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Faulty electric Smart Meter? or something more at play?....

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Comments

  • CAF80ST
    CAF80ST Posts: 14 Forumite
    10 Posts Second Anniversary
    CAF80ST said:
    Has the immersion heater been left on?
    The immersion heater has never been switched on. For emergency use only that thankfully we have never had to use. Goodness I don't think I could cope with that expense on top of everything else! 
    Unlikely it will be the immersion if it is switched off, but has that been tested?

    It is increasing sounding like either something in your property is on that you're not aware of, or the meter is faulty. Someone previously suggested completely turning off the consumer unit and tracking usage at the meter - can you do that?

    You need to push for the meter test, both with Octopus and the ombudsman. They can put in another meter in parallel and compare results.

    There is a very small chance someone else's usage is being recorded on your meter. What age is the property and those around it? Is it detached, flats?


    Immersion has been tested, definitely switched off.

    I will indeed carry out the completely turning off the consumer unit and tracking usage at the meter and the meter sanity test as suggested (thank you to who posted) I have a good couple of hours window to do that tomorrow morning. 

    This is interesting you say this regarding the meter test, this is exactly what I was expecting the test to look like and had read about, installing a check meter next to the existing meter so that electricity could be recorded through both. What actually happened was the engineer had a fob like/memory stick device taken from a sealed package, turned off the consumer unit, turned it back on with one circuit on only, borrowed an electric fan to run while no other electricity was on in the house. The identification number from the fob/memory stick device was input into an app and submitted. I'm sure there has to be more to it then this but this is what happened. 

    Our property is detached built in the 1970's. Our neighbours properties left and right were built in 1910 and 1925. Both their addresses appear on UK Power Networks. 
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 34,758 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 29 August at 6:32PM
    I would be tempted to splash out on a clamp on energy monitor, loads on sale on Ebay under £30, which would give you a real time view of your usage - not deadly accurate for billing but close enough to give you a good idea of your real time draw and daily / 7 day / 30 day use to compare to your meter.
  • CAF80ST
    CAF80ST Posts: 14 Forumite
    10 Posts Second Anniversary
    QrizB said:
    CAF80ST said:
    The meter is an Itron Model EK410-UK.
    I think that's a comms hub, commonly used with the Itron EM425-UK meter.
    Something like this (a stock photo)?

    We don't see many of those on the forum but someone might recognise it and know if it has any common faults.
    This is it!  Sorry I gave the comms number, you are correct it is the EM425-UK
  • bagand96
    bagand96 Posts: 6,583 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 29 August at 6:23PM
    CAF80ST said:
    CAF80ST said:
    Has the immersion heater been left on?
    The immersion heater has never been switched on. For emergency use only that thankfully we have never had to use. Goodness I don't think I could cope with that expense on top of everything else! 
    Unlikely it will be the immersion if it is switched off, but has that been tested?

    It is increasing sounding like either something in your property is on that you're not aware of, or the meter is faulty. Someone previously suggested completely turning off the consumer unit and tracking usage at the meter - can you do that?

    You need to push for the meter test, both with Octopus and the ombudsman. They can put in another meter in parallel and compare results.

    There is a very small chance someone else's usage is being recorded on your meter. What age is the property and those around it? Is it detached, flats?



    I will indeed carry out the completely turning off the consumer unit and tracking usage at the meter and the meter sanity test as suggested (thank you to who posted) I have a good couple of hours window to do that tomorrow morning. 

    This is the best thing you can do right now.  You should continue raising the issue with your supplier, however the more evidence you can gather of your own will help.  

    One of 3 things is going on here:

    1) Something in your property is using a lot of power (ie after your Consumer unit)
    2) Something not in your property is using a lot of electricity and you're paying for it (wired after your meter but before your consumer unit)
    3) Your meter is faulty and is phantom recording

    In the majority of cases it will be 1 which is likely why suppliers tend to drag their feet with this kind of thing. 2 would be exceptionally rare but not impossible (street lights, neighbour's supply, someone illegally tapped your supply etc) and there obviously is something odd going on with your supply on the database.  3 does happen.

    Some thorough but simple testing and evidence gathering will help eliminate things!
  • squirrelpie
    squirrelpie Posts: 1,415 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    CAF80ST said:
    Switched to Octopus in September 2023. We have a 1st gen electric smart meter, 8+ years old. Annual kWh usage since switching:

    25 Sep 2023 - 31 Dec 2023 = 6,633.623kWh
    1 Jan 2024 - 31 Dec 2024 = 20,693.869kWh 
    1 Jan 2025 - to present date = 13,235.511kWh
    When did you move into the house? What were the meter readings for the six years before the figures you have given?
  • SAC2334
    SAC2334 Posts: 875 Forumite
    500 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 30 August at 12:32AM
    CAF80ST said:
    You could try visiting this site: https://homebrew.n3rgy.com/
    If you put in your MPAN (which should be on your bills) it should tell you the equipment associated with that MPAN and you can check that that equipment is yours.  This might be worth a try, to give yourself some reassurance on that aspect of the issue.
    Thank you, this is helpful.  Equipment associated is:
    Communications Device
    Electricity Meter (Reads 'No Export MPAN configured, Import MPAN configured' followed by MPAN number)
    Gas Proxy Function
    Gas Meter
    In-Home Display Chameleon
    In-Home Display Geo

    We only have 1 In Home Display (that doesn't work), I'm not sure which it is. 
    No warnings or errors that I can see on the report. 
    Did you try and get a replacement Chameleon In House Display if yours is not working ?
    .My  Chameleon  does show every watt in use down to single watts used on the "now " function which for you is the most important function in tracking down power use .They are so much better than the vague clamps used around a cable .My chameleon ( type 1 ) is so sensitive I could see individual modes on my OLED Tv as I switched the modes to see that dynamic mode was using so many watts more than any other tv modes.

    I came on here last year for advice  trying to track down a 10 watt useage when everything  i thought possible was switched off but the monitor was spot on with measuring 10 unknown watts on 24 hours a day seven days a week .It turned out to be an old power supply for a video camera up in the loft I had forgot about . The Chameleon is your best search weapon possible so make sure you get a replacement sent by Octopus 
  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 18,708 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    SAC2334 said:
    Did you try and get a replacement Chameleon In House Display if yours is not working ?
    OP has a SMETS1 meter. Compatible IHDs are relatively hard to find.
    SAC2334 said:
    My  Chameleon does show every watt in use down to single watts used on the "now " function which for you is the most important function in tracking down power use .They are so much better than the vague clamps used around a cable 
    Any IHD will only report the same information that the smart meter is seeing. In the OPs situation, where the smart meter itself is suspect, an IHD won't provide the same independent check that you'd get with an add-on current clamp.
    SAC2334 said:
    The Chameleon is your best search weapon possible so make sure you get a replacement sent by Octopus 
    As above, Octopus are unlikely to supply an IHD for a SMETS1 meter.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • SAC2334
    SAC2334 Posts: 875 Forumite
    500 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    Looks like the OP has an older SMETS1 Itron meter but really needs to be upgraded to SMETS2
    .This could be done remotely by the DCC via Octopus.  .There is a national upgrade program called Enrollment and Adoption ( E and A ) . If that is not possible for this older Itron meter then Octopus will arrange to fit one of their own  excellent smart meters allowing full function and allowing access to all the smart meter tariffs like Tracker ,Agile , Go etc and would also get the IHD properly functioning .
  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 18,708 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    SAC2334 said:
    Looks like the OP has an older SMETS1 Itron meter but really needs to be upgraded to SMETS2
    SMETS1 meters can't be "upgraded" to SMETS2. They will always be SMETS1.
    SAC2334 said:
    .This could be done remotely by the DCC via Octopus.  .There is a national upgrade program called Enrollment and Adoption ( E and A ) .
    It seems likely that the OP's meter has already been adopted by the DCC, as Octopus are receiving smart meter data from it.
    SAC2334 said:
    If that is not possible for this older Itron meter then Octopus will arrange to fit one of their own  excellent smart meters allowing full function and allowing access to all the smart meter tariffs like Tracker ,Agile , Go etc and would also get the IHD properly functioning .
    OP's meter is working (as a smart meter, no comment on its accuracy) and I'm not aware of Octopus replacing working meters without good reason.
    A replacement meter would entail a replacement IHD.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
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