Three Phase Meter installed and Kwh use soars

roofbarman

I'll keep you posted on what happens when the new meter gets installed - hopefully this Friday. Eon Next state they can fit three phase smart meters, but they need a three phase technician. as they outsource the function, I can see it going awry, but fingers crossed. I get the focus on the GSHP as I did the same and sure its kwh is way up, but so is everything else in the house. For what it's worth, here are the readings for the entire house, then the readings for entire house less the GSHP, which we started reading in January 2022 and then GSHP versus entire house compared to the same month a year ago. I need to find someone who fits three phase meters, who can say the fact mine reds five digits versus normally six digits, means we have been fitted with a meter which is incompatible, no matter how daft that seems:     TOTAL USAGE   2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 January           1,143              833              833           2,960 February              832              776              599           2,436 March              616              758              482           2,281 April              687              806              474           2,525 May              662              652              371           1,988 June              644              769              375           1,734 July              590           1,549                -     August              657              452           1,087                -     September              576              608           1,461           4,300   October              676              821           1,954           1,892   November              853              964           2,119           2,032   December              958           1,052              831           2,330   Total            3,720           9,071         13,595         13,688         13,924           8,928         33,418   TOTAL USAGE EX GSHP RECORDS JAN 2022 ONWARDS       2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 January           1,143              833              833           1,939 February              832              776              599           1,535 March              616              758              482           1,553 April              687              806              474           1,853 May              662              652              371           1,615 June              644              769              375           1,463 July              590           1,549                -     August              657              452           1,087                -     September              576              608           1,461           4,300   October              676              821           1,954           1,892   November              853              964           2,119           2,032   December              958           1,052              831           2,330   Total            3,720           9,071         13,595         13,688           9,958         23,899   HOME GSHP   2021 2022 January              833           1,021 February              599              901 March              482              728 April              474              672 May              371              373 June              375              271 July   August   September   October   November   December     Total            3,134           3,966 127%

doodling

Hi,

It looks like your GSHP consumption has increased slightly whilst the rest of your consumption has increased dramatically.

Assuming that all the GSHP consumption is recorded by the GSHP meter then there is something else using the energy. It could be the immersion heater but it seems too much for that. There is something else using the energy.

What is your consumption right now?  Does the meter give instantaneous consumption or do you need to count how many times a LED flashes in a fixed time?

You could wait for a smart meter but you should be able to get a fair idea before it is fitted. Either by looking at the consumption rate / LED flashes on the existing meter or buying a cheap clamp meter (£30-£40 on Amazon) you can put round one of the cables from the meter to the consumer unit.

markin

Why the need for the three phase in the first place? was you popping the service fuse or voltage drops?

Burning through 100kwh a day just on home usage is amazing, have you sat and watched it for 30min to see if it jumps randomly?

AndyPK

Thoughts

1) Buy an energy monitor to clamp around the cables. You can then
a) compare to the meter readings
b Turn things off in the house, to see what makes a significant change.

2) Industrial meters (3 phase) do read slightly more.  Domestic meters ignore the lack of "power factor correction" in devices in the house. Where as 3 phase will clock it up. However I don't think this would make a significant different unless one particularly device was working badly in this respect

chris_n

What does the phrase 'only after that date did we trigger use of the other two phases' actually mean. Did you have a new consumer unit / distribution board fitted? Have you rewired the property? Are the phases balanced? Have you had an Electrician measure actual consumption v what the meter says? What is the voltage between phases?

roofbarman

The reason for the three phase was we purchased an Endless Swimming Pool and built a pool house. The work started early in 2021 and the three phase was fitted in readiness for its use. The pool did not go live until the 16th March 2022, so from 6th July 2021 through to 16th March 2022 we only used one of the three phases i.e everything was "as before". We are measuring the use of the pool and heater/dehumidifier on a daily basis, so for example todays reads were Total 47kwh; GSHP 7kwh; Pool 5kwh; Heater/dehumidifier (Heatstar unit) 5kwh; house 30kwh.   

roofbarman

I really appreciate the input/comments given. If the new meter planned for installation on Friday or the engineer coming to fit it cannot shed any light on it, you have given me enough ideas to present to an electrician.

markin

Is the house full of AC units too? The isn't a pool water heater that is currently only running low now its summer?

doodling

Hi

A pool is definitely something which will make your electricity consumption outside the norm.

The house consumption is still very high though - I wouldn't expect more than 20kWh a day for a normal house with electric cooking, excluding heating and hot water - I suspect that there is something else sucking up power we haven't yet found.

Mstty

Total 47kwh; GSHP 7kwh; Pool 5kwh; Heater/dehumidifier (Heatstar unit) 5kwh; house 30kwh.   

I guess the first question is are you happy with that usage. i.e. can you easily afford it going forward(bearing in mind this is summer and the time most use least energy)

If not what is running in the house each day.to use 30kwh