smart meter installed in late 2019. bills just keep going up.

jlemaitre

Yes i have been thinking about one of those as i can that proof exactly what the tank is costing me monthly.

The heater is a 300w, so on 24/7. But would only power itself on when it detects the temp has reached a minimum allowance. Ive got a display unit which tells me when the heater is 'heating'. 

This might be a task for the weekend or if i can relax this evening.

jlemaitre

!!!!!! i just called SSE opening hours are 8am-8pm MON-FRI. The auto reply told me they are closed(its 09:30) please call during these hours.

Gerry1

jlemaitre said:

227kwh when i got up. also that reads at 4p an hour.

Unfortunately you seem to be muddling up several parameters (the k and h bits), which will lead to wrong conclusions.  Using 227kWh overnight isn't possible, it's getting on for a whole month's typical usage !  Watts and KiloWatts are an instantaneous power value (a bit like speed) whereas Wh and kWh represent energy usageover a number of hours (a bit like distance).

Presumably your IHD was showing an instantaneous reading of 227W?  That's quite likely.  But that figure could change a minute later if thermostats caused the fridge, freezer or fishtank to switch on or off.  It's a bit like a car's trip computer saying that you're getting 99 miles per gallon whilst stationary at the traffic lights, it's just a snapshot that doesn't mean much in reality.  227W might have been realistic for a fridge, freezer and standby stuff, but the fishtank might have been off at that moment.

It would be better to read the meter on the wall just before going to bed and again when getting up, assuming it shows digits after the decimal point.  The difference between the two values will show the total kWh energy used overnight.  The fridge, freezer and standby stuff would probably amount to 1 - 2 kWh, the rest being the fishtank.

jlemaitre

ah ok. well i will read it at 9pm tonight as thats was what i did last night at that time.

jlemaitre

I've been on hold for 29 mins now. what an interesting break that was, might as well go back to work. i'll keep it on hold but theyll have to wait for me to be ready.


Awful company so far.

Gerry1

You don't like how much your electricity is costing you but so far you don't yet have any evidence of any overcharging.

Do the bills show that the readings are Smart, or are they Estimated?  Does the last meter reading reasonably match up with what the meter on the wall now says?  You need to establish what your kWh usage really is, whether it's unreasonable and what the likely cause is.  Unless you have real evidence that the meter is faulty or you are being billed incorrectly there's not much point in calling them.

SSE are unlikely to be the cheapest supplier.  It would be better to establish your annual kWh consumption from actual meter readings and then shop around for a better deal, starting with Citizens Advice and 'Which? Switch', remembering that separate suppliers for gas and electricity are often cheaper than dual fuel.

jlemaitre

Right finally got of the phone. They mentioned to me about other charges.

So if i use £80 electric i have to add standard charge on top which is 24.12p a day. as i needed to be explained exactly what i pay for it become clear. i literally need to stop using the IHD and APP as a way of working out how much i should be paying and add the charges on top. 

They also took my readings once every 3 months, So if i use £80 a month for 3 months i expected a bill of £240. What i never knew is i paid a 'charge' for the maintenance of the meter etc. So i need to add that on top of my usage each month. So that charge is just shy of £7.50 a month.

Due to lockdown my child being at home, they've dug into my historic to find out my when the actual usage increase was down lockdown. This wasnt added on top of my bills until April.

The money i was in credit early in the year. They admitted they made a mistake as they didnt check my actual usage. They said sorry for their mistake, They should have checked before refunding me as they didnt include the increase due to lockdown.

Theyve worked out from when lockdown started until my daughter went back to school some months back the usage had increased £30 a month. This is why my bills have increased so much.

So next month my bills are £119 to clear the backlog of extra usage from March 2020 until the kids where allowed back to school fully earlier this year(i dont remember what month they all went back).

They have made it clear that once the extra uasge has been paid of the bill will drop down to what it was prior to lockdown.

Which brings me onto finding out exactly how having my daughter out of school has used £30 a month every month during lockdown. 

jlemaitre

Gerry1 said:Unless you have real evidence that the meter is faulty or you are being billed incorrectly there's not much point in calling them.

actually you'd be surprised how much it was worth to call them. I had a Chinese lady explain to me, Which was rather hard to understand. But she did well at breaking it down. Then she put me onto someone else about the tariff. This person was English and literally broke it down and checked over everything to find out exactly where everything started to increase, and why im paying for it now and not at the time.

So ive learnt today the smart meter and the app doesnt tell me i pay a standard charge and VAT on top of my usage. So next month the bill is £119, but thats not my actual usage for the month. its the VAT and charge plus extra for the debit.

I now know more and understand how my bill for electrics are worked out. 

jlemaitre

There are no savings available right now through Uswitch

Your current plan must be pretty good! There are currently no cheaper plans available.

thought id do a check.

[Deleted User]

All energy tariffs comprise a daily standing charge and a unit price. The supplier will usually send the tariff information to your gas and electricity meters INCLUSIVE of VAT.  It follows that if it is working correctly, the In House Display (IHD) should show you a true cost of the energy that you are using. Normally, the IHD will add the standing charge to the daily cost just after midnight. I am not sure why your supplier’s smart meters would be any different?