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Smart meter faulty reading (electric only)

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  • QrizB said:
    OK let's cut the OP a bit of slack. He says he's happy with his wet electric heating system so long as he can program it to only run on E7 cheap-rate periods, and from his lifestyle it sounds like he spends a lot of the time out of his house so perhaps that works for him.
    We know nothing of his wider personal financial situation or how long he expects to stay in the property.
    Realistically, installing HHR storage heaters might cost £2k and save him £50/month during the heating season. Payback will take 5-8 years. And AAHP would cost more but might pay back a bit faster.
    I know it's not the best heating system there is, and I know I can do better. Thanks for cutting me some slack. I just moved in last July so I didn't have much time to think about what to do with the heating system before the winter tbh. I figured I can do a winter my current system and see how it goes, and by looking at my situation now you can all guess it's not going too well with Octopus. Before my smart meter, it was working fine. A bit steep I admit, but it was fine. I had three different night rate times to which I could adapt to and it was working since I'm quite saavy anyway and I live alone. 

    Maybe I'm not as bothered by it because I'm not financially in need, I have a bit of savings and I live quite comfortable anyway. But nevertheless, most of you guys are right about my heating system not being sustainable. I'm not planning on staying in Scotland forever (I'm not British btw), but knowing this it is another reason why it needs to be changed. It's a good investment whether i'm staying or selling the house. But as mentioned before the heat pump seems like a good option, although I'm no engineer or electrician.
  • This morning I've checked my readings and only the night tariff went up, so it looks like you guys were right. I must only have a 4:30-7:30 night tariff now. I've contacted Octopus and will find out about my different tariffs times and try to figure out what's happening to my bill now as none of them told me about the changes despite asking twice.

    Thank you everyone for all your posts and help. It's quite difficult to know things like this when I don't have a broad knowledge in this subject, and as a first-time owner I still have a lot to learn. Anyway, I really appreciate it :) 
  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,206 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
    This morning I've checked my readings and only the night tariff went up, so it looks like you guys were right. I must only have a 4:30-7:30 night tariff now. I
    Odds are you are on standard E7 times so it will be from 00:30 - 07:30.

  • Gerry1
    Gerry1 Posts: 10,848 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 2 March 2022 at 12:36PM
    Gerry1 said:

    And last question, yes I own the house I don't rent. And the area is mostly only electric, all my neighbourhood.

    I know that wet electric is quite expensive, I knew that when I bought the house. But to be fair, even gas is expensive now. AT least wet electric is more efficient that normal electric, cause I don't need the heating for that long to get a warm house. But there's expensive and expensive. £150 a month was manageable, but that new bill is £250 a month. So that makes a difference.
    I'm afraid it's far, far worse than that.
    Electric heating is normally limited to flats because it's so expensive, even before the energy crisis.  Relatively few houses use electricity for heating, and then it's usually NSHs.  A wet electric system was hideously expensive way back when, it's now cripplingly expensive on the SVT, it'll be far worse in a month's time and come October it simply doesn't bear thinking about.  Yes gas is expensive, but electricity is still about four times as expensive.  Not scaremongering, sadly that's the reality.  How many of your neighbours have wet electric CH?
    Wet electric isn't more efficient than other forms of electric heating.  1kWh of electricity = 1kWh of heat is the rule whatever apparatus you're using.  The only exception is that HHR fan assisted NSHs are cheaper to run than the old plain Box of Bricks ones because if correctly programmed they won't be leaking heat unnecessarily through the night (and throughout the day when you're not there).
    Realistically, you need to use the summer to install a new system before the October price cap and the next Beasts From The East do their worst.  Least disruptive would be HHR NSHs, but still expensive to run, and not attractive if you want to sell up.  Probably better to go for oil because you can use the existing radiators.
    A heat pump might be an option, but probably means getting bigger radiators and some quite significant capital expenditure.  Might not suit your lifestyle either, if you want to have only background heating during the day when you're at work and then have it going it at full blast for a short period so that it's toasty when you open the front door: it seems that heat pumps are better suited to maintaining relatively constant temperatures rather than coasting and suddenly being ramped up.  Read some of @matelodave's excellent posts to get the idea.
    I didn't realize how bad wet electric was. I was maybe a bit naive when I believed the agency woman who told me it's a very modern and efficient heating.
    I already got quotes for a heat pump and I don't need new radiators thankfully, but it is an investment. Thankfully, the scottish governemnt has a scheme in place for pushing people to get more ecofriendly heating systems and they pay part of the total cost. It will make a big difference on what I have to pay at the end. 
    It's what she didn't tell you that's the problem.
    Yes, wet electric is modern, silent clean and efficient at the point of use.  However, all the losses in the generating and transmission system mean that perhaps only 50% of the energy from a gas fired power station will reach your radiators, and the expense of running a wet electric system rules it out unless you have money to burn.  It's also unlikely to be cost effective on E7/E10 etc.
    I'd also check very carefully whether your existing radiators would be suitable for the lower water temperatures that a heat pump will deliver.  You might find you've jumped from the frying pan into the fire if it turns out that inadequately dimensioned radiators result in you always waiting for the house to warm up and it's costing a lot more than expected because it's not operating efficiently.
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