UK Electricity meter problem

[Davephoto]

Just received a £900 electricity bill for an empty flat, the electricity is turned off at the fuse box so I checked the units on the meter. The units are going up 5 units per day, 20 units at night and 50 units stored. I have no storage heaters and I don’t have a hot water tank. I assumed when the electricity is turned off the meter should not go up, is this right?
The meter is from 2003 Horstmann radio telemeter series 2A

 

[davesparks]

You are correct, the meter should not record any usage if the entire installation is switched off.

Are you sure everything is off? As you have seperate day and night rates you presumably have economy 7 (or some other form of on/off peak supply) so you may have another consumer unit which is still switched on.

Double check that everything connected to the meter is switched off and contact your electricity supplier.

If you post a picture of the meter and consumer unit(s) we may be able to spot something obvious.

 

[snowhead]

As above photos would help.
Have you previously had a bill for units used while the flat has been empty, assuming it's not recently become empty?
And if so was there any noticeable usage?

There is usually a separate supply for the Landlord for stairs / corridor / common areas etc for lighting and outside / parking areas etc.
But sometimes the Landlord supply is through one of the flat's meters or a sub meter and the Landlord refunds their useage?

 

[Ned Gibbons]

Is the meter in the flat or in a meter room? I know this is daft but are you definitely reading the right meter. If they've been mislabeled the chances are no one would have ever questioned it.

 

[littlespark]

Top floor? Recently purchased?

Check the attic for grow lights etc.


Even with power turned off, the suppliers still ask for the standing charge…. Which is getting quite high. How can they increase that when it’s not directly linked to the wholesale energy prices?


What do you mean by 50 units stored?

How long does this £900 cover?

A unit is basically a kilowatt used per hour. So 5 units is 5kW over an hour, or 2.5kW over 2 hours etc

 

[Davephoto]

Thank you for all the fast responses on this, first off it’s a first floor flat with four floors, so 2 above me
The bill is over a 3 month period and the readings in the images are 18 hours apart.
The meter is located outside, next to the the front door, the consumer unit (fuse box) is located inside on the same wall about a foot above the meter.
This is the first bill I’ve had as I bought the flat for my mum but due to illness she had to move out.
On the bill it’s saying ’electricity day’ ‘electricity night’ ’electricity stored‘ which I equate to Rate 1, Rate 2 and Rate 3 respectively.
I’ll take an image of the fuse box later as I don’t have one yet.

 

[brianmoooore]

There's definitely power going somewhere!
Can you post a pic of the fusebox and any wiring around it, please, and a pic showing the whole of the inside of the meter box.

 

[newfutile]

This appears to be set up for economy 7,so as said before check any storage heaters, the store - rate 3 is confusing do you have a battery storage or solar? As it also says red which usually means reverse energy detected!

 

[mainline]

Look at the Tails (cables) coming from the meter, do they all go to one Consumer unit (fuse box).

 

[snowhead]

To the O.P, who is the energy supplier, is it SSE and are you on SUPERDEAL.
It appears that power is being used, but I have found a complaint in another forum of the same meter reading reading 16000 units higher in a 6 month period compared to the previous 2, 6month periods.


See below for explanation of rates including rate 3 Storage on Superdeal.

 

[Davephoto]

Here is the fuse box and how I have left it with the two red switches off and a photo of the meter and box. These are the radiators I have in the flat.
yes I am on the SSE standard super deal although I never asked to be put on it they sent me a letter saying they were putting me on it.
As you can see Rate 1 has gone up over 80 units since yesterday.
I have no battery storage or sola.
what is reverse energy?

 

[westward10]

The immersion heater is still on turn off the right side lower Main Switch.

 

[Davephoto]

The immersion heater is still on turn off the right side lower Main Switch.

I have no immersion, just a on demand water heater, even with the other 2 switches off will this draw power?

 

[westward10]

Is the light flashing on the meter, you may have to watch for a while. I would still turn off that immersion circuit.

 

[Davephoto]

Is the light flashing on the meter, you may have to watch for a while. I would still turn off that immersion circuit.

Yes the red lights are flashing, I’ll go and turn it off now…

 

[Davephoto]

Ok I’ve turned off every switch in the fuse box. Could the RED message on the meter be anything to do with the water heater electrics being worked on? A new water heater was fitted but required a bigger fuse and new wiring which was fitted into a spare socket in the fuse board.
The red lights are still flashing after everything is turned off.

 

[pc1966]

Really you need to get a professional electrician in to look at this.

If it is still taking power with all switches off then either they are faulty (not disconnecting even though switched off) which is obviously very dangerous, or there is some hidden connection to the meter outputs. That could be some older fusebox that has stupidly been boxed in somewhere, which again is a risk for all sorts of reasons, or it might be a deliberate fraud by some neighbouring property or previous tenant.

When you do get someone in ask that they photograph what they find before any attempt to put it right, just in case it is due to fraud and you need to speak to the police.

 

[pc1966]

It might be a faulty meter, but a professional will be able to clamp-meter the tails of the supply meter to see if the installation really is taking power or not, and so if the meter is reading in an unexplained manner or it is genuine(even before finding any hidden load).

 

[James]

Where in the U.K., are you?
maybe someone could pop in for a quick look in exchange for a beer?

 

[Davephoto]

I’m in the South East in Aldershot.
I’ve spoken to SSE twice about getting someone out but that was 3 days ago and still nothing hence the reason for this post. I’ll contact them again tomorrow.