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Original poster

Freaking out about smart meter reading

64 replies

DebbieFiderer · 23/03/2019 22:10

I'm having a bit of a panic here and I need someone to help/tell me it's going to be ok. We had a smart meter installed 2 days ago and the readings seem absolutely insane! It's telling me we have used almost £50 of electricity in 2 days, if that is true, and reflects our normal usage, then we are screwed. We've only been in this house a few months so I don't know what a normal bill would be just yet, but surely it can't be that high??? I'm sitting here staring at it and every time I look it has gone up a few pence - almost £1 in the last 40 mins or so. How is that possible when it also says I am using 10p per hour right now? Could the meter or the display be faulty? Or does this house really use that much electricity??

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
TrixieFranklin · 23/03/2019 22:30

Have your neighbours tapped into your electric supply Grin?

Flowersintheatticconversion · 23/03/2019 22:31

Nightmare, this is the reason I haven’t signed up for a smart meter yet

FromDespairToHere · 23/03/2019 22:31

Hi. Escalated and CEO level complaints advisor for one of the Big Six here. DON'T WORRY! You will only be charged on your bill for what you actually use. Your IHD will be set up with the wrong tariff, this has absolutely no reflection on your bill whatsoever. Ignore it.

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Cost of living
Studentnurse1981 · 23/03/2019 22:32

Stop watching it . It's not reading correct so go to bed

Original poster
DebbieFiderer · 23/03/2019 22:32

Hey, there's no need to be rude about the tumble drier. Yes, they use a lot of electricity but not £10 a load. And even without it on the meter is still going up faster than it should bearing in mind the current usage it is displaying

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Original poster
DebbieFiderer · 23/03/2019 22:34

Thanks Fromdespair, I really, really hope I get it sorted quickly.

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Guylian2019 · 23/03/2019 22:34

I pay £44 per month for gas and electric. Yours seems way over priced. Get in touch on Monday.

Arewehumanorbones · 23/03/2019 22:35

If you switch absolutely everything off including lights and freezer, it shouldn't be going up at all . Try it, and if it's still registering usage then something is wrong

We use £60 per month gas and electric combined for a 4 bed using dishwasher, tumble dryer etc including washing and drying cloth nappies, so that sounds very wrong to me .

YeOldeTrout · 23/03/2019 22:36

gone up 3p in 4 mins despite saying current usage is 3p per hour

I'm not sure Ur reading it right, OP. One of the ways you're reading that must be wrong.

littleredprincess · 23/03/2019 22:38

Flip off you main power breaker.. if usage goes up, then you need to find out why.
Either meter is a duff or someone maybe has tapped onto your line or something.
But yes that usage is nuts, I use £1 - £2 per day. Closer to the two pound if we put a load of washing in the tumble dryer. (We have a three bed detached house) tv on all day and lights constantly being left on 😡🙄 dishwasher and washing machine used daily and cooker used once daily.

GwenCooper81 · 23/03/2019 22:40

Are you with Eon by any chance? My meter was going crazy yesterday. It didn't register my top ups and the app wasn't working.
After almost an hour on hold I was told they were having technical problems.
V sarky comment re the tumble dryer.. £10 a load?! I don't think so.

Original poster
DebbieFiderer · 23/03/2019 22:42

Our bills have always been high, even in our old house, about £120-140 per month, and the electricity costs in the new house will be higher due to a couple of factors (ie electric hob, dishwasher, bigger capacity drier etc), but I definitely can't afford £25 per day which is what the meter is saying. For those who say I must be reading it wrong I am going to try and post some pictures.

OP posts:
Original poster
DebbieFiderer · 23/03/2019 22:44

Note the times in the corner of the meter. Gone up 3p in 4 mins despite current usage being 3p per hour.

Freaking out about smart meter reading
Freaking out about smart meter reading
Freaking out about smart meter reading
OP posts:
Original poster
DebbieFiderer · 23/03/2019 22:45

It would only let me post 3 pictures but I checked an current usage is still just 4p per hour

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Al2O3 · 23/03/2019 22:47

Lol at the posters saying turn things off when OP is saying had a smart meter installed 2 days ago which is obviously an indication the calibration is wrong with a run rate of about £9,200 per annum.....

Smart meters are not rockets.

DerelictWreck · 23/03/2019 22:48

The tumble drier was on

There's your problem Einstein

Disagree - I have a tumble drier and still only pay £40 for both G&E a month in a 2 bed house!

OP if your bills were high before though, it does suggest that this might not be faulty. Suggest you turn everything off then put things back on one item and one room at a time.

ragmayo · 23/03/2019 22:48

@yorkshirepud44 what provider are you with?

AliceLiddel · 23/03/2019 22:50

my gas and electric combined is £100 a month for a 3 bed house with 2 DDs who have ipads / laptops / xboxes etc. I also run my dryer at least once a day for the 120min cycle. I would guess you have a problem somewhere.

Redpriestandmozart · 23/03/2019 22:51

We think our electric charge of £4 to £5 a day is high, 4 bedrooom, detached bungalow. When the house is still, nothing on except fridges, wi-fi etc it reads 10p an hour.

thistimeofyear · 23/03/2019 22:52

bloody hell debbie - this worries me! I had a smart meter installed a couple of weeks ago and I haven't even looked at it! Will go and check it now! I agree tumble drier uses very little electricity...

Hecateh · 23/03/2019 22:54

I have heard lots of reports of them giving totally the wrong reading. Read your actual electricity meter and make a note of it at the same time as making a note of the amount on your smart metre.

In an hour repeat. Your physical metre reading will tell you how much electricity you have actually used in an hour. (Check your bill to see how much you pay per kilowatt).

Put a complaint in on Monday

UselessTrees · 23/03/2019 22:55

The readout says you've used 17.56kWh. On my current tariff (Ovo) that would cost me about £2.90, so the cost shown is obviously just out by a factor of ten. They won't actually charge you that; the display unit just hasn't been set up properly.

Original poster
DebbieFiderer · 23/03/2019 22:56

Thanks all (well most!) for helping calm me down, DH was no help at all (just got annoyed with me for turning off the WiFi 🤨). It definitely must be faulty, just the discrepancy between the current usage and the daily total would indicate that. I was just freaking out watching it climb and trying to figure out how we were going to afford to pay almost £10k per year for electricity! Weirdly the gas seems fine, it's saying £2.32 for the day which I can cope with.

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thistimeofyear · 23/03/2019 22:56

just been to look - actually mine looks nothing like yours so not sure what I've got! They said mine needs commissioning yet so they are coming back because they guy from british gas wasn't able to do it when he was here or something - but my device is diff to yours and I can't actually make head nor tale of it

pc03780 · 23/03/2019 22:57

The oictur3 you posted stats you have used 17.56kWh today. Depending on your tariff, a KWh costs around 16p, so that’s around £2.90 used so fa4 today.