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Faulty meter?
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squirehorse
Posts: 43 Forumite
in Energy
Until July 2018 we (being 2 adults and 2 kids in a 4 bed semi) were using between 9 and 11 units of electric a day. I indulged in a hot tub in the July and consumption went up to 14 to 18 units a day. However in October it spiked to 40 odd units a day. Some days it recorded 64 units/ 77/ 32/ 24units...one day it said we racked up 109 units! We then got solar panels installed in December. In February we went away for three weeks and the only things on was the fridge freezer and the sky box...yet the meter said it has used 1676 units! When we returned we were using 32 units a day on average! My utility company shell energy deem all this as normal and will not listen or reason whatsoever! They have offered to send out an engineer but will charge us £300 if they don’t find a fault! Having spent thousands on solar panels and now having to find in excess of £40 a week on electric is draining me. Any advice on this anyone? I’ve tried turnkng geverythign everything off for several hours and the metre stayed as it was...plugged everything back is it was before and now the meter has only read 17 units and 14 units consecutively the last two days! We’re my solar panels a waste of money? Do they interfere with mains electrical readings!?
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Comments
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I thought Shell Energy only started up on 25th March this year ...0
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Shell energy = First Utility previously:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/03/first-utility-changes-its-name-to-shell-energy/
If the meter did not move when everything was off, then its not faulty. If you then switch everything back on and it does the same thing again, something you have is consuming loads of power. Switch everything and I mean absolutely everything off (the fridge and freezer will be fine for a couple of hours) without flicking the main switch.
I don't see how just the fridge freezer and the Sky box can eat nearly 1700 units of electricity on their own in three weeks, something else must have been left on to eat that much.
Are you on Eco 7 by any chance? How do you heat the house?0 -
We have a combi boiler and gas central heating. Barely use the tumble dryer but the plug is always switched on (no lights to say it’s on stand by) however I’ve now turned that off completely...is it possible to still be using electric that way?0
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Is your hot tub still being used ?Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill0
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What is the make and model of your meter?
The meter may not be faulty but doing what it is designed or programmed to do when it encounters reverse current flow from your solar panels.
Don't pay £300 for a meter test!
You should be able to test this for yourself because your export meter will show actual PV generation and if the panels inverter is temporarily switched off or not actually generating, you can check your meter records correctly using a device of know wattage. i.e. 3kW should increment your meter one unit in 20 minutes.
It may be that your solar generation is being added to your normal electricity consumption, resulting in much higher than expected recorded figures?
Easy enough to check this for yourself.0 -
The hot tub being on or off (for days at a time) haven’t made any difference to the high readings.
The the solar panels we had heard of this but the utility company haven’t. Would this still result in it being a ‘faulty meter’? Would it be the solar installers responsibility? Or what could I do if this was the case...will try this tomorrow! Thanks0 -
If you have a Secure Liberty meter, beware the hard to see decimal point. Many are fooled by this.
Read only the first 7 digits up to the point ignoring the last digit. Take your readings direct from the meter , not the In House Display. It could be that you have used 167 units whilst you were away, not 1676
Many export meters will also show a decimal point and display 6 digits..ignore the last digit if this is the case0 -
Neil_Jones wrote: »If the meter did not move when everything was off, then its not faulty.
As much as I am 100% sure that in this case the mketer is fine that is in no way true!
Meters can still work fine for a zero load and overread for an actual load. However it is more likely that the load is more than what is expected.
There is not need to get the supplier to test the meter when it is simple do do a test yourself with a "known" load. Say a 1kw heater for an hour.0
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