Help needed on extremely high electricity bill

Gentlegiant

Gerry1 said:

BooJewels said:

Plus I'd want very good evidence on hand for disputing the bill.

Unfortunately the OP probably won't be able to dispute the bill, at least not with BG.  The energy has been used and so will have to be paid at the rip-off rate unless the meter is found to be faulty, which is beginning to look unlikely especially as the OP still hasn't done a sanity check of a realistic duration.

It's also probably far too late to dispute the opening reading, but bearing in mind the strange wiring one wonders whether a deliberately low final reading was given in the hope, sadly fulfilled, that the OP wouldn't submit any readings.

Seems like you missed the part where I said I have contacted BG and the opening reading have been amended. Also at the moment there has been a reversal on the -£2349 debit on my account. I said this before that I am expecting an invoice from BG which will correct the bill to the effect of the wrong starting reading as well as taking into account all payments made from the start. 

Gentlegiant

niktheguru said:

Gentlegiant said:

Below are the observations from the readings from Sunday night to Tuesday night. 

Sunday night 

Rate 1- 25898.69

Rate 2- 76744.12

Tuesday night 
Rate 1 - 25902.11
Rate 2- 76755.26

Here are also the results if the test after switching of the main consumer unit for an hour

Before 

Rate 1 - 25902.11
Rate 2- 76755.2

After
Rate 1 - 25902.11

Rate 2 - 76755.35

I already know from Sunday that the meter reads when everything is switched off and it is why I have called the LL.
I will explore the possibility of getting the cable going from the meter underneath the flooring checked by an independent Electrician. But the readings above still doesnt suggest the massive usage over a  3 year period. This makes me assume perhaps whoever or whatever cause that usage may have stopped before I noticed it or way before the meter reader came. Because none of the tests I have done for a week now suggests any massive usage.

However, I am getting an independent electrician to have it checked. 

The massive increase in usage may have been when someone was actually living in the flat below, and its lower now as its "empty"
If the landlord owns the lower flat it may be worth getting the "technician" to show you the meter for the flat downstairs and how its connected.
You should take plenty of pictures of your current setup (without anything cut off from the picture frame, take it from a bit further away, so you have picture proof of how things have been connected before anyone comes and changes things.)

Also, your consumer unit says it was due an inspection on 15/03/2020. Did your landlord organise this for you then? If it turns out the flat below has been using your electricity then you can also use this as part of your argument with the landlord saying safety testing wasn't carried out on time, so he should be liable for his share as he hasn't been maintaining the electrics properly.

Definitely get an electrician in.

Thanks! I thought as much. Because if in fact I am supplying the flat downstairs then the massive usage must have been when the flat was occupied. 

BooJewels

You said earlier that the occupants of the flat below you had 'been away for a while now' - now you're saying it's unoccupied.  Is there still a tenant (i.e. is their stuff still in there and they will return), or is it actually empty?  Because if there is a tenant and they're just not in residence, then something like the fridge/freezer remaining in use might account for some electricity being drawn when your power is off - 150 watts over an hour was used.

Did you check for lights etc. before your test?

Gentlegiant

BooJewels said:

You said earlier that the occupants of the flat below you had 'been away for a while now' - now you're saying it's unoccupied.  Is there still a tenant (i.e. is their stuff still in there and they will return), or is it actually empty?  Because if there is a tenant and they're just not in residence, then something like the fridge/freezer remaining in use might account for some electricity being drawn when your power is off - 150 watts over an hour was used.

Did you check for lights etc. before your test?

By unoccupied I mean they are away. The lights are not ON. They have been away since the first lockdown I think. Also, this idea of my electricity is only an assumption and not definitive but most likely the case. However, I will know more when the electrician comes. The Landlord is also aware. So a resolution looks near. At least i hope. 

MWT

Gentlegiant said:

But the readings above still doesnt suggest the massive usage over a  3 year period. This makes me assume perhaps whoever or whatever cause that usage may have stopped before I noticed it or way before the meter reader came. Because none of the tests I have done for a week now suggests any massive usage.

However, I am getting an independent electrician to have it checked. 

... but the first reading you posted here did show a very high usage over a couple of weeks so I'd say it is more likely that you accidentally changed something in the past few days that reduced your load, or having contacted the landlord they've switched off most of whatever they were using on the end of those extra cables...

This was my original post on that...

"Thanks for the bill copy, one immediate concern is the increase in the day time reading from the actual reading for the day rate, 15th December (76088) and the meter reading from yesterday (76714).

That is over 40kW a day...

... and the night reading is going up by another 12kW a day as well..."

Gentlegiant

MWT said:

Gentlegiant said:

But the readings above still doesnt suggest the massive usage over a  3 year period. This makes me assume perhaps whoever or whatever cause that usage may have stopped before I noticed it or way before the meter reader came. Because none of the tests I have done for a week now suggests any massive usage.

However, I am getting an independent electrician to have it checked. 

... but the first reading you posted here did show a very high usage over a couple of weeks so I'd say it is more likely that you accidentally changed something in the past few days that reduced your load, or having contacted the landlord they've switched off most of whatever they were using on the end of those extra cables...

This was my original post on that...

"Thanks for the bill copy, one immediate concern is the increase in the day time reading from the actual reading for the day rate, 15th December (76088) and the meter reading from yesterday (76714).

That is over 40kW a day...

... and the night reading is going up by another 12kW a day as well..."

... And the confusion deepens. I have stopped using the electric heated baby cot but still unsure if thats why the usage suddenly reduced. But then again I did the 20mins test that proved that wasnt the case. Either way, I believe once the electrician comes everything will be clearer. 

BooJewels

There will be a rating plate on the baby cot, so you/we'd be able to work out the likely usage.  For example, if it was 300w - that would use 7.2kWh if on 24/7.  (You originally said it was 3kW, but that would likely roast the poor bairn, so seems unlikely.)

Gentlegiant

BooJewels said:

There will be a rating plate on the baby cot, so you/we'd be able to work out the likely usage.  For example, if it was 300w - that would use 7.2kWh if on 24/7.  (You originally said it was 3kW, but that would likely roast the poor bairn, so seems unlikely.)

It shows 3000w but it has a control that we use to regulate the heat. However, it not on most of the time. Approximately 12hrs a day. Could this actually be the problem all along? I will do a 1hr test today on the cot.

Robin9

The Slumberdown Cot Underblanket is rated at 40W   - that's far less than  light bulb - and it has 3 settings.  3Kw would cook the poor child.

BooJewels

Does it have a rocking motion or powered mobile or something else, because as Robin also commented, 3kW sounds way too much to me - even if you dialled it down in general use.   If it has the potential to use 3kW, I wouldn't be putting a baby into it when powered. 

I just checked my own Slumberdown electric blanket as I made the bed and that's 60W - and my grown up son has a bad scar on his thigh from falling asleep on an electric blanket and burning himself badly, as a teenager.  And that was an under-blanket you were intended to sleep on.