Electricity meter readings are 20x higher than average and I don't know why

L564

I have always been pretty consistent about submitting meter readings monthly and six months ago I noticed my electricity meter reading (I have a gas meter as well but that has been fine) was about twice as high as I would have expected. I put this down to it having just been Christmas. But a month later it was 5x higher than I would have expected so I rang Octopus (my energy company) in February to report the problem.

They asked me to do a couple of creep tests which I did and on all occasions my meter kept going up even after I had turned the fuse box off completely. I sent them photos and even videos so they could see the meter flashing away in real time despite all power being switched off. 

Octopus eventually sent an engineer out to do a meter accuracy test a couple of months later, in April. However, the results came back saying there was nothing wrong with the meter, the variance was only about 1%. 

Octopus also said the increases during the creep test were probably just "residual energy" and so from their end nothing was wrong. They just wanted to close the case. 

However, I have been monitoring the readings the whole time and the daily average is just going up and up. In the last week it has recorded over 27KWH per day! That's 20x higher than my daily average use in the previous four years I've lived here, and impossible for me to use as I don't have much in my flat. Just a few chargers, a fridge, a rarely used oven and a kettle. I don't own a TV or electric heaters and my boiler is gas. 

I've done a creep test over three hours with the power off and have filmed the meter continuing to go up but Octopus haven't acknowledged this evidence. I've sent them so many meter readings to demonstrate the huge spike in recorded usage but again, since their accuracy test came back as saying everything was fine, they just don't want to engage. 

I've had an electrician come out and inspect the meter and some of the cabling around it to see if there had been any evidence of tampering but there's nothing. I did wonder if my neighbour had somehow tapped into my wires when we was renovating but I've not had any other signs of that like power cuts or smelling smoke. Also he is rarely in so even between us I don't know how we could use all that power. 

I'm at a loss with what else it could be. Is it worth paying for an independent meter accuracy test? Octopus have not offered this but I saw on the government website I can ask them to arrange this. I have got a case with the Ombudsman but I am not confident because Octopus seem to have an excuse for everything. What else could I be missing? 

For reference, my meter is Ampy Metering 5235A 2008 model. My fuse box is pretty old but the electrician didn't say there was anything wrong with it. 

Appreciate any ideas at this point! Thanks! 
 

Reed_Richards

Why not ask Octopus to fit a smart meter in place of the "dumb" meter that you suspect is malfunctioning?

UnsureAboutthis

Turn everything off for a few hours and see if the meter is recording usage.

Our readings have gone up as the weather is very warm and we have two large FF's.

When we wake up in the morning, the reading is now close to 95p electric used as opposed to about 83p.

But turn everything off in FF's and see if any leaks, etc

BTW, have you bought any new gadgets, white goods etc?   Trun off everything and if zero reading, then consider getting your electrical appliances tested.

WiserMiser

Is the meter inside your flat?  If it's in an external cupboard or in a meter room it may be labelled with your flat number but be recording a neighbour's consumption.  Turn absolutely everything on, especially the kettle and the high powered items and see whether the metrology light on the meter flashes like crazy.

There's no such thing as 'residual energy': if every breaker in the consumer unit has been switched off, the meter reading shouldn't increment one iota and the metrology light should never flash once.  If it's external the meter may well be recording to within 1% but that doesn't mean it's recording your consumption.

WiserMiser

Reed_Richards said:

Why not ask Octopus to fit a smart meter in place of the "dumb" meter that you suspect is malfunctioning?

That would be a 'dumb' thing to do because the evidence of over charging would be lost and the meters might still be crossed.

DE_612183

Ask them for a deadlock letter, then supply all your evidence to the ombudsman.

MattMattMattUK

I agree that this almost certainly sounds like a faulty meter. I would still do a bit more testing myself, firstly leaving the power off for a extended period, say eight hours overnight (fridges and freezers would be fine for that period of time provided they are not opened). I would also then test a known load over a fixed period, with that being the only thing in use (all other power turned off at the consumer unit) and see what the result is. If/When that demonstrates there is an issue with the meter then send them that data, they will likely offer you the option of the meter either having parallel monitoring or being sent off for an independent test. The former is normally free, the latter is usually chargeable but the charge is refunded if the meter is found to be faulty. They will then back calculate your bills for the period when your usage increased and credit you for the excess charges. 

L564

Thanks all.

There meter is outside of my flat but I've already done a burns test, using the kettle and other high usage appliances for a while. We're pretty confident it is my meter, I'm just not sure if it is calculating someone else's usage as well as mine. No electrician has been able to find evidence of this though. There is no tampering of the meter and no evidence of any issues on any of the cables I can access. How else can I explore this? 

Octopus did offer a smart meter, which I'd be happy to get but I don't want to lose evidence of the inaccurate meter readings. I'm looking at an excess charge of over £500 at the moment and it is going up every day. If they don't think the meter is at fault, then this won't solve the problem.

For four years everything was as expected, and I haven't changed anything in that time. Same appliances, same working from home schedule, etc. I have tried to test the fridge (my only main appliance) for leaks but the rate of increase actually went up when the fridge was off so I don't think it's that! My daily average used to be around 2KWH a day. About two months ago it was 12KWH, in the last month it has gone up to 27KWH a day!! Nothing has changed in that time. 

I'll try a longer creep test and see if I can test a known load and send all the evidence over. It's really hard to get Octopus to engage with any of the evidence I send though. I've already opened a case with the Ombudsman because it took Octopus so long to even engage on the issue. 

tim_p

Does the meter serial number match that on the bill?

Baldytyke88

L564 said:

Octopus did offer a smart meter, which I'd be happy to get but I don't want to lose evidence of the inaccurate meter readings. I'm looking at an excess charge of over £500 at the moment and it is going up every day. If they don't think the meter is at fault, then this won't solve the problem.

There is your answer, your delay could cost you a lot of hassle.

MattMattMattUK

Baldytyke88 said:

L564 said:

Octopus did offer a smart meter, which I'd be happy to get but I don't want to lose evidence of the inaccurate meter readings. I'm looking at an excess charge of over £500 at the moment and it is going up every day. If they don't think the meter is at fault, then this won't solve the problem.

There is your answer, your delay could cost you a lot of hassle.

Letting them switch the meter now will mean that there is no chance of getting any of the excess payments back.