Suddenly using loads of electricity - why??

[whiteworldgettingwhiter]

Our plug-in electricity monitor says we've spent £42 this week - twice our budget - and that we've used 1306 kw - this sounds like a lot, considering we've been away 3 days this week!

Our normal weekly bill is about £20, according to our plug-in monitor. What's happening? Nothing has changed re leccy use.

Thank you!

Have you gone on to a new tarring without realising? Everyone’s bill is going to be much higher now the government cap on energy prices has been removed.

Sorry, tarrif

DH once left a small plug in fan heater on for 5 days solid in the outhouse. Thank god we had the smart meter otherwise we'd have run up a bill into thousands, and a sauna like shed.

Has someone used electricity from an outside or shed plug while you were away?

Hopefully nobody has been doing that. All garages are locked. Will get dh to check though.

Good point about a new tariff - it's due to start soon and we need to choose one. Will check today. But haven't had any emails saying our tariff is due to change imminently.

There's nothing switched on that isn't usually.

Turn everything off that you know about and give it an hour - still whizzing then start hunting for the thing you don’t know about. How about the immersion switch on the hot water tank?

It could be a faulty item somehow drawing more power (alough a fuse or circuit breaker should usually stop that) do as Mrs pear suggests, if that doesn't help turn everthing on 1 thing at a time and keep an eye on the smart meter to see if a certain thing causes an unxexpected spike in usage

Check whether the energy usage has gone up. It could just be assuming a higher cost.

Faulty monitor maybe? If you used 1,306kWh in a week, and got charged £42 for it, I'd be shocked for 2 reasons:

1. 1,306kWh is a lot. I think the average household uses 2,700kWh in a year

2. £42 is too cheap for so much electricity, it works out at only 3p a kWh