Sudden leap in electricity use, seemingly after power cut

Robin9 · 20 October 2019 at 5:21PM

If your meter is the old spinning disc type with the readings in clocks which go in different directions I think that has a 1/10 kwh dial. You can even time the dial.

PS Why did Houbara get ppr'd. We will miss his knowledge of meters.

Gerry1 · 20 October 2019 at 5:50PM

When you first get there, run the electric shower until the meter increments one unit. If it's a 10kW job it'll take a maximum of just six minutes, so not onerous.

Then unplug absolutely everything but leaving the main circuit switches untouched. Go out and have a coffee, go window shopping, a walk, surf the web in the library or whatever for a couple of hours. If the reading has incremented by 1kWh or more then you know there's something strange happening and you'll have to repeat the exercise, e.g. by switching off half the circuits at the consumer unit or fuse box.

Run the shower again (should take the full six minutes) until the meter increments. Plug in a 3kW fan heater set to maximum, or a three bar electric fire, leave it for two hours and check that the meter increments by 6kWh or fewer. That should give you some clues about where to investigate next. Finally, restore normal conditions.

BTW, what's the cooker? If it's a clever electric one with a timer or programmer it may have freaked out because of the voltage surge and be stuck permanently on with a low setting that doesn't make the whole unit feel hot.

Gerry1 · 20 October 2019 at 5:53PM

Robin9 wrote: »

If your meter is the old spinning disc type with the readings in clocks which go in different directions I think that has a 1/10 kwh dial

It's not that type:-

BooJewels wrote: »

Meter seems to be a very simple one with a digital numeric display only - nothing moves to indicate the level of power being used

BooJewels · 20 October 2019 at 7:20PM

glennevis wrote: »

I would echo the advice to get a cheap clamp-on energy monitor and monitor real time consumption as you switch on/off appliances.

Yes, I think I'm going to have to try something if a solution doesn't present itself easily.

coffeehound wrote:

It would be accurate enough to diagnose a gross metering error. Yes it might take up to two hours, but if you're there all day?

Yes, we tend to spend a long day, although the next day I'm scheduled there we have meetings and visitors, it might have to wait until the time after.

Gerry1 wrote:

When you first get there, run the electric shower until the meter increments one unit. If it's 10kW job it'll take a maximum of just six minutes, so not onerous.

I hadn't thought of the shower for testing purposes - although I'm not sure that it's that powerful, but it is awkward as a walk-in and will probably end up with someone getting wet!

Gerry1 wrote:

BTW, what's the cooker?

Gas hob and oven. Oven used once a week, hob not used for months. Neither are a clever anything.

Robin9 wrote:

If your meter is the old spinning disc type

As Gerry pointed out, this one isn't unfortunately. Mine at home has a single spinning disc, which I mentioned, but that's not the property where the problem is.

For the record, at the moment, I'm not suggesting it's a metering error, but that something was tripped or disturbed by the power cut (at least that's what we think it was) and is now gobbling electricity. I want to find and identify that. It's just a bit more complicated when it's not your own home (and it's cluttered) and you're not sure what is plugged in where and how it's wired. The fuse that blew confused us at first as they weren't physically close items that went off.

victor2 · 20 October 2019 at 10:02PM

Many meters with a digital display that shows whole kWh also have an LED that pulses as partial units are used. Basically, the faster it flashes, the more electricity you are using. The flash may indicate just one Wh used, so it takes a thousand flashes to record one kWh. I know our such meter flashes quite rapidly when the electric shower is on. It might make it easier to see when a load is switched on or off.

BooJewels · 20 October 2019 at 11:35PM

victor2 wrote: »

Many meters with a digital display that shows whole kWh also have an LED that pulses as partial units are used. Basically, the faster it flashes, the more electricity you are using.

I was just starting to post that the meter doesn't have a flashing light (in that I haven't seen anything move or flash on it - and posted to that effect earlier) but decided to look at some of my photos of it to double check. It's clear that there's more to the meter at the right of my images, where it's covered by something.

So I searched for the name on it hoping to find a user manual and found some photos (posted in the Energy forum here as it happens) and it does look to have an LED at the right, that I've not seen before. So I will need to check it more carefully at my next visit - it might well flash to indicate usage after all. My apologies for not checking that sooner. I've looked at it enough times, but wasn't realising that I was only seeing 60% of the unit. It's in a cupboard under the stairs and I'd just cleared enough stuff to give me line of sight of the numbers.

Talldave · 21 October 2019 at 12:36AM

In which case the led version of the Geo Minim+ will give you a live readout of watts being consumed which is accurate to what the meter's billing you for because it's counting the meter's LED flashes.

It'll cost you around £40 but you could flog it again when the mystery is solved or use it at your own place.

You can then kill circuits on the fuse box and a few seconds later you can see the consumption. You have to wait a while when you're down below 100W because the time between pulses gets so long! That should help find which circuit is esting so much and the detective work can begin!

markin · 21 October 2019 at 3:06AM

A freezer near a leaking roof would be the first thing to check and unplug

BooJewels · 21 October 2019 at 7:56AM

Talldave wrote: »

In which case the led version of the Geo Minim+ will give you a live readout of watts being consumed [...]
You can then kill circuits on the fuse box and a few seconds later you can see the consumption. You have to wait a while when you're down below 100W because the time between pulses gets so long! That should help find which circuit is esting so much and the detective work can begin!

Thanks. That's going to be fun! One of the reasons it took a couple of visits to suspect what had happened (i.e. power cut) was that when one bulb 'went' then another seemed to go next visit, they were separated enough for it not to occur that it was a blown fuse until we'd struggled trying several new bulbs in each light. There's no pattern to the fuses and they're not marked. So goodness only knows what each one controls. But we found a dymo labeller, so that'll be rectified.

A freezer near a leaking roof would be the first thing to check and unplug

Indeed. The roof near the freezer is the only bit that's solid, so it's not in immediate water jeopardy and there isn't a plug socket out there, it's wired through the wall to the inside. It's just that I can't easily get to it to open the door to empty it, to take it out of the equation completely. But we can certainly unplug it on the inside (when I identify which one it is) and see what difference it makes to the consumption.

I know how ridiculous it all must sound, but I've been thrust into this situation without the opportunity for any sort of hand over or chance to talk about how things are set, so it's making it a perpetual journey of discovery. And not in a nice way. Thankfully, the other 2 older relatives that I have LPAs for have both been reassured by seeing how it works in practical terms and to know they've made a wise decision, but they're also now preparing the ground for me rather better and I've already had this sort of provisional handover with each of them. Plus it makes me fearful for what my own son might have to face in the future and I hope I can be better prepared when the time comes.

Thank you everyone for your assistance, it's truly appreciated. I'm going away for a bit, but I will follow up on the various suggestions and will report back when I make some progress.

I'm hoping that when my sister visits this week some time and reads the meter, it'll be back to normal consumption levels and it'll be because I've mis-read or written down the numbers wrong. Several times. I wish.

Gerry1 · 21 October 2019 at 10:02AM

Unfortunately in this case it wouldn't be a good idea to use an energy monitor that counts the red flashes coming from the meter. There is a possibility, albeit probably quite small, that the meter has been damaged by the voltage surge from a lightning strike or whatever. If the meter is recording twice the actual amount, so will the flash counter, and you'll end up none the wiser and still be paying double.

Instead, use the type of independent monitor where the sensor clips around one of the supply cables. Then it's time for a leisurely electric shower.

If the consumption results agree, then you can investigate what's drawing the excessive power, e.g. whether it's a dodgy freezer or a dodgy neighbour who's running their tumble dryer off an extension lead plugged in to your garage.

If there's a significant variance, then perhaps it's time to think about getting the meter tested.

Sudden leap in electricity use, seemingly after power cut

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