Big Red Switches off on the Consumer Unit, but still 85W being used?

[flameport]

after a minute or so the light on the electricity meter which blinks came on as a static red light.

Static red means no power is being used.
If even a tiny amount was in use, it would be off most of the time and briefly flash red occasionally.

The energy monitor clamp affair is wrong. They are not reliable at low currents and are an estimate at best.

 

[JohnTee111]

Cool. The meter must be reporting some interference or something then. It goes to zero when removed. I assume it wouldn't falsely report as much as 140W though? Some friends suggest they can sit watching TV in the evening with the fridge on and their proper smart meters report that. We've gone through every room in the house turning off everything that we can find and the admittedly fairly inaccurate meter still suggests 140W of use..

I will do the same exercise and turn off everything that we can find soon, but then monitor the actual meter reading over an hour. That should be accurate as to how much is being used by stuff that we can't find to turn off!

 

[winston1]

I assume it wouldn't falsely report as much as 140W

Just under 600mA of reactive current would cause that. Maybe an 8uF PF correcting capacitor somewhere as an example.

 

[JohnTee111]

Just under 600mA of reactive current would cause that. Maybe an 8uF PF correcting capacitor somewhere as an example.

That's interesting, google is just about keeping me up with this.. For my uneducated brain then.. After we've run around turning everything off, something with a capacitor would be back filling current which the meter is picking up? That should fade over time right? And couldn't last for too long. I'm picturing a couple of old bright filament bulbs worth of usage in my non electrician head to track down.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

could it be something to do with the live and neutral feeds being so close

I don't think so. If you passed the clamp around both conductors, you would see a reading of 0 because they would cancel out [that's why you have to separate them out to use a clamp-on ammeter].
IOW, I don't think a higher than expected reading would be the outcome of them being too close.
What reading do you get on the neutral?

 

[JohnTee111]

Will add that to the list of things to play with tomorrow.. I achieved nothing constructive today whilst doing this so will have to get actual work done tomorrow, but that would be an interesting thing to look for. Might see if I can borrow someone else's meter as well. I have a contact who's family business is electricians, although he's a marine engineer. He might be able to lend me some non invasive kit if there's anything which could be more accurate.

 

[Old Salt]

Also depends where you are putting the clamp. If its before your suppliers meter that meter is making a current draw.