Overloaded Goods cause of Energy Spikes?

Robin9

Thank you for coming back to the Forum.

Tell us about your flat please -  old, new build, conversion from a house, - heating - gas/ electric etc

When you say everything -  you mention fridge but what about gas boiler (that may well do an auto-cycle that uses electric). door bell. phone charger ?

I'm with @ROY47 - a messed up original installation.

It's a small block -  drop a note through the letter boxes  - have they the same issues ?

Ectophile

Quackersd said:

What do you mean a UPS.   Do you mean a seperate power unit like a generator.   Have had contractors who believe its a neighbouring issue, someone able to access my electric  before the consumer unit  behind the adjourning wall before the meter.    Electric company only interest is the meter and payments My new consumer unit has been checked and working fine.  

Uninterruptable Power Supply.  It's a box with a rechargeable battery in it, with a power input and sockets for your appliances.  They are often used to power mission-critical computers.  They vary from little ones that can sit under a desk, and power one computer and its peripherals, up to huge ones that can run an entire data centre long enough to shut down the computers in an orderly way - maybe half an hour.

A UPS constantly monitors the mains.  If it's not happy with the mains voltage, it disconnects the supply and powers your appliances from the internal battery.

It is possible that someone else's sockets are being powered off your consumer unit, whether accidentally or deliberately.  Your flat will have walls shared with a neighbour.  It would take a fairly detailed investigation to find out.

If the electricity meter keeps going up even if you've unplugged everything, but stops going up if you turn off the power at the consumer unit, then it looks very suspicious.

Quackersd

Thanks ill try that.  Have to do something.   I have had to replace my cooker (2x), washing machine (5x) and fridges (3x).  So expected when I got everything upgraded etc everything would be ok.  So the only high level item I keep on is the fridge,  I use  the kettle once a day but know it pulls electricity.    Another issue I found at times, my meter may show usage of 2kw although i may have the tv on for a number of hours, along with the fridge.   I share the communal space with the neighbours so they can hear when people open the cupboard doors to check the meters- within a couple of minutes you hear a switch.

Quackersd

I tried to get the electrical company to investigate but they refused.  I asked several Electricians- they agreed something was wrong with the meter as they believed it was powering the neighbours supply, because although everything was turned off and plugged out  the meter (old style) was still turning very fast and then slowed down before turning fast again and the neighbours meter kept flashing red as this was happening.  This was after an hour of my appliances had been off.  Unfortunately the Electricians were unable to get behind the wall,  the landlord at that time refused  for over 2 years to allow access to the cupboard for my electrician to investigate. I was told that the only thing to do was to get a smart meter put in and install a new consumer unit from the inside  of my property.     My electrician indicated that just like the water pipes in the property there could be rogue wires around.  The property was  built in the early 70s  and is just a block of 4 flats
. 

saajan_12

Much of this makes no sense.. who is sending emails about this? Why are you changing appliances 5 times (!) - that would be way down the list to try. 

I wouldnt' rely too much on hearing switches, that's a very undistinctive sound when muffled through walls, and could be pipes expanding or contracting. 

WiserMiser

• The electricity supplier is not responsible for the wiring downstream of the meter, that's the property owner's responsibility.

• What is the 'electric hub'?  If you mean the small portable device associated with a smart meter, that's the In Home Device (IHD).  Forget it, your IHD might even be linked to a neighbour's meter.  As @QrizB says, read the meter on the wall instead.

• What do you mean by a 'Spike'?  A sudden increase in the instantaneous power consumption (e.g. from 300W to 3kW) or a sudden increase in the voltage (e.g. the lights suddenly becoming much brighter for a second or two)?

• Is your smart meter now inside your flat, or is it still in an external meter cupboard?  Do the Meter Sanity Test to find out more.

• It seems the only two possibilities are (i) that the meters are crossed over (a relatively common mistake without any malevolent intent) or (ii) that the wiring has been tampered with (much less likely, especially with a purpose built-flat), or a bit of both.  Is the landlord a private individual, and did they ever live in an adjoining flat?

ROY47

Have you tried what I suggested ? Turn off your consumer unit (fuse box)  ....

First thing to do is turn off your consumer unit (fuse box)   look at your meter and take a reading ,  leave it for 2-4 hours or more , take a reading again . Fridge / freezer ok for about 6-7 hours with power off

If the reading has gone up  then you have a problem , which could be the internal system is wrongly wired  and

you may be supplying next door as well 

You could also turn it all off at consumer unit  then ask next door if everything is still working at their property , if sockets / lights / cooker etc are not working next door , theirs your answer

WiserMiser

@Quackersd

Any luck with this??

Robin9

Hopefully @Quackersd will be spending next weekend talking to his neighbours .