Bizarre massive increase in supposed gas/electric usage

Ant555

ref - working out the units on previous meter

By chance do you do what I do and take a photo of the meter reading on a phone and then use the pic to record the reading on a spreadsheet?  I sometimes forget to delete them so have odd ones still on my phone.   If so, then do you happen to have a previous pic somewhere in your own phone gallery as this may assist in determining what units the meter was measuring.

Just a thought

wild666

suzyq2909 said:

No immersion heater, hot water tank, garage or towel rails. Trying to dig out old bills but it was all done online and the account is now closed so all I have are the meter readings. 

Thanks all

When a person moves home they should download all utility bills if they haven't downloaded them each month, especially if the new property is supplied by different companies. At the moment it's best to stick to the SVR from electric and gas companies.
Try turning things off at the wall socket that are left in standby mode this could reduce your bill by pounds per month, turn the temperatures on the boiler down to 55 for heating and 50 for water, it may take a bit longer for the heating to get up to temperature but if will save pounds per year. 

I switch off everything not in use and my electric bill reduced by £14 per month and the gas bill by about £80 per year 

BobT36

PiV (Positive Input Ventilation) in the loft, maybe? Read a thread where some guy had one that had a built in warmer, and it used a lot when it was on.

suzyq2909

I have a spreadsheet going back 3 years with monthly readings which is how I worked out my average usage, though point taken about metric/imperial. No idea what a PIV is. 

Has anyone had experience of faulty smart meters?  Probably clutching at straws but a family member has just moved into a new house with same smart meter and supplier & is experiencing the same problem so I wondered if might account for it. I know prices have shot up, but my monthly bills have gone from £74pm to £276pm, single person, low usage 

victor2

suzyq2909 said:

I have a spreadsheet going back 3 years with monthly readings which is how I worked out my average usage, though point taken about metric/imperial. No idea what a PIV is. 

Has anyone had experience of faulty smart meters?  Probably clutching at straws but a family member has just moved into a new house with same smart meter and supplier & is experiencing the same problem so I wondered if might account for it. I know prices have shot up, but my monthly bills have gone from £74pm to £276pm, single person, low usage 

It is very unlikely (though not totally impossible) for it to be a faulty smart meter. More likely that it's a combination of accurate readings after many estimated ones causing a catchup and the DD to be modified, although I appreciate that should not be your case if you've been giving actual readings. If you and your family member are on the supplier's standard tariff, maybe they're increasing the payments in anticipation of the upcoming major increase in April and/or are drastically overestimating usage.

QrizB

suzyq2909 said:

Has anyone had experience of faulty smart meters?

Smart meters (and meters in general) are rarely faulty but it does happen. There are occasional threads on the forum about them (averaging less than one a month, it seems). Sometimes it's subtle, 2-3 units extra a day. Sometimes it's blatantly obvious and looks like 100s of units a day.

I know prices have shot up, but my monthly bills have gone from £74pm to £276pm, single person, low usage 

Let's get back to basics. You say you're "using an average of 227 units (elec) and 171 (gas)". How many months have you calculated that average over? If it isn't over a whole year you'll know that you use more energy in the winter. Could your average fall to a lower number in the summer?

Those averages are about 7.5kWh/day for electricity and 65kWh/day for gas. Those numbers aren't especially high, they're close to the average household. For someone on a standard variable tariff they would cost a bit under £5 a day, £150/month. If you're being asked for £276/month it makes me wonder if you've signed up to an expensive fixed tariff instead. Which energy company are you with and what tariff are you on?

markin

A piv is a fan unit that blows cold fresh air from the LOFT into the house to drive out damp air, they can have 400w heaters to pre warm the air a little.

suzyq2909

QrizB I take your point, but my highest ever monthly readings in the last 3 years was 180 elec and 89 gas.  

I’m with e.on, no fixed tariff, they’ve assured me I’m on their most competitive rate, no direct debit trying to average out payments. I would say I’m lower than average household, single person, not a heavy user of appliances 

tim_p

suzyq2909 said:

QrizB I take your point, but my highest ever monthly readings in the last 3 years was 180 elec and 89 gas.  

I’m with e.on, no fixed tariff, they’ve assured me I’m on their most competitive rate, no direct debit trying to average out payments. I would say I’m lower than average household, single person, not a heavy user of appliances 

Surely with your last 3 years info you’re trying to compare two different properties. 

suzyq2909

Indeed but this house is smaller, more modern so better insulated & energy efficient and I’m being much more sparing with my heating