Electricity usage was 6kwh now 46kwh per day

[ricicle]

Silly question (And I haven't read all the posts) but you're not reading the decimals (ie fractions of a kwh) rather than the whole units ?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

http://www.delorie.com/electronics/powermeter/

That's nasty.

 

[big-all]

Silly question (And I haven't read all the posts) but you're not reading the decimals (ie fractions of a kwh) rather than the whole units ?

nah i asked that its digital

he seems very well informed and knows all the gen and tricks required has been fully advised but seems to be looking for an answer that meets his thoughts or needs rather than the actual situation

 

[bernardgreen]

I've even seen a comment to the effect that turning on the lights reduced his power consumption

One large building in London runs its escalators at night to compensate for the power factor of the flourescent lighting.

The theory was that power factor correction on the lighting would increase the power registered as used on the meter without increasing light output. But they had to be power factor corrected. So instead of wastefully passing current through hundreds of power factor capacitors they used the opposite power factor of the motors to produce an over all power factor correction for the building.

It would work the other way, turning flourescent lights on during the day would provide power factor correction for the escalators being used.

 

[SimonH2]

http://www.delorie.com/electronics/powermeter/

That's nasty.

Which bit ?
The project as a whole ? Or the assembly required ? Or the photos of US distribution panels complete with "screwits" to join cables ?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Screwits.

Shoddy wiring of the CU.

Band I and Band II cables touching each other.

No enclosures for the PCBs.

Cables wandering all over the place.

Metal staples used to pin some down, and even then they still meander.


OK - the first two may not be down to him, but the rest are.

 

[SimonH2]

Yeah, it's not exactly an example of how to do 'lectrics
But they have different standards over there.

 

[johno12345]

thanks, simon, the brultech one looks interesting.

really, i was asking about the meter rather than anything else, with a load of 0a, the meter is still clocking up usage.

 

[SimonH2]

Well that's already been answered.

If the load is truly disconnected then the meter is demonstrably faulty. I think people are asking about a photo of that first DB so they can see that the loads are genuinely disconnected when it's off - there have been instances where "unusual" connections have been found. Having said that, a parasitic load of a couple of kilowatt would be quite noticeable in the warm weather we've had up here lately.

 

[johno12345]

Its definitely the meter at fault, the display has gone blank and the LED has stopped flashing, just got to work out how to get my money back now!

 

[SimonH2]

That's simple. Their meter is faulty, and they cannot legally demand money from you based on what it was recording - that would be fraud. Strictly speaking, all they can absolutely insist on you paying is metered usage up until the point where the meter went faulty - that amount of usage would be correct.
After that, it would be reasonable for you to pay an amount that reasonably reflects what you would have paid had the meter not been faulty - that would mean extrapolating from previous usage.

 

[JohnD]

Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:08

Ten days after first posting, I dare say you're think about doing something about it quite soon.

 

[johno12345]

well, i told both suppliers about it when I decided it was faulty and they said it wasnt likely to be faulty and my usage has steadily risen over the 5 years the meter has been in, they blamed that on me buying more appliances.

I dont know when the meter went faulty, it looks like it gradually went wrong, maybe from the day it was installed.

so, im recording my usage now and will tell them on Tuesday that the meter has gone off, and i bet they react a bit quicker now!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They've told you the meter isn't likely to be faulty.

Therefore is isn't likely to have a fault.

Therefore it has not gone off and stopped metering - they themselves told you that.

 

[johno12345]

and its not likely that i will have my air conditioning running 24/7 on 16c, while washing and drying everything in the house that moves on a 90c cycle with 9kw of heaters in the shed, and taking 3 hour showers either