Hi. I am just looking for some reassurance that I have a problem before I potentially fork out for someone to come round and check the meter.
I have been suspicious of our leccy bills for a while so decided to run a couple of tests. I have an energy monitor which I got from my provider (the kind which clamps to the mains cable), which seems to be reading a lot higher than the meter itself. Our meter is a digital one which flashes once for every watt used I believe. So I did the following:
1) I waited for a quiet period, and counted that the meter was flashing consistently at 20 times a minute. I then turned on the kettle. The kettle uses 2.8 kW, and the energy monitor measured an increase of 2.7kW. However the meter flashed 100 times a minute, an increase of 80. So 80 * 60 = 4800 = 4.8 kW!!
2) We have an MCB panel above the meter, so I turned the main switch off on this. I am presuming this means that we should definitely be using no power, but the meter still flashed 5 times a minute.
I would appreciate it if someone can confirm that these are valid tests, and that there is probably something wrong with the meter. (2) seems especially damning, but I am not sure if there would still be something else drawing power...
I have been suspicious of our leccy bills for a while so decided to run a couple of tests. I have an energy monitor which I got from my provider (the kind which clamps to the mains cable), which seems to be reading a lot higher than the meter itself. Our meter is a digital one which flashes once for every watt used I believe. So I did the following:
1) I waited for a quiet period, and counted that the meter was flashing consistently at 20 times a minute. I then turned on the kettle. The kettle uses 2.8 kW, and the energy monitor measured an increase of 2.7kW. However the meter flashed 100 times a minute, an increase of 80. So 80 * 60 = 4800 = 4.8 kW!!
2) We have an MCB panel above the meter, so I turned the main switch off on this. I am presuming this means that we should definitely be using no power, but the meter still flashed 5 times a minute.
I would appreciate it if someone can confirm that these are valid tests, and that there is probably something wrong with the meter. (2) seems especially damning, but I am not sure if there would still be something else drawing power...