Ridiculous energy usage after ASHP and smart meter installed

Baxter100

Heat pumps can be a good option, but only if they are installed, configured and used properly. They are not a gas boiler, it's a completely different way of heating a property. If the government is serious about heat pumps replacing gas boilers part of that mission will need to be a huge education campaign for installers and the general public.

In this example 1000kWh a month doesn't seem particularly untoward. The COP of the heat pump could be anywhere between 1.5-4, so energy consumption could easily vary anywhere between 375-1000kWh just depending on how the system has been set up and used. You wouldn't get this type of variation with a typical gas boiler install, so the occupier has to be aware of this.

Scot_39

10,000 kWh wouldn't bat an eyelid if was mainly gas for HW and heating - the median Ofgem TDCV - is 2700kWh electricand 11,500 kWh gas - a total of 14,2000 kWh.

But as all elec costs even on domestic svt let alone that business tariff - 50% higher SC and 25% higher unit rates - expensive.

Have you checked the system operation - some seem to have own loggers / data apps -

If not have you or your father called the installers back in to check system operation  - or checked the potentially quite detailed information - that is logged by some of the models - and compared against detailed - e.g. 1/2 hourly if smart or daily meter data.

Some posts have suggested issues with certain meter brands (Landis + Gyr e470 was one that got mentioned by Tesla but tvat was +/-5kWh per day ) - and export measurement.  One user post at EOn forums claimed export even charged as import etc

MP1995

Surely your gas has been capped and you are not paying standing charge for gas so it should not be £1 a day standing charge.

You really need to look at the bills and see what tariff and price per kwh was being charged.

I would say that someone at home 24/7 not knowing how to operate a heat pump it would not be unusual for their total electric the energy use to hit these figures.

lohr500

MP1995 said:

Surely your gas has been capped and you are not paying standing charge for gas so it should not be £1 a day standing charge.

You really need to look at the bills and see what tariff and price per kwh was being charged.

I would say that someone at home 24/7 not knowing how to operate a heat pump it would not be unusual for their total electric the energy use to hit these figures.

OP replied earlier explaining they were still on a business tariff :  

Unit cost varies between 31p and 36p but with a £1 a day standing charge. The tariff is a separate issue as E.On still have the account on an old defunct business tariff but mainly trying to get to the bottom of the high usage first.

MP1995

lohr500 said:

MP1995 said:

Surely your gas has been capped and you are not paying standing charge for gas so it should not be £1 a day standing charge.

You really need to look at the bills and see what tariff and price per kwh was being charged.

I would say that someone at home 24/7 not knowing how to operate a heat pump it would not be unusual for their total electric the energy use to hit these figures.

OP replied earlier explaining they were still on a business tariff :  

Unit cost varies between 31p and 36p but with a £1 a day standing charge. The tariff is a separate issue as E.On still have the account on an old defunct business tariff but mainly trying to get to the bottom of the high usage first.

Thanks for that clarification 

MobileSaver

Thanks all, I've passed on everyone's comments to the person who has LPA for the 80 year old.

Apparently when their self-employed partner passed away E.On were informed of the death and closure of the business and changed the bill into the 80 year-old's personal name but left it on the business tariff (have just checked and VAT is the correct 5%.)

The bills initially weren't that much different to what they'd always been so no-one thought to check the tariff. It's only now with E.On's inability to provide a bill for 9 months following a fundamental change in energy usage that all of this has come to light.

I'm thinking they go through E.On's complaints procedure and if necessary the Energy Ombudsmen with two complaints:

1. E.On should have made it clear that the existing business tariff was inappropriate for an 80 year old consumer.
2. E.On's failure to generate a bill for 9 months exacerbated the problem by not giving the customer the chance to mitigate the excessive bills.

I've no idea if energy suppliers have the ability to retrospectively apply a different tariff but I can't see there's anything to be lost by complaining and asking?

MobileSaver

Baxter100 said:

Heat pumps can be a good option, but only if they are installed, configured and used properly. They are not a gas boiler, it's a completely different way of heating a property.

MP1995 said:

I would say that someone at home 24/7 not knowing how to operate a heat pump it would not be unusual for their total electric the energy use to hit these figures.

I think this is part of the problem. I'm going to go back through all the correspondence with the installer but I don't think it was ever explained that the heating works differently than a conventional oil-powered boiler. In fact I vaguely recall that the LPA person said the installer didn't really seem to know themselves how the system worked...

Scot_39

MobileSaver said:

Thanks all, I've passed on everyone's comments to the person who has LPA for the 80 year old.

Apparently when their self-employed partner passed away E.On were informed of the death and closure of the business and changed the bill into the 80 year-old's personal name but left it on the business tariff (have just checked and VAT is the correct 5%.)

The bills initially weren't that much different to what they'd always been so no-one thought to check the tariff. It's only now with E.On's inability to provide a bill for 9 months following a fundamental change in energy usage that all of this has come to light.

I'm thinking they go through E.On's complaints procedure and if necessary the Energy Ombudsmen with two complaints:

1. E.On should have made it clear that the existing business tariff was inappropriate for an 80 year old consumer.
2. E.On's failure to generate a bill for 9 months exacerbated the problem by not giving the customer the chance to mitigate the excessive bills.

I've no idea if energy suppliers have the ability to retrospectively apply a different tariff but I can't see there's anything to be lost by complaining and asking?

The current EOn Next (domestic supply division) terms and conditions iirc say consumers should provide a reading monthly.

EOn next would probably be producing estimated bills for a domestic tariff monthly - not paper but email / online account in my case if not all/ most.

But iirc EOn business are different  and EOn domestic customers - who were definitely in many cases moved from EOn to EOn Next years ago. 

May therefore have been caught on business if not with EOn Next - so need to deal with different divisions.

If the original installer won't help - maybe another local supplier can help.