Potential meter mix up/faulty meter

Lemon483

Hey,

I have posted before but thought I might give an update and probably some more info. Long story short when my partner and i moved into a new flat we faced a problem of rather large consumption and trying to see where the issue is. Our day/on peak consumption is fine but off peak we get between 15 to 20kwh each night consumed and we have no idea where this comes from.

I have done a few meter sanity checks, one for a few hours off peak where everything at the fuse boxes and plugs was turned off and another one where we left everything off for 24 hours (that includes everything at the sockets and powerplugs and storage heaters and the boiler). The first test recorded 7kwh consumption in 2 hours, the second test recorded 20 kwh consumption off peak and 0kwh during on peak hours. I have checked with 2 flats near us and nobody complained about having no electricity during the time we turned everything at the fuse box off. They were also kind enough to test their supply overnight and the electricity is recorded through their meter correctly too. 

Now there is a flat that's on our side which I haven't checked due to the people moving away and the flat not being occupied. Building management was no help either, it was a struggle to get a key to a communal cupboard as it is to check the meter. The meter itself is a smart meter which has been replaced in September 2022, so I am suspecting it could have been not installed correctly, due to meter being in communal cupboard and as we live in a block of flats there's about 25 more meters there. I have taken a picture of the meter, it doesn't look quite right to me, but it could be that at a previous place we had a different smart meter. Any insides what is the next course of action? I am awaiting a response from edf (our energy supplier) but they are taking their sweet time.

macman

Do the s/n's match across the meter and the bills? You've established that the meter you believe to be yours is supplying your flat, but is that the meter that you are being billed for.
If you have E7 then you have an immersion heater, not a boiler, and that and the NSH's are the main users of the night rate E7, as intended.

Lemon483

macman said:

Do the s/n's match across the meter and the bills? You've established that the meter you believe to be yours is supplying your flat, but is that the meter that you are being billed for.
If you have E7 then you have an immersion heater, not a boiler, and that and the NSH's are the main users of the night rate E7, as intended.

Yeah the meter is the same as I am billed for. 

Sorry, meant to say immersion heater. Been living in the flat with the boiler so keep calling everything that.

Thats why I'm confused about as both the heater and nsh were turned off at all the plugs/switches and the main fuse during the test, so it couldn't be them consuming the energy. In fact we haven't used NSH and they were switched off at the fuse since we moved in as the flat is well insulated and the night immersion heater usually consumes about 9kwh to heat up from empty.

ariarnia

if youve done the sanity tests and youve checked the billing details then the next option is to rule out a faulty meter. 

your supplier will probably replace your meter if you can explain the problem but then you wont get any refund for any energy wrongly billed and it could happen again if thats not actually the problem. 

or you can get them to 'test' the meter (take it away and get it independently checked) problem is if you get your supplier to test your meter and they dont find a problem then you have to pay (£xxx).

so a sensible suggestion is to see if you can get a friendly local electrician around for an hour or 2 just to double check your wiring and that theres nothing connected to your meter thats for some weird reason not on your fuse box (consumer unit). should be cheaper than a meter test and could find whats going on faster. 

Lemon483

ariarnia said:

if youve done the sanity tests and youve checked the billing details then the next option is to rule out a faulty meter. 

your supplier will probably replace your meter if you can explain the problem but then you wont get any refund for any energy wrongly billed and it could happen again if thats not actually the problem. 

or you can get them to 'test' the meter (take it away and get it independently checked) problem is if you get your supplier to test your meter and they dont find a problem then you have to pay (£xxx).

so a sensible suggestion is to see if you can get a friendly local electrician around for an hour or 2 just to double check your wiring and that theres nothing connected to your meter thats for some weird reason not on your fuse box (consumer unit). should be cheaper than a meter test and could find whats going on faster. 

Does it matter that the supplier I am with currently was not the supplier that has installed the meter? I am with edf and the meter installation was performed by Scottish Power.

ariarnia

Lemon483 said:

ariarnia said:

if youve done the sanity tests and youve checked the billing details then the next option is to rule out a faulty meter. 

your supplier will probably replace your meter if you can explain the problem but then you wont get any refund for any energy wrongly billed and it could happen again if thats not actually the problem. 

or you can get them to 'test' the meter (take it away and get it independently checked) problem is if you get your supplier to test your meter and they dont find a problem then you have to pay (£xxx).

so a sensible suggestion is to see if you can get a friendly local electrician around for an hour or 2 just to double check your wiring and that theres nothing connected to your meter thats for some weird reason not on your fuse box (consumer unit). should be cheaper than a meter test and could find whats going on faster. 

Does it matter that the supplier I am with currently was not the supplier that has installed the meter? I am with edf and the meter installation was performed by Scottish Power.

no it doest make a difference. your edfs customer currently so there responsible for fixing the problem (if there is one). but very few meters actually fail so its important to rule out everything else first if you can.  

[Deleted User]

OP - what makes you think the meter hasn’t been installed properly? Smart meters are just meters that record electricity usage in the same way as an old analogue meter with the ability to send index readings and usage data to the nominated supplier. 

If a meter is accruing unexpected usage during just the offpeak period then the most likely cause is something that is set to use power at this time. The supplier will happily agree to fit a check meter alongside your existing meter*: however, if the existing meter is found to be recording usage accurately you will incur a charge for this test. I disagree with others that the supplier will just turn up and replace a meter on the off chance that there may be a fault.

You need to get an electrician in to rule out internal wiring issues. Any wiring upstream of the meter is the homeowner’s responsibility.

* only gas meters are removed for independent laboratory testing.

markin

Where are the consumer units, photos?

It would be very unlikely if it's in your flat for it to turn anyone else's power.

Lemon483

markin said:

Where are the consumer units, photos?

It would be very unlikely if it's in your flat for it to turn anyone else's power.

The meter is in communal cupboard alongside with meters for other properties.

The fuse box is in our flat in the fuse cupboard. I have received a suggestion to try the fuse box just in case.

Lemon483

[Deleted User] said:

OP - what makes you think the meter hasn’t been installed properly? Smart meters are just meters that record electricity usage in the same way as an old analogue meter with the ability to send index readings and usage data to the nominated supplier. 

If a meter is accruing unexpected usage during just the offpeak period then the most likely cause is something that is set to use power at this time. The supplier will happily agree to fit a check meter alongside your existing meter*: however, if the existing meter is found to be recording usage accurately you will incur a charge for this test. I disagree with others that the supplier will just turn up and replace a meter on the off chance that there may be a fault.

You need to get an electrician in to rule out internal wiring issues. Any wiring upstream of the meter is the homeowner’s responsibility.

* only gas meters are removed for independent laboratory testing.

Mainly because it is recording usage when everything is off and the landlord has confirmed that since the new meter has been installed he received a high bill while the property was empty. Originally I thought if a few meters were swapped the same day, it could be the case of the wires being confused and our off peak supply is supplying another flat, that's why it is recording when everything is off at the fuse box, but after doing some sanity checks it is supplying our flat too as I can see the change in usage (I have turned the oven on to heat up and the usage went up). 

Raxiel

Lemon483 said:

[Deleted User] said:

OP - what makes you think the meter hasn’t been installed properly? Smart meters are just meters that record electricity usage in the same way as an old analogue meter with the ability to send index readings and usage data to the nominated supplier. 

If a meter is accruing unexpected usage during just the offpeak period then the most likely cause is something that is set to use power at this time. The supplier will happily agree to fit a check meter alongside your existing meter*: however, if the existing meter is found to be recording usage accurately you will incur a charge for this test. I disagree with others that the supplier will just turn up and replace a meter on the off chance that there may be a fault.

You need to get an electrician in to rule out internal wiring issues. Any wiring upstream of the meter is the homeowner’s responsibility.

* only gas meters are removed for independent laboratory testing.

Mainly because it is recording usage when everything is off and the landlord has confirmed that since the new meter has been installed he received a high bill while the property was empty. Originally I thought if a few meters were swapped the same day, it could be the case of the wires being confused and our off peak supply is supplying another flat, that's why it is recording when everything is off at the fuse box, but after doing some sanity checks it is supplying our flat too as I can see the change in usage (I have turned the oven on to heat up and the usage went up). 

Just inferring from the photo, you have a 4 terminal meter, and the output is split shortly afterwards. presumably one is the general supply to the flat, and the other is to the storage heaters. If you had a 5 terminal meter they might have all been connected directly and the heater circuit only energised during the 'off peak' hours. Whether it was like that until the smart meter went in (early smart meters only came in 4 terminal form) or an earlier swap, or if it had never been wired that way, I couldn't say.

Your theory about miswiring the heater circuit seems plausible to me. You've confirmed that meter is connected to your general supply with an oven test, but that doesn't help with the off peak supply.

I'd suggest repeating the test, but this time turning off everything you can on the general supply, then turning on just the storage heaters.

I don't have personal experience with storage heaters, but I understand many are wired into both off peak and general circuits, with the overnight charge done on the former and a separate boost option on the latter. If yours are like that, don't use the boost, make sure its trying to charge on the off peak circuit. You may need to adjust a timer so it does it during the day. If the meter starts flashing rapidly, its probably not cross wired. If its not, try and figure out who's is.