Edit: I added a further meter reading to the excel sheet, I missed out June and October readings. The use during this period was seemingly pretty normal. However the two month prior, I assume being with EON were high and the months after, with nppwer were high too...

So your bills were high with Eon and Npower. This more or less excludes an issue with supplier calculation.

I am certainly leaning towards the boilers as being an area of investigation. Find out as much about them (as per my questions above).

D_M_E

Could the underfloor heating be on and set at a low setting which you may not notice?

CashStrapped

I would say it comes down to a process of elimination.

Turn everything off.....everything.....check the meter...is it recording use? It should not be moving.

Turn on only those items that are essential.....check the meter.....

Can you be without those electric boilers for a day or so?

Ensure the underfloor heating is off at the isolator switch.

...you have to be pretty methodical.

Start taking readings everyday at the same time.

For that amount of use it can only be something that uses a heating element.

How many boilers are there? What is their rating?

It could even be a fault with the electric boilers. What do they heat? What is the set-up?

But, like I said, you have to be methodical. Your daily use is so high, tracking down what it is should not take long

tbarson1

I also switched from eon to Npower and my bills rocketed too! Have never got to the bottom of it

matelodave

what sort of electric boiers, are they running radiators and heating hot water. Are they flow boilers - these can be rated at 9kw so easy to chew through vast amounts of leccy.

We are all electric - heating, hot water, cooking etc and can't actually manage what you seem to be using so you really do need to do what CashStrapped suggests. Turn every thing off and then check what uses what as you turn stuff back on.

You should be taking daily or weekly meter readings to try and get to the bottom of it, or get yourself an energy monitor (borrow one from the library if they've got them) or something like the Efergy or EnergyHive that continuosly monitors you consumption and can present it in a graphical format like this https://www.energyhive.com/dashboard/dave after a while you can get to recognise whats switched and when
https://efergy.com/home/engage-online-monitoring/ or http://www.energyhive.com/

If you dont monitor it you can't control it and just reading the meter once a month doesn't give you enough info to identify what's using it and when

System

jellybeantinker1 wrote: »

As shown, I've taken regualr readings since then, but as of this week after receiving their estimated projections of £ and kw used, I am now taking daily readings at the same time.

Are you talking about estimated annual projections in kWhs/year or the use of estimated readings on your bill?

The former are often incorrect when a property changes hands as the supplier is basing these projections on historical data which is updated when you provide actual meter readings over time. Similarly, estimated readings can also be flawed. The longer you are resident in a property, the more accurate the estimates become.

matelodave

Without more info on the "boilers" no one can answer your question. As I asked are they flow boilers which run radiators and produce hot water, either on demand or by heating a tank.
Flow boilers running radiators must be about the most expensive form of heating known to man