A very large increase in units used and my electricity bill

dhudson80

Hi, and thank you for reading my post.

I am currently with E-on and have been for nearly 2 years. I live in rented accomadation and do not have readily available access to my meter. I rent a two bedroom flat above a shop and i believe the meter is in the basement of the shop.

I pay my bill direct debit at approx £60 per month. I have just checked my bill for the quarter and have a massive bill of £450.00. Looking back through meter readings i can say that there must be something wrong. Having looked at meter readings between 30th Aug 06 and 26th Nov 07 the total units consumed was 3,325. However after the last time my meter was read on 27th Nov 07 and the most recent reading done by E-on, it states I have used 4,901 units in just 6 months.

This has to be wrong as we haven't changed the way we consume electicity in the premises. I am going to question my landlord tomorrow and also ask to look at the meter myself, I will post an update when i have the information.

My question is simple does anyone know why over a period 15 months my usage according to E-on meter readings was 3,325 units, and the following 6 month period it states I used 4,901 units. Does this seem a little suspect to anyone and what advice can you give as to go about investigating the issue.

Again thanks for reading and i hope someone out there can give me advice as to what to do when querying the increase etc.

Regards

Dale

notbritishgas

The most common reason for this is that somewhere along the line there has been an estimated reading or two, and the latest bill is a catching up one.
If the readings have been estimated there will be an "E" against the reading.

You have not said what items you run on electric, do you have heating. Without heating the yearly average use is about 3500 kwh, with heating it will be much more than that.

Incisor

dhudson80 wrote: »

... I am going to question my landlord tomorrow and also ask to look at the meter myself, I will post an update when i have the information.

Make sure that when you look ALL of your appliances are off and check whether the meter is spinning. If it is, then get to the bottom of it.

Stinkster

Firstly I would advise to get access from your landlord to double check the meter reading yourself.

The bills are only as accurate as the readings recorded and this is the first thing to make sure is right. The meter inspector may have made a error in your most recent reading. If the reading is accurate then call your supplier.

Ask them to talk you through the last 3 years meter readings, noting whether the readings are accurate or estimates. Once you have full details for 3 years (exampe) only compare periods based on the accurate readings.

If there is a true usage increase year on year and this is backed up by meter readings you will need to look at your usage next. You are comparing two periods in time against each other, what circumstances have changed? if any.

some reasons for increase in consumption off the top of my head

1) there are more people living at the property than previously. Or maybe someone is working for home or longer hours at property.

2) you are using some sort of electricial heating which you weren't previously. These are notoriously expensive to run, for example oil filled plug in portable radiators. If not heating appliances then maybe some other additional items you had not really considered.

3) maybe you now have a new baby? bills always seem to go up with the increase in washing and drying which is needed.

Just some ideas.

dhudson80

Thank you for your reply. I have done as you said and checked the bills and they are actual readings not estimates. Also the heating in our flat is gas central heating, our oven and stove are electric and we own 2 tvs, dvd player, sky box, microwave and games console, laptop and desktop computer, all of which we have had since moving in.

It just seems odd that in the first 15 months of living here we used about the average eectrical consumption for a household of our size with gas heating. This was 3.325 units.
Then from the last reading in November and the most recent reading in May 08 that the total units used between that 6 month period was 4,901. Thats considerably higher than previous usage over a 15 month period.

Thanks for your comment again.

dhudson80

Hi,

Just a quick update. My wife today went to check the meter. When looking at it, there is one meter spinning then two digital readers connected to it, both are labeled for flat 1 and flat 2. I am unsure of this setup and how it works and my wife also couldn't see where the shops meter was if there was one.

We also made sure that all electricity was off and I am aware that our neighbors are away and have also unplugged all of their appliances before leaving for holiday two weeks ago. What my wife said was that the meter was still spinning and it was spinning fast. however my landlord neither showed my wife if there was a separate meter for the shop and disinterest in what was said.

I am not an expert in these matters so if what i've stated above seems normal then please ignore.

Heres a quick list of Actual meter readings done by powergen/e-on over the past two years since we moved in.

30AUG06 - 2581
22NOV06 - 3217
28FEB07 - 3995
04JUN07 - 4550
26NOV07 - 5832
28MAY08 - 10733

Again the way in which we use and consume electricity has not differed much over the majority of the first 15 months. It just jumps right up over the last 6.

Hope this helps and again any advice would be greatly appreciated. for those who have replied, thank you.

Regards

Dale

Cardew

If they are 'actual' readings. and not estimated readings then something is very clearly wrong.

It is easy to shut off all power to your flat and check the meter - which obviously should not be moving.

Premier_2

Something is definitely not right!

I've not seen an electric supply meter exactly as you suggest, but perhaps it's legit. I've got a 'traditional' meter with a dual digital meter attached for peak/off peak. This means we ignore the reading on the 'traditional' part of the meter itself. But obviously the supply only relates to our property, it does mean the meter stops when no electricity is being used.

I guess your meter could work similarly but with the digital meters recording flat 1 & flat 2 rather than peak/off peak. But where I have seen just a digital meter only, that has a led that flashes to indicate usage (no flashing means no usage). I would have thought that if the individual supplies to the 2 flats cannot be seen to be static on the 'traditional' meter (because that seems to be attached to 2 properties) then each digital meter should have a similar led to check.

You say you think the neighbouring flat has turned off all electricity appliances. Are you sure? e.g. It's not often people turn off fridge/freezers when going on 2 weeks holiday. That could explain why the meter is turning.

It is very possible that the shop has a meter located elsewhere.

But your usage figures are crazy. In 1 year (Nov 06 - Nov 07) you used ca. 2500 units. In the following 6 months (Nov 07 - May 06) you used ca. 5000 units - that's almost 4 times the consumption per day!

If your landlord is acting disinterested, I think a call to your electricity supplier would be in order. That kind of usage change itself should be enough to get them to investigate. It could be simply a faulty meter, or perhaps something more sinister...whatever the cause, it certainly doesn't appear right.

space_rider

Have you asked the occupiers of the other flat if they are getting bills?

dhudson80

Thanks for the comments so far. I have contacted the electricity company and they are sending a meter engineer or somebody who is going to check the meter, but they're not due till 30 Jun.

With regards to the neighbours bills two billing letters arrived yesterday, one addressed to me and the flat i live. However the bill that is addressed to our neighbours flat for some reason is in the name of the landlord, even though they have lived at the address for over a year now, which itself raises questions.

My neighbours are due back after their 3 week break this weekend, so i will ask them about their bills and also see if its possible to turn all electric appliances off, if not already then check the meter again.

Thanks everyone for the advice and i will keep you all posted.