Sudden leap in electricity use, seemingly after power cut

BooJewels

I reckon I'm pretty on top of things with my own energy use, taking monthly readings, checking every bill etc., but I have an issue that has me bamboozled just now and I'm hoping someone might have some ideas.

I'm currently looking after an unoccupied family property, under an LPA. Three of us are attending regularly to do maintenance and clear the property with a view to selling it. We've gone to great measures to make the property look still lived in, with a gardener employed, lights on random timers, a TV simulator and other techniques.

I take meter readings most visits and now we've cleared a massive heating/gas deficit, have lowered the monthly DD and got on to a more favourable tariff.

All was going well, until something like 10 days ago when there had seemingly been a power cut between visits, causing clocks to be re-set, an issue with the burglar alarm and fuses blown. Since around the same time the electricity consumption has just about quadrupled. Not being resident, I can't pin it down tighter than that.

When the house was occupied, usage over the previous 18 months averaged 5.55 KWh per day. In the period when it was unoccupied, it dropped to an average of 3.1 KWh and since around 25th September, a date I took a reading, it is now averaging 11.9 KWh per day.

Heating and hot water are supplied by a combi gas CH boiler and there aren't any electrically powered heat sources - no immersion heater or tank. Heavy duty items like the electric shower simply aren't in use - everything that is in regular use either has been throughout, or is low wattage, like the fridge freezer, several plug in LED lamps, telephone answering machine, clock radio, broadband router etc. Heavier items like the toaster, microwave and kettle are used little enough for their weekly use to be around 1 KWh between them.

Has anyone any ideas as to what to look out for - it seems the power cut (must have been transient, or neighbours would have rung about freezer contents and the like) must be related - but I can't suggest why or how. We checked every room last night to check nothing was running that shouldn't be and have listed each room and what uses juice and the rating, to try and ascertain anticipated use and the daily 3.1KWh readings sound about right. We have a regular departure checklist to ensure things are unlugged, thermostat at the right level etc., so I don't think we're missing anything and we're all perplexed by it.

Talldave

Is there a PIR controlled security light? Some PIRs have a "permanent on" feature triggered by a rapid off/on switching sequence. It's a long shot but maybe the power glitch could set such a device into that mode?

Lighting in lofts is another often forgotten consumer but that would be unrelated to the power cut. If the property is unoccupied does the fridge freezer need to be on? They can gobble a kWhr or two a day.

You're looking at around 450W average and if the meter has a flashing LED it's flashing 11,000 times a day, so it should be possible to shut off circuits on the consumer unit and see which one has a major impact on the flash rate. Of course the culprit could be a multi kW device coming on intermittently.

Getting an energy monitor might be the best way to track down which circuit is the culprit - if the meter has an LED get an optical one that measures the flashes as they're accurate against what the meter's measuring.

Gerry1

If you have a smart meter, make sure you are checking the meter on the wall and not relying on the In-Home Display.

coffeehound

BooJewels wrote: »

All was going well, until something like 10 days ago when there had seemingly been a power cut between visits, causing clocks to be re-set, an issue with the burglar alarm and fuses blown. .

Could this have been a lightning strike? There was a lot of lightning activity on 24th Septemeber. Perhaps the meter got zapped or an electrical appliance was damaged.

ETA. Oh, 10 days ago: lightning activity towards the south on 8th and 9th of October.

.

BooJewels

Meter seems to be a very simple one with a digital numeric display only - nothing moves to indicate the level of power being used (mine has a spinning disc, that speeds up under high demand) - no flashing LEDs or anything. No smart meter and all readings used are actual reading from the meter - it's easily accessed, so no reason not to. I have read it personally about every 2 weeks since May and have a number of readings from the previous 15 months recorded by the property owner.

No PIR triggered light still on, that's something I'd looked at - it wasn't on at all on Friday - there's only one.

We're using the fridge freezer when we visit, as we're spending at least one day a week there, so having meals etc. - but it's always been on, so doesn't account for the recent increase. But that will go shortly, as my sister is having it and we'll take our powered cold box when we visit instead.

I'm not so much concerned about how much we use, as we need to function there - and keep the place secure - it's the sudden increase that we can't fathom and need to address, as 11+Kw a day is a significant increase over previous use. So something has seemingly changed.

The only thing we wondered about was the stair lift - not used since May. I thought they were powered as they were used, so sitting there the only juice was the tiny LED digits on the display - but it started beeping and my sister commented that the battery needed charging - I hadn't known it used a battery - but due to its position, it's stored slightly off the charging point. So we lowered it, charged it, moved it back to its usual resting place, then unplugged it, as we found the power point near the meter, just in case. But the meter didn't increase whilst it charged, so that doesn't seem to account for it.

BooJewels

coffeehound wrote: »

Could this have been a lightning strike? There was a lot of lightning activity on 24th Septemeber. Perhaps the meter got zapped or an electrical appliance was damaged.

That's possible, but not sure what would be damageable by lightning without it showing evidence of the strike - that's beyond my understanding, so wouldn't know how to appraise that. I haven't had chance to ask neighbours about the power cut yet as they were on holiday this week.

jk0

Lights using more as nights draw in?

BooJewels

jk0 wrote: »

Lights using more as nights draw in?

Let's examine the facts; plug in lamps on random timers used for security have been on since May - most were already a permanent fixture, all the new ones are with low wattage LED bulbs (most are 4 watts, TV simulator is 3 watts). Their timing and usage hasn't changed recently. They're on every day whether we attend or not.

8 overhead 'big lights' only used when we're in attendance and working - say an extra 3 hours per day as the days shorten (assuming they're all on all the time we're there) over usage earlier in the year - 20 watt low energy bulbs = 8 x 3hrs x 20 watts x 8 days per month = 3.84 KWh extra per month - max. Perfectly understandable and to be expected.

Doesn't realistically account for the 8 KWh extra per day in the last couple of weeks.

victor2

Fridge freezer could be causing the additional usage - maybe it has developed a fault and not running as it normally would.
If you're there for a day, take a meter reading, switch off the fridge/freezer for a few hours and take a reading again. Then switch the fridge back on and take another reading a few hours later. See how they compare.


As already suggested though, getting a plug in monitor, which tells you the electricity used by a specific appliance plugged in to it might help track down what uses the most electricity. They're not expensive - not particularly recommending this one, as I have no experience of it, but it gives you an idea:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/KKmoon-Digital-Electricity-Electric-Monitoring-White/dp/B01GPUSOXI/ref=sr_1_7
For something like a fridge, it is better to leave the monitor on it for 24 hours or more, in order to get a better idea of usage. For example, my fridge/freezer has a "no frost" feature which involoves a heating element coming on inside the freezer around once a day. That uses a fair bit of power, but is only on for about 20 minutes. Hence longer term totals for electricity used are much more informative.

Talldave

11kwh is what you might expect for a house occupied 24/7, so either the meter's lying or something is eating the juice. Not sure how local you are but if you can call in, read the meter, kill all breakers on the consumer unit and leave for several hours (4,6?), then return and re-read the meter, you'll be able to confirm if the meter is faulty. If the reading is the same, turn on one breaker at a time, repeating the reading after 'n' hours process until you find the circuit that's taking the power.

As suggested above, the fridge freezer could be faulty and running 24/7. In an empty house, 11kwh must be generating heat, light or noise in significant amounts!!

D_M_E

The daily rate you quote of about 3Kwh before the unexplained increase also seems high to me, given the figures you quote for the lights/appliances left on.

Is the gas boiler also powered up and could any of it circuits have been damaged by the strike?

Does the property have a smart meter?

Next time you go there, turn everything off and leave off for a couple of hours or so - read the actual meter before and after turning off and see if the meter has advanced.

Don't forget to reset everything when you turn on the power again.

There has been report on this forum of some smart meters recording inflated usage when little to no power is being used - could this be the case here?