Can energy rates vary day to day?

lb27

Hi, I wondered if anybody could help me understand my smart meter! I’m a little confused. 

For instance, all day yesterday I used £1.58 for 6.02kWh. 

However, today I woke up at 8am to a balance of £2 already for only 4.29kWh today. 

So yesterday, I used more energy but it cost less overall. Does this mean the energy was at a cheaper rate? This is a variable tariff - can the rates change so drastically day to day?

Also, I live alone and only the fridge and boiler were running (which was of course consistent yesterday too), so I’m very confused how I can wake up to a balance higher than the previous entire day of usage?

* it won’t allow me to attach photos of the smart meter. *

It’s likely there’s an obvious explanation for this but I don’t really understand anything about energy!

CSI_Yorkshire

Unless you're on one of the very few tariffs that does change that fast - and you really should know if you were - then no.  You will be paying the same price today as yesterday, although the prices will probably change on 1 July.

And many others will also tell you - that isn't the smart meter you're looking at, it's just the in-home display unit.  These IHDs are notorious for not being set up right or updated very quickly, and using the ££ part of them isn't very useful.  The kWh bit should be accurate though.

debitcardmayhem

Welcome to the forum. Are you referring to your in home display (IHD)? That is not a smart meter, but no worries can you split the usage to gas and electricity. 

lb27

debitcardmayhem said:

Welcome to the forum. Are you referring to your in home display (IHD)? That is not a smart meter, but no worries can you split the usage to gas and electricity. 

Yes I am, it’s just electric

lb27

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Unless you're on one of the very few tariffs that does change that fast - and you really should know if you were - then no.  You will be paying the same price today as yesterday, although the prices will probably change on 1 July.

And many others will also tell you - that isn't the smart meter you're looking at, it's just the in-home display unit.  These IHDs are notorious for not being set up right or updated very quickly, and using the ££ part of them isn't very useful.  The kWh bit should be accurate though.

Thank you! That’s super interesting that it’s not accurate, seems pretty useless then, it’s stressing me out a lot! 😅

[Deleted User]

lb27 said:

Hi, I wondered if anybody could help me understand my smart meter! I’m a little confused. 

For instance, all day yesterday I used £1.58 for 6.02kWh. 

However, today I woke up at 8am to a balance of £2 already for only 4.29kWh today. 

So yesterday, I used more energy but it cost less overall. Does this mean the energy was at a cheaper rate? This is a variable tariff - can the rates change so drastically day to day?

Also, I live alone and only the fridge and boiler were running (which was of course consistent yesterday too), so I’m very confused how I can wake up to a balance higher than the previous entire day of usage?

* it won’t allow me to attach photos of the smart meter. *

It’s likely there’s an obvious explanation for this but I don’t really understand anything about energy!

Download and install the free app BRIGHT. You can then see your daily usage and cost in more detail.

lb27

[Deleted User] said:

lb27 said:

Hi, I wondered if anybody could help me understand my smart meter! I’m a little confused. 

For instance, all day yesterday I used £1.58 for 6.02kWh. 

However, today I woke up at 8am to a balance of £2 already for only 4.29kWh today. 

So yesterday, I used more energy but it cost less overall. Does this mean the energy was at a cheaper rate? This is a variable tariff - can the rates change so drastically day to day?

Also, I live alone and only the fridge and boiler were running (which was of course consistent yesterday too), so I’m very confused how I can wake up to a balance higher than the previous entire day of usage?

* it won’t allow me to attach photos of the smart meter. *

It’s likely there’s an obvious explanation for this but I don’t really understand anything about energy!

Download and install the free app BRIGHT. You can then see your daily usage and cost in more detail.

Ok amazing, thank you!

Gerry1

Just for future reference and to avoid confusion, it's likely to be a hot tank with an immersion heater (or two) rather than a boiler.

An electric boiler would usually be connected to conventional wet radiators.  That would be a nightmare system, cripplingly expensive both to install and to run on day rate electricity.

Scot_39

Some firms are better at sending the pricing data to Smart meters than others and hence in home display costs in £s can be hit and miss.

Most are fairly accurate on kWh units though - my IHD connects reliably and updates data several times a minute for live W used etc - but others barely connect at all.

Smart meter data can also be interrogated by phone apps etc - sometimes to half hourly use.

But that needs setting up and a smart phone etc.

So basics

Are you on a time of use tariff like E7 or some legacy version (white meter, e2020, thtc etc) ? 

The only tariffs that change more regularly than 3 monthly cap are highly specialised ones - like Octopus tracker or Agile - chances are if getting stressed by billing - you haven't gone anywhere near likes of them.

Many all electric homes are however on a multirate tariff - to allow a cheaper rate for heating and hot water etc.

Do you have a recent bill - does it show tariff name and 2 or more sets of unit rates (day/night or peak / off-peak pricing and usage splits etc) ?

If so the high share of usage overnight - 4kW vs 6kW for a whole day  I suspect is mainly for your hot water immersion tank at this time of year (your probably not using much if any heating ?)

But that should normally be running at a lower unit rate - whereas your price data suggests higher.

Sadly ihd displays only show total electricity units for tariffs like e7.

You need to read meter or look at bills to see split.

But the higher cost would imply your using that heavy share of load overnight more at peak rate

Which can happen if say a water timer drifts relative to meter off peak times - but that shouldn't change rapidly daily.

But can be out if for instance a smart timer changes to summer time and your meter stays on GMT - which was weeks ago.


Assuming a SC around 50p - its highly regional - 6kw for 1.58 implies an aver unit rate of 18p.  

But 4.3kW for £2 - overnight to 8am - suggests a tariff rate - closer to 33p - a  normal day time rate.

That really just doesn't seem right - for a well configured e7 type system.

But without knowing any day night type pricing setup - and the split of units used - really difficult to say.

How regularly do you get statements - mines are monthly.

Any chance you can give typical unit readings and tariff - standing charge and unit kwh prices ?

Are you able to read your meter ?

To provide any peak off peak split usage cf smart ihd pricing.

My IHD actually tells me what it thinks the SC and unit rates are if flick through menus - but only the current unit rate - so if on say E7 - I would have to look between midnight and 7am gmt etc.

If yours does - does the data match your bill rates - mines did in Mar, but been out since Apr price change.  And iirc, for about 1st year or so - the price didn't include the Standing Charge or vat.


There can be problems with multi rate billing on likes of E7 - day charged as night - but its not that common - and that tends to happen more after a supplier change but sometimes even just a meter change.

Edit : There are some tests that can help check for this - but easiest probably just taking readings of registers - and comparing against bills if absolutes are far enough apart.

However if split close and a newer meter etc , you might need to confirm which register is truly your off peak by a meter reading test - say checking which register is accumulating overnight or even just for a few hours during day.

I use about 25%-30% on peak annualy - so my peak off peak  readings are over 15,000 apart - a good few years of my total use.
.END EDIT.

Can you dig out recent bill(s).

Can you quote your provider/ tariff name, standing charge and unit rates and any unit splits from a recent bill and its time period.

(PS don't post images - scans or photos - without redacting personal info like name, address, mpan, meter serial numbers etc)

As before can you read meter - or get a friend / relative to ?

If so a few short term readings might help you make sense of  (or show for  nonsense) your ihd data - and maybe a set to coincide with your billing cycle might help you align the two.

molerat

lb27 said:

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Unless you're on one of the very few tariffs that does change that fast - and you really should know if you were - then no.  You will be paying the same price today as yesterday, although the prices will probably change on 1 July.

And many others will also tell you - that isn't the smart meter you're looking at, it's just the in-home display unit.  These IHDs are notorious for not being set up right or updated very quickly, and using the ££ part of them isn't very useful.  The kWh bit should be accurate though.

Thank you! That’s super interesting that it’s not accurate, seems pretty useless then, it’s stressing me out a lot! 😅

Yep, help save the planet by producing hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of what is little more than electronic waste, go figure that one out !

CSI_Yorkshire

lb27 said:

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Unless you're on one of the very few tariffs that does change that fast - and you really should know if you were - then no.  You will be paying the same price today as yesterday, although the prices will probably change on 1 July.

And many others will also tell you - that isn't the smart meter you're looking at, it's just the in-home display unit.  These IHDs are notorious for not being set up right or updated very quickly, and using the ££ part of them isn't very useful.  The kWh bit should be accurate though.

Thank you! That’s super interesting that it’s not accurate, seems pretty useless then, it’s stressing me out a lot! 😅

Accurate for how much you use and how much you are using live.  That's useful.

Just not accurate always for cost because the price doesn't always get updated right.