Gas & Electric bills have almost doubled and I am getting worrying readings on smart meter

mattharris1986

We are a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids) we have a 3 bedroom house and 2 reception rooms, not massive.

Our Gas & Electric bills have gone from c180 to c450 in last 12 months. I had just put it down general energy prices going up. 

However, I put our Smart Meter on my desk and have been paying much closer attention and something doesn't seem right. 

I am getting strange readings at night, for example last night at 1am my smart meter read that I was using 2 KW of electricity & 7KW of Gas and there was only 2 lamps on in the whole house, boiler was off, oven off, we have an induction hob which was off, no EV charging. I spotted something similar 2-3 nights ago. I made a video and shared with Octopus, not heard back yet. 

I am a bit naive to all of this and would very much appreciate some help,

Matt 

Swipe

You could do a quick test to make sure you are connected to the right meter by turning off your electric at the main switch and see if your in house display unit for your electric displays zero current usage

MattMattMattUK

mattharris1986 said:

We are a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids) we have a 3 bedroom house and 2 reception rooms, not massive.

Our Gas & Electric bills have gone from c180 to c450 in last 12 months. I had just put it down general energy prices going up. 

However, I put our Smart Meter on my desk and have been paying much closer attention and something doesn't seem right. 

I am getting strange readings at night, for example last night at 1am my smart meter read that I was using 2 KW of electricity & 7KW of Gas and there was only 2 lamps on in the whole house, boiler was off, oven off, we have an induction hob which was off, no EV charging. I spotted something similar 2-3 nights ago. I made a video and shared with Octopus, not heard back yet. 

I am a bit naive to all of this and would very much appreciate some help,

Matt 

You put your IHD on your desk, your smart meter is fixed to the supply and cannot be moved.

What does the usage data from your account show? That will have 30 minute data and will be what you are billed based on, rather than what the IHD shows. 

mattharris1986

Thanks for the quick replies.

Good idea re turning off electric and seeing what shows on the dial. Can I do this for Gas aswell?

When I log into Octpus I can see Month on Month, right now I can see 1st Dec to 31st Dec.

Apparently we used 1400KW Electricity and 2400KW of Gas, the graph just spikes up. I can't see where I can see last 30 minute data.

When I log into the App it just says "Your readings are on the way - we're still getting our meter data - if you're waiting more than a day or two head to FAQ" - I've send an email but no reply.

 

p00hsticks

mattharris1986 said:

Our Gas & Electric bills have gone from c180 to c450 in last 12 months.

Bear in mind if comparing cost rather than usage that last year from October to March you were given £60+ a month cost of living payment towards the electricity bill.

Alnat1

Do you have a hot water tank? If so, it might be heating during the night using electricity if immersion has been switched on accidently or set to heat overnight using gas.

Fridges and freezers will use electricity at night, could be a problem with either that is causing it to use a lot of power.

See if you can compare how much you used in kWh December 2022 to 2023. Comparing in £ doesn't really give the true picture as prices have changed. If you can't see this through Octopus app/website you can download other apps such as Bright which can help.

Brie

Check what else might be plugged in that you don't need to turn off normally.  Clock radios, TV on standby, laptop plugged in to charger, microwave and oven with clocks on, frig, freezer, alarms, even your gas boiler is likely using electric.  

dunstonh

Our Gas & Electric bills have gone from c180 to c450 in last 12 months. I had just put it down general energy prices going up. 

Talking in money is not helpful when measuring your use.     Money is use multiplied by unit price.
Last year, we had the Government subsidies.  This year we don't.  So, your bills would be higher if you had the same use.

What is your actual use. i.e. unit count.  Compare that with last year.

Many areas of the UK have been colder than the previous year in the same period.  2022/23 was very mild for most.  2023/24 has been colder.  So, again, energy use would expect to be higher for most.

mattharris1986

This is my usage in Octopus. I can't go back to last December for some reason.

The jump just feels crazy, coupled with the weird issues i'm seeing with high usage at night. 

MeteredOut

Is that both gas and electricity?

Were you away in October (very little usage)? If not, could the Nov & Dec cover October (eg, if you have a smart meter, perhaps it stopped sending readings). 

It would be much better if you could post the kWh readings from your actual bills, showing readings/estimated readings.

dunstonh

mattharris1986 said:

This is my usage in Octopus. I can't go back to last December for some reason.

The jump just feels crazy, coupled with the weird issues i'm seeing with high usage at night. 

If there was no reading in October, it may then be averaged over Nov (and possibly Dec).