Massive spike in electricity usage - Octopus Energy customer 25 May at 6:38PM in Energy 24 replies 1.5K views

reggie04

Hi there

I took a meter reading for the period between 25/03 and 17/04. It showed usage of 20,870 kWh. On my current tariff that's £13,665 worth of electricity in 22 days. Even at the price guaranteed price that would be £4,350. I raised the matter with Octopus immediately who asked me to carry out a creep test, which I did, and this showed the meter wasn't faulty. So far they have suggested a faulty fuse or appliance and don't seem to be grasping the magnitude of the problem.

I did an analysis of the last 18 months and have calculated my average monthly usage is just over 1538 and that in the period in question, I am supposed to have used a year's worth of electricity. I did another reading on 24/05 and the usage has returned to normal. It simply makes no sense. 

I can't find anything anywhere (other than a lightning strike) that explains it.

I've attached a screenshot of my calculations.

Can anyone shed any light on this or help me explain it?

Many thanks

 

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

Can you share a poto of your meter, please, with the current reading?

Petriix

If you can't share a photo then please let us know the make and model of your meter and (if it's a smart meter) the steps you're going through to get the reading. Your usage is exceptionally high at the best of times but the sudden jump is implausible: a constant draw of ~ 39 kW which would blow any domestic electricity fuse in minutes. You'd also notice the house being incredibly hot, if not on fire.

If I had to guess I'd suggest misreading the meter or perhaps relying on a faulty IHD rather than looking at the actual meter but, until we get some more details, it's just guesswork. 

Dolor

There are some very odd readings in the table. The two sets of readings for the 23 Jan 23 are just not credible. 

You can ask for an independent meter check. A calibrated check meter will be fitted alongside your existing meter. If the check reveals nothing untoward, the supplier will raise a meter check charge. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Question just thinking about the other unusual variations - do you perhaps have an EV that you use sporadically rather than for similar journeys regularly?

Absolutely would not explain the 20k jump but I'm just thinking for some odd variation in some other months' usages.

MWT

reggie04 said:

I did an analysis of the last 18 months and have calculated my average monthly usage is just over 1538...

That makes you a very high electricity user even ignoring the recent spike, does that seem plausible to you?

High use of electricity for heating perhaps? .. if so, and the meter readings are correct then it really does suggest an anomalous incident and it is worth rasing this more forcefully as a fault...

On the other-hand if you believe you are actually a very low electricity user, then it may just mean you've been missing a decimal point on the meter readings...

TheElectricCow

You seem to have two quite different readings on your table for the same day in January, it seems like there must be an error somewhere in the readings. Are you absolutely certain you're taking the correct readings from the meter, and just as importantly, readings from the same place each time?

MWT

The jump could be due to using 'Total Import' vs 'R01' for example as well of course... just can't really help much more without a few answers...

reggie04

Thank you to everyone for your comments. I will take a picture of the meter and post it shortly. We are a very high electricity using household. We all work from home and have a small office adjacent to the house. We use electric heaters in the winter. The high meter readings are not new and we do have the occasional month when the usage is particularly high.

Looking at it now some of the data on the table is misleading. I took the info from my Octopus bills so they are not all my readings of the meter, there is some estimated usage. I will redo the table and highlight those readings that are mine. 

Even having established we are high electricity users there is nothing during that 3-week period that could explain such a huge usage. The equivalent of a years worth of electricity in 3 weeks.

Thanks again

MattMattMattUK

reggie04 said:

Thank you to everyone for your comments. I will take a picture of the meter and post it shortly. We are a very high electricity using household. We all work from home and have a small office adjacent to the house. We use electric heaters in the winter. The high meter readings are not new and we do have the occasional month when the usage is particularly high.

It might be worth properly evaluating your usage, WFH does not have to mean high energy costs, laptops do not use much at all, desktops a bit more but unless you are gaming, rendering or encoding then they rarely get anywhere near peak PSU draw. In the months without heating WFH should barely make an impact on one's energy usage. Electric heaters on standard rate are the most expensive way to heat your home, do you have gas as well? It may be worth looking at a heat pump if you are stuck with electricity, possibly with solar and a battery as well.

reggie04 said:

Looking at it now some of the data on the table is misleading. I took the info from my Octopus bills so they are not all my readings of the meter, there is some estimated usage. I will redo the table and highlight those readings that are mine. 

It might be worth asking for a smart meter to be installed, that way you will get very granular usage data.

reggie04 said:

Even having established we are high electricity users there is nothing during that 3-week period that could explain such a huge usage. The equivalent of a years worth of electricity in 3 weeks.

Thanks again

The high usage in one period is absolutely worth looking at, but I suspect that with some tweaks you could probably save significantly on your usage throughout the year. 

Dolor

reggie04 said:

Thank you to everyone for your comments. I will take a picture of the meter and post it shortly. We are a very high electricity using household. We all work from home and have a small office adjacent to the house. We use electric heaters in the winter. The high meter readings are not new and we do have the occasional month when the usage is particularly high.

Looking at it now some of the data on the table is misleading. I took the info from my Octopus bills so they are not all my readings of the meter, there is some estimated usage. I will redo the table and highlight those readings that are mine. 

Even having established we are high electricity users there is nothing during that 3-week period that could explain such a huge usage. The equivalent of a years worth of electricity in 3 weeks.

Thanks again

Estimates are meaningless in the context of accurate billing. It is far better to re-post your table with actual meter readings and dates. This would give us a better overview of your annual usage.