Smart meter- just had HUGE price jump in past hour

[Stealthynamechange]

Hi Im trying to keep my energy use down as I'm mega skint. Ive been keeping a close eye on my smart meter, it says i used £95 last month god knows how, it's just ds & i small 2 bed bungalow, heating 18-19 in day, 17.5 at night.
Anyway, checked this afternoon £8.50 this month gas & electric. An hour later (in which we were just playing orchard games, one light on, heating) it's jumped £54.45 this month!!!!!! It's saying Ive used £49 of gas WTAF??? I can't log in to the online account - site error. They are closed so can't call them. Anyone else had this issue? I'm now wondering if last months was an error too?

Help!

Im with eon, if that helps

Eon have had some billing issues recently.
Their phone line for billings will be staffed tomorrow, I think.

Thank you

Their website has been down for days too.
Hope it's just a mistake on their part, OP.

Does it update at a certain time rather than being "live"? When I look at mine in the app (I'm with Boost) it says "does not include last 3 days of usage".

Also mine had a error a while ago whereby it didn't charge me for any gas for about 3 months. It was over the summer so I just assumed I was using less due to not having the heating on. Then it charged me for those 3 months all in one go leaving me in over £100 arrears!

You have your heating on fairly high day and night, so £95/m seems about right.

£8.50 for a month would be ridiculous, obviously. Most likely your readings weren't going through for some reason, and now they've suddenly caught up.

If you need to save on your gas, I'd suggest putting your heating on a more normal pattern - say 18-20c for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the early evening, and heating off other times and overnight. More clothing layers, throws, hot drinks and hot water bottles as needed.

Thanks all, i meant when im in thermostat is set to 18-19, there is no timer facility on the boiler (i live in rented). I didn't think that was high?? I have a 3 year old, surely i shouldnt let the house get colder??

It thinks I've used that much in 3 days!

I think it's unusual for anyone to have the heating on 24/7. I don't know anyone who heats the house overnight (apart from frost setting). Most people really do just have the heating on a timer for a few hours a day. Thick jumpers etc the rest of the day. Appreciate it's much harder when we're in all day due to lockdown, but going out for an hour or twos walk In the fresh air will make your home feel much warmer when you return!

In any case £50+ for 3 days does seem like a likely billing error. Maybe give them a call tomorrow.

Can i ask what people set their thermostats to please? I thought 18-19 day & 17.5 over night was on the low side? I don't have any other way of controlling the heating, thermostat only. No on/off/ timer buttons, so can't set it just to come on for when i wake up for example.

Thanks everyone.

I think your temperature settings are on the low side.
I have mine on 21’C
Isn’t there something about low and steady v intermittent heating / firing up of boiler cost wise.

Mines on 18 all the time, but the radiator is off in my bedroom, and 3/4 of the downstairs ones don't work. (Landlord hasn't had them looked at despite me telling him they don't work)
My house doesn't keep the heat in if I turn it off, supposedly mid terraced houses stay warm. Mine didn't get that memo

I would be way too cold on your settings OP, I don't think they are high at all. My heating is on 24 hours a day and set to 18 at night and then between 20-22 during the day. Our gas cost was £70 for last month heating a large detached house.

Mine is 19 during the day when its on but is off overnight.
Do you just have electric?

Mine is on 18 in the day for 2x 2hour bursts. Off overnight. We keep interior doors closed, that has a massive impact on keeping warmth in each room. If you don't have a timer, set it lower at night so the boiler doesn't fire up?

Sorry I should read better. You have gas and electric.

It is pointless going on what others thermostats are set at as each one measures differently. When we moved onto our house the manual thermostat was usually set at 22 during the day if we were in but on a timer. Now we have Nest and it is set at 18-20 during the day, 10 at night. It only comes on if the hallway falls below that temperature within the times that are set.
I wouldn't panic too much about your bill OP. You may find it rights itself tomorrow. I would look at switching supplier though if you are trying to save money. Eon are not great at all. You also don't need it at 17.5 at night. The heating shouldn't be on at night at all unless in frost preventative measures.

It seems like perhaps it just caught up with your reading? Hopefully if you call tomorrow they can easily explain how it's happened. We had something similar with our bill once and they could see on their side exactly which days and times it had jumped up (in our case there was a fault).

In regard to heating, we have a 2 year old and no proper heating in our house. We use hot water bottles, wrap up warm and put a little oil heater on in his room for a few hours each night. Does the job and he isn't bothered at all! So I'm sure you can turn it down a little if you're looking to save money.

I have it set to 18c for 2 hours in the morning, and then again from 4-8. Off all the rest of the time, including overnight. We dress for the season (layers/thick jumpers/socks and slippers) and have electric blankets on the bed, plus plenty of blankets etc on the sofa. Our gas bill is well over £100/m in the winter months, but drops dramatically over the summer. DD is approx £60 /m for gas, and approx £50 pm for electric.

Mine is set to 14 at night and it rarely turns on as not that cold. I never wake up feeling cold. During the day it's set to 18 and on for a few hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening when working. If I'm home in the day I might turn it on but try not to have it on all day. I pay £84 a month for gas and electric. 3 bed detached. If I were you i would turn it off at night!

Thanks for all the replies, I'm going to try turning it right down at night -12 & see how we get on. Im also going to call them tomorrow, i think im stuck with them til march.

Yea turn it right down overnight about an hour before you had to bed or sit on the sofa under a duvet and turn it down earlier.

We have 19-20 during the day morning, lunch and evening and off overnight.

18-19 is low. Even my night temp is 20°.

Mine is 18 in the day, but not if I'm out, and 12-14 at night, coming on half an hour before alarm clocks go off.

We have ours 16 in the day, but up to 18 if we are sitting about and getting cold.

Off overnight, then a burst at 20 first thing before turning it down to 16,

Nip out of bed in the morning, whack the thermostat up, then get back into bed while it warms up.