new electricity meter

Hi,
in Nov our electricity supplier, Eon, replaced our old meter with a new digital one... no visual means of seeing if the consumption rate is running high etc. They phoned and told us that we owed them £941.00 on the current reading of this meter. With all the figures they supplied online in the bill the daily amount used had shot up from 24 ( average over the year up till Nov) to 88 ( over a period of 6 months). We are waiting for a contact this Tues but personally feel this is due to the meter. Are all meters without a visual means of telling if you are using a lot/ a little? Thanks Jamjo

I guess from what you are saying that you don't ever take a note of the meter reading, is that right?

Why did they phone you instead of sending a bill? Are you sure it wasn't a saleman trying to get you to switch?

Meters don't cause usage to go up. Very occasionally a very old one might under-read.

was the bill an estimated one, or from an actual reading? What period did it cover and when was the last actual (not estimated) reading before that?

Are you on economy 7 or something? How many electric heaters did you use during the cold winter and spring? Are any of them still plugged in?

What was your kWh usaage (not estimate and not ££bill) during the previous winter?

Doesn't your new meter have a flashing red light on the front?

To John D
Thanks for your prompt reply.
to answer your queries:
We do not have a meter reader calling anymore. I read the meter myself and send it on line when asked (Quarterly)I have been doing this for some time so the bills are actual readings.
They no longer send bills (green or what) it is up to me to go on line and print them.
The phone call referred to was the actual supplier.
I note your comment about meters not over reading .
It was an exceptionally cold winter but here`s the thing ......
We have oil fired CH and the oil also heats the hot water in the taps.
Any extra heat come from portables some gas and some electric.
No storage heaters or similar.
Last winter we averaged about 30KWH daily this winter 90.
Hard to get an exact comparison as the billings were not done in the same months.
Finally yes there is a flashing red light and the reading is whole numbers only (no tenths or hundedths) which makes it difficult to monitor individual appliances.
Again thanks

the red light flashes faster when you use more electricity. I don't remember the ratio, it should be marked on the front of the meter, it might be one flash per 0.001 of a kWh or something

some meters have buttons that can change the display. If you post a photo of yours someone may know. I think mine reads in kWh but displays to two decimal places.

btw I read mine twice a month and enter the readings online and in my record, so I don't get surprised

So your useage has gone up by a factor of about 10.

How many digits does your meter have?

There will be 5 (if as you say it does not have tenths). Sometimes the decimal point isn't very obvious

Hang on a minute, have their systems been updated to account for the fact that the meters been changed. They should have updated it with a final reading of the older meter and a start reading of the new one, if the system hasnt been updated yet then it will appear as though your meter has gone "round the clock" hence the massive bill. Check the final reading for the old meter and the start reading for the new one, hopefully that should sort things out.