Faulty smart electricity meter

Reed_Richards

You have fused/rcd circuits for Lights, Central Heating, Sockets, Kitchen Sockets and something at 16 A that I can't read.  No doubling-up so a single storey dwelling, I presume.  If you have a hot water tank that thing I can't read might be the immersion heater.  The thing most obviously missing is the cooker and/or hob.  Gas?

Droodle1

It used another 5kWh while I was away last week with everything switched off. I got the cover off the consumer unit ok and here's a couple of pictures. Does it all look OK in there? What does the red light on the meter indicate? 

Droodle1

Reed_Richards said:

You have fused/rcd circuits for Lights, Central Heating, Sockets, Kitchen Sockets and something at 16 A that I can't read.  No doubling-up so a single storey dwelling, I presume.  If you have a hot water tank that thing I can't read might be the immersion heater.  The thing most obviously missing is the cooker and/or hob.  Gas?

The other 16A circuit is sockets for the hall and main bedroom. It is two storey, but small. The layout is a bit weird and running cable isn't straightforward since the void above the ceiling is non-existent in places and the walls are 75cm thick, so I guess they improvised. Although the consumer unit and meter are pretty new, the wiring was done in the 1990s.
No immersion,  hob is gas but I do have an electric oven (haven't tried using it yet).

QrizB

It's a little bit odd that you've got so much brown-and-blue and so little red-and-black if the bulk of the wiring is from the 90s, but I can't see anything that leaps out at me as "wrong". Maybe it really is a faulty meter?

Ectophile

The big grey meter tails go straight into the main switch, and there's no sign of any naughty extra wires looping back out of the top of the switch to somewhere else.  So everything must be fed through that switch.  If you turn it off, everything is off.

Reed_Richards

I'm by no means a qualified electrician but the only way that it could possibly be wrong would be if there were wires emerging behind the two thick grey wires on the right - because a direct connection to those wires is the only way you could have something that could not be switched off but which would register on the meter.  Being very careful it might be worth investigating those blue wires on the far right to make sure they are just loops of longer-than-necessary wire and not actually connected to anything.  But for heavens sake don't touch anything metal. 

Gerry1

Droodle1 said:

What does the red light on the meter indicate?

Have a look at this post and the rest of the thread, which is very similar, then do the meter sanity tests.

Reed_Richards

I think enough tests have already been done to establish that the meter readings are not sane.  And there is no indication of anything crazy about the wiring so it must be the meter.  Now the OP has to prove this to his supplier and negotiate a refund for the overcharging.  

Droodle1

Thanks again for all your comments and suggestions.
QrizB - most of the wiring through the house is 1990s,  but the consumer unit is only about 18 months old.
Gerry1- really interesting thread, thank you. I didn't know about the anti-creep function and clip-on monitors. I'll try the sanity test and see what happens.
I've switched everything off at my other place for a couple of weeks to see what the meter there does. 
I also think I need to have another chat with my supplier to find out a bit more about the meter testing. I'm feeling a bit more confident that that is where the fault lies. I'll keep you posted.

Droodle1

I've been having a play with the little red light.
If I switch on the toaster it flashes 15 times per minute so approx 0.9kW
With the microwave on its 33/min - about 2kW
The kettle gives 50/min - about 3kW.
With nothing except maybe fridge and anything on standby its 1/min - 60W
With the consumer unit completely off, the light is initially on continuously but then it flashes every 15 seconds. Is that normal?