Where’s my electricity going!?

[Mottie]

I went from a Jag to a mini and still put £20 of petrol in the tank so no savings there…….

 

[Wayners]

Are you 100% sure the meter is yours as some flats have a meter room and mistakes happen mixing up who is connected to what..

 

[Collectors]

I went from a Jag to a mini and still put £20 of petrol in the tank so no savings there…….

Same as me, but a Citroen C1 @ £20 road tax as i wasn't giving £210 to the robing government car tax again for the jag & the strange thing there is more room in the drivers area in the C1. The other strange thing is around town the C1 is better on fuel, but on a long run the jag was a lot better with a 2.2lt 6 speed box if taken carefully 60mpg. The C1 48-50mpg. But the jag at 70mph is at 1800rpm, the C1 is 3000rpm at 70.

 

[Lower]

yes, and do this when all your neighbours are in ....

how many kwh are you using per week ?

Are you thinking the neighbours might be connected to his bungalow?

 

[Lower]

I went down to measure my own use, and looking at the smart meter, does not do a thing, it's not like the old meter where you could see the wheel spinning, you need to press buttons to read it, and there are so many windows to scroll through, it is next to useless.

Now the IHD (In home display) shows all the time, so that may help, and the app View attachment 419298 that does show in ½ hour slots what has been used. Same for the week View attachment 419299 I can see what I have used each day, same applies for export View attachment 419300 I can see what I have used each ½ hour, day, month or year. View attachment 419301 Do remember I also export so View attachment 419302 it is not as bad as it looks, View attachment 419303 I get this back, so my bill only £50.24 so far this year. But once we have some idea of what your bill is, then we can have a guess at what is going on.

I was thinking that if he has a smart meter, its probably got a live consumption reading. If its an old meter, you can watch the dial spinning.

 

[Munroast]

Are you thinking the neighbours might be connected to his bungalow?

neighbour has a cannabis factory ? ...

I was thinking that if he has a smart meter, its probably got a live consumption reading. If its an old meter, you can watch the dial spinning.

my smart has a little red flashing light which sort of replaces the spinning whel

 

[Wayners]

They move tails along one on meter and start a cannabis factory or home food delivery.
Then move out..
Then for years everyone is paying the neighbours electric.

 

[ericmark]

Are you thinking the neighbours might be connected to his bungalow?

I was wondering about the reverse.

I did a creep test (10 minutes) as requested by the supplier and it seems that the meter stopped working (is 10 minutes long enough?)

So it seems unlikely the bungalow is connected wrong, but what about the flat before, had someone previously swapped meter tails before he moved in, and so the flat was giving a wrong reading?

As to comparing energy use car to bungalow, I was confused when I first read it. But a simple standard lamp is easy, read the writing on the bulb, it says 12 watt, and you pay 26p/kWh so it cost 0.312p per hour, but I tried monitoring how much the washing machine used, also dishwasher, and tumble drier. And they all have some electronics which weigh the clothes, or cycle the heat pump, and have loads of programs, with different water heat etc.

So never the same result twice. And long cycles don't always use more, the old vented tumble drier had a switch 1 kW or 2 kW, on the 2 kW the clothes were dry in 60 minutes, at 1 kW it took 90 minutes, so the longer cycle used less power.

Things have moved on, my first move into smart sockets was to work an extruder alarm, which was set, so I knew when mother was going a wheel about (in a wheelchair so not walk about) but it was up-stairs to wake us at night, and during the day, there was a problem, in having to go upstairs to turn it off, before answering the door, and we tried a timer, for time carers due, but that did not help with random visitor, so tried a remote control, but this did not help with carers who just walked in. And also a problem when it had not been turned on again, so the smart socket combined both functions, and was a god sent. But had to have a hub, and only 3 time slots, so had to use IFTTT to get a fourth, it was still not ideal.

Today I look at a socket adaptor, which can measure use

Set summer and winter with the peak and off-peak times, with loads of options like the auto-off which I use with the fans, so I don't forget there are running. And it does not need a hub, and costs less than £10, things have moved on so much. The one shown works my bedroom fan, it even has an energy monitor (charge guard) set so when my battery charger power drops to 1 watt, it starts a 1-hour timer, then turns it off. I use it because there are 6 bright green LEDs on the charger, and they are annoying, normally it works my brewing stuff, but it's too hot to brew.

I have found the odd item using more than I expected, my old Sky+ box for example, on stand-by used 20 watts, as it keeps the LNB powered so it can adjust record times if the sequels change. And I also found a faulty freezer, thermostat faulty, and never turned off.

But in the main, the monitoring of random bits of equipment, was a fad, that wore off, the old charger for my jump start battery pack uses 3 watt even when battery is charged but in the main battery chargers turn themselves off, I will monitor lead acid battery chargers, so I know when the battery is charged, but in the main, the smart socket adaptors just turn lights on/off, not really worried how much the lights use.

But I do wonder if worth writing a reply, as @Pete48 has not been seen since he started the thread, so maybe he has found what was happening, and has cured it all?

 

[Rodders53]

This entire thread is a waste of typing until the OP @Pete48 returns to the site to read this thread (last seen on Sunday afternoon, at the moment it was posted) to answer any of the questions posed since.

And that might never happen.

 

[Pete48]

Sorry! I’m sure that when I posted the original question I ticked the box that said something like notify me of any replies by email. I’ve had no emails, so thought I’d asked a really stupid question that nobody wanted to comment on! I’ve used diynot before and think it’s a great resource, and I always thank those who answer. Really sorry! I’ll now read the comments!

 

[Pete48]

Oh dear, 2 pages! I feel a right plonker! Give me a day or two to read through everything - and thanks to everyone who replied.

 

[Murdochcat]

Oh dear, 2 pages! I feel a right plonker! Give me a day or two to read through everything - and thanks to everyone who replied.

Good man

 

[Pete48]

Now I’m getting emails!!!

 

[Collectors]

Sorry! I’m sure that when I posted the original question I ticked the box that said something like notify me of any replies by email. I’ve had no emails, so thought I’d asked a really stupid question that nobody wanted to comment on! I’ve used diynot before and think it’s a great resource, and I always thank those who answer. Really sorry! I’ll now read the comments!

Not sure why a lot of forums do this. I have missed out on many post on other forums. You would think it should be the other way around where you tick a box if you dont want to hear / get replys.

 

[Mottie]

Not sure why a lot of forums do this. I have missed out on many post on other forums. You would think it should be the other way around where you tick a box if you dont want to hear / get replys.

You’ve missed all those posts asking you where you are getting that 5% interest on an ISA you told us about in the premium bond thread …….