Freaking out about smart meter reading

[DebbieFiderer]

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??

Useless trees, thank you so so much! The most useFULL thing (geddit!?) I have heard tonight! Phew!!!

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

But you are looking at he overall monthly cost which is not comparable to the current cost which the OP gets when the dryer is on, (assuming that she does not run it 24 hours a day).

Take more photos in the morning and then email the complaints department and ask them to sort it out for you. They are not going to charge you that much when it is quite clearly wrong unless you've got hydroponics going in the loft.

The metre's obviously faulty. Stop panicking and give them a call on Monday.

And same reply to pc03780 (and anyone else I cross post with this time!) That makes so much more sense. I'll actually be able to sleep tonight now!

A good idea is also to check all your light bulbs are led or energy saving bulbs.
Check age of appliances / energy ratings, might be worth buying new ones if they are not low energy rated. (This investment is worth it in the long run)

It's also worth checking your supplier is the cheapest available.

I sit around 3p per hour roughly with 3 freezers, 1 fridge, lights, telephone, broadband, tv on.

Unplug it and take a proper meter reading.

Thanks all, I'm going to bed now so won't be checking back in this thread, but I am really glad I posted. £2.90 a day I can deal with, £29 a day was never going to happen!

The most likely problem is that the wrong rate per kwh has been input somewhere.

The meter isn't faulty, you can see that the usage is about right, it's just working out the £££ wrongly. Did you do that or the installer?

Tumble driers are energy guzzlers, and I despair when I see people using them for EVERYthing and not ever hanging anything on the line. BUT a load several times a week should not be whacking up the bill to THAT extent.

Hell will freeze over before I get a smart meter. Never wanted one, and will never have one. I hope to God they never become compulsory!

Our 3 bed detached home by the way - new heating system in 2011 - costs £90 for the joint monthly bill. (Gas cooker and gas central heating and gas fire.) Just me and DH as our kids have left, but I am in half the day, and we are both in most evenings and weekends ... So the OP's electric bill is bizarre.

My neighbour has prepayment meters for both, and pays around £110 a month for gas and electric. And she is in most days (SAHM) with 2 kids, and a DH who works, but comes in at 6pm.

americandream i beg to differ - tumble driers actually use about a quarter of the electricity of a shower
I don't use them for everything by the way either - only when it is cold and wet - I just know they cost very little because when I am hard up I turn everything off and I know the cost of pretty much each appliance

Since having a smart meter put in, my costs have risen hugely. As in nearly 3 times more. There’s also been a time when they overcharged me as “the box didn’t send the readings in time”. I’ve read a few stories of people saying how the smart meters have increased their costs - I really don’t use 3 times more gas/electric. Also I’m with OVO so get a discount for managing the account myself, so if I ring up to query it then I lose the discount.

@thistimeofyear

americandream i beg to differ - tumble driers actually use about a quarter of the electricity of a shower.

That is a stupid comparison. A shower would cost about £1.40 if it was on for an hour, yes....... compared to 50-70p for the tumble drier for an hour.

But who the hell stays in the shower an HOUR? 10 minutes tops for most people.

What a weird strawman example. As if anyone would be in the shower for an hour! (And that is the minimum amount of time people usually have their tumble dryer on for!) You simply cannot compare the two.

35p for a tumble drier for an hour
a family of 3 might use the shower for 15-20 mins a day - 35-40p