Bizarre massive increase in supposed gas/electric usage

QrizB

suzyq2909 said:

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

Without knowing whether your old gas meter was metric or imperial. it's hard to compare.

You've got a smart meter. Have you also got an in-home display (the gadget which lets you read your meters from your armchair and tells you how much gas and electricity you're using at any given time)?

What is the name of your tariff? if you're with E.On it should be EnergyPlan tariff, or if E.ON Next it will be Next Flex?

suzyq2909

I’m on next flex. I don’t have an in-home gadget. Is there one you recommend?

victor2

suzyq2909 said:

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

Ignore your gas for the time being, as you don't know if you're trying to compare imperial to metric usage.

Do some investigations on your electricity usage...

When you're going out for the day, switch everything off except your fridge and any other essential appliances. Read your electricity meter when you go out and com back. Work out how much usage that would equate to over 24 hours and that's your baseline daily usage in kWh. If that is high, you have an issue with one of the appliances left on, or something you're unaware of is using electricity. If it is reasonable, repeat the experiment with other devices switched on when you go out.

Another way, after establishing your baseline, is to buy a plug-in energy monitor (between £10 and £20 online) and use it to monitor what individual devices use when they are plugged into it. They record the elapsed time and kWh used for whatever is plugged into it, as well as instantaneous power consumption. Good way to check what your fridge, for example, is using over 24 hours, or your TV over a weekend.

You risk becoming a bit of an energy "anorak", but it can be useful!

suzyq2909

That all sounds very sensible and practical victor2. I’ll give it a go

QrizB

suzyq2909 said:

I’m on next flex. I don’t have an in-home gadget. Is there one you recommend?

Thanks for the tariff details.

The in-home display should have been supplied by the installer who fitted the smart meter, and left for you by the previous occupant (they're paired to the meter and almost useless if you take them to another property). They're quite expensive to buy, £65 from the manufacturer (and currently out of stock) so I wouldn't necessarily recommend splashing out on one.

Are you able to log into your account on E.ON Next's website (or, if they have a phone app, using that)? You might find that they have smart meter data there which will let you see when during the day you are using your electricity and gas, and this will give you and us a clue as to where it might be going.

I'm with Octopus, not E.ON Next, but I can get little charts like this:

That particular one shows that I'm using most of my electricity in the early mornign and late at night, and very little during the day. If you can see that sort of information on E.ON Next's site it could help us quite a bit.

victor2

This might be a silly question, but are you totally sure you have smart meters and they are providing readings to Eon Next? Your statements show actual readings and don't have E next to them (for estimated)?

suzyq2909

They are smart meters but seem to randomly send readings then they don’t & reading says estimated on the statement. Regardless, I send in my own readings anyway

QrizB

victor2 said:

This might be a silly question, but are you totally sure you have smart meters and they are providing readings to Eon Next? Your statements show actual readings and don't have E next to them (for estimated)?

Yes, if you're able to post a photo of your meter it would be helpful. Or the model number from the front of it.

suzyq2909

QrizB I’ve just checked my eon account to see if I can see that kind of data and theyre “working on it”

QrizB

suzyq2909 said:

QrizB I’ve just checked my eon account to see if I can see that kind of data and theyre “working on it”

Thank you!