Ampy 5253 A -red light flashing when power is off

[JohnD]

our bill has gone from £43 / m to £149 / m since end of August !

The amount of your monthly direct debit is no help. The figure may include estimates, and past under- or over-payments.

However, if you can tell us the actual meter readings and dates, with comparative usage figures for the same months last year, it may be informative.

While you have this query going, please take some daily readings and tell us what they are.

 

[bart man]

sep- 497 kwh
october - 1490kwh
november so far 495 kwh
(actual readings)

 

[JohnD]

you mentioned getting surprisingly hot water from the cylinder. Did this coincide with the usage going up?

You have two consumer units and a strange grey box. I can't see any labels telling you what circuits they are for. Are there any labels? What do they say?

Observe the speed of the red flash. Turn off (switch upward) the brown consumer unit. Pull out the fuse with two BLUE dots on it. Turn the CU back on. Has the speed of flashing changed?

(Blue dots indicate 15A fuse, which almost invariably will be the one for the immersion heater)

Please photograph any switches or timers that you think relate to the immersion heater, and the cap of the heater. Feel the (probably white) flex that goes to the immersion heater cap. Is it warm? Does it get cooler after you pull the blue fuse? Leave it out until you find out what it does. Always switch off the CU before pulling or replacing fuseholders.

The reason for taking daily readings is that you can see if it fluctuates, for example goes up on cold days, suggesting an electric heater, or on washing day, suggesting a tumble drier.

 

[Iggifer]

you mentioned getting surprisingly hot water from the cylinder. Did this coincide with the usage going up?

You have two consumer units and a strange grey box. I can't see any labels telling you what circuits they are for. Are there any labels? What do they say?

It's a rising damp control unit. Whether it does anything anymore is anyone's guess.

As a ROUGH guess, the OP will use 650kWh in November, that seems reasonable vs September. Not sure what happened in October though, something's up. That's an extra 32kWh a day / 1.3kWh an hour over Septembers usage.

That's equivalent to an immersion heater being left on (and calling for heat) for nearly 11 hours a day (extra)

Did the immersion heater get switched on and left on for a long time by mistake?

 

[bart man]

thanks for the reply - the hotter water coincide swith larger bills. the odd grey box is a device for preventing rising damp. the smaller consumer unit is for the bathroom extractor fan. removed blue fuse and red light flashes the same. you are right in that it is for the immersion heater, the flex is not warm. in the pics the fused switch is for central heating- the plug top is for the shower pump. the immersion heater is connected into the Economy 7 box - (we dont have E7) the 1 hour boost light comes on when the switch is set to timer although we alway have the E7 switch in the off position. the cylinder thermostat is connected to the wiring centre - thanks again

 

[Iggifer]

Do you ever use the immersion heater at all? Or do you just heat your water through the boiler?

If the latter, your cylinder stat may have failed and the boiler is continually heating your cylinder. If the former, you may be using your immersion heater for too long / the stat may be set wrong.

As an important aside, if you don't heat the water with your immersion at all, and really even if you do, your cylinder stat is set too low. It needs to be at least 60°C to avoid legionnaires disease. If you've turned this down recently because of your excessively hot water then fair enough.

 

[bart man]

well we dont have any rising damp so Im hoping it still OK!
OP?
we never switch on the immersion heater at the wall switch- thanks

 

[Iggifer]

well we dont have any rising damp so Im hoping it still OK!
OP?
we never switch on the immersion heater at the wall switch- thanks

OP = original poster.

If you don't use the immersion heater at all then a) your cylinder stat is likely faulty (somewhat unrelated) and b) you need to make sure it's set to 60, don't know why they don't bottom out at that anyway

 

[EFLImpudence]

There's no such thing as rising damp.

 

[bart man]

sorry crossed messages here. we only use the boiler (to heat water) for 1 hr in the morning- 7.30 to 8.30 then it switches off- doesnt come on again until 6.30 pm and thats only for central heating- yes turned it down a few days ago- better turn it back up- thanks for the advice.

 

[Iggifer]

There's no such thing as rising damp.

that's why he doesn't have it!!

 

[bart man]

very funny- Rising Damp, I mean

 

[bart man]

the meter has completly packed up now- no flashing light and no digits- that must (hopefully) be it- thanks for all your input!!

 

[bart man]

a final update- since the new meter was fitted we have been sing 9 units per day- 49 per day with the old meter before it stopped- had a refund from current suplier and £448.00 from our previous supplier- thanks