Meter malfunction?

Lynnfb

Whilst ringing around for quotes British Gas mentioned his quote was based on the National Grid figures from this last year and when I said they were wrong he told me they were the most precise. I then checked Eon Next (my present supplier) and noticed they were using the same assumed annual usage as British Gas. I had a new Smart Meter installed when I started with Eon and it started at 0 and according to my bills it is approx 2000kwh more than the National Grid figures. Could my meter be malfunctioning or are the National Grid figures suspect?

molerat

The estimated use figures on the national database are often way off the mark and best ignored.  Have you checked the bills against the actual meter read ?

Netexporter

Have a look at the meter readings on your bills. If they have an E next to them, they are estimates, probably indicating that the supplier isn't receiving the smart readings. If the readings show an S, then they are getting the readings and should be using those to estimate your future consumption.

FrugaiMacDugal

Lynnfb said:

 I had a new Smart Meter installed when I started with Eon and it started at 0 and according to my bills it is approx 2000kwh more than the National Grid figures.

When was Eon meter installed?

matelodave

Lynnfb said:

 I had a new Smart Meter installed when I started with Eon and it started at 0 and according to my bills it is approx 2000kwh more than the National Grid figures. Could my meter be malfunctioning or are the National Grid figures suspect?

Things to check - do the bill readings line up with your meter. As you've got a smart meter, dont automatically assume that the energy company is using the readings.

Go and read the meter yourself (the one on the wall with all the cables coming out of it) and make sure that the readings do actually correspond to your bills. If they dont,  then the bills and guestimates are wrong s you should get them corrected

I've had a smart meter for years and although the bills are correctly based on readings (I check them against the meter evry month to make sure), all the estimates of my annual consumption are wrong. Even though they've got eight years of accurate monthly readings , the estimate gets recalculated every month based on the previous months consumption and is therefore wrong by a different amount each month.

Tell British Gas or whoever what you use yourself, don't leave it them to guess as they always put a bit extra on. In my case by around 1000-1500kwh which would add between £16 and £20 to my monthly DD if I let them get away with it.

EssexHebridean

You probably want to check the readings -v- bills from the old meter as well by way of comparison - if the readings show that your annual use has suddenly jumped since the new meter was installed then either your old meter was under reading or the new one has an issue - it may be tricky to prove which, though!