Split Phase and Smart Meter

[Christopher-Robin]

Hi we have a split phase supply and had a EDMI ES-30B 3 phase meter fitted.

Our readings are extraordinarily high. It is an old farmhouse but there is just myself and my wife and we are using 29,565 kWh per year. 81 kWh per day. We just have an electric shower, electric cooker, appliance like kettles & microwaves and TVs, computers, lights etc.
Anyway, I was wandering if anyone has any thoughts about the smart meter:
a) It is designed for 3 phase (400v 120 degree) and not split phase (460v 180 degrees)
b) Is the wiring likely to be different to a standard 3 phase installation e.g 2 phase 3 wire?
c) Can the degrees i.e. 120degree vs 18degree cause problems with the readings?
Any thoughts of help greatly received. Just want to have a useful conversation with our supplier.

 

[James]

Has your usage gone up considerably after a meter change?

 

[Christopher-Robin]

Has your usage gone up considerably after a meter change?

Hi James thanks for reaching out, not really gone up apart from the energy cost increases meaning out bill based on out consumption will be £1295.00 per month. The reason for the smart meter change was partly due to the fact that our electricity bills have consistently been so high even with the previous digital meter.
I am not doing any electrical work I am just trying to find out why our consumption in a 4 bedroomed house where we don't have demanding appliances - no aircon, no electric heating, no electric aga or anything like that is so high. We have all energy saving lights, a modern cooker (not an electric AGA running 24hrs a day.) There is just me and my wife. We don't have an emersion heater running all the time.
The only anomaly that I can think of is that we are have a Split Phase supply. So not 3 phase 400v 120 degrees, but rather 480v 180degrees.
I was wandering what role the offset plays in the metering as the measured energy consumption appears to be much greater than what is actually being consumed, I was thinking the meter might be registering 1kW per phase as opposed to 1kW total. The meter manufacturers don't have any firmware for split phase only 3 phase for their meter. So whilst the installation may be correct it might not be reading correctly.
Our energy suppliers seem to not want to look at or solve the issue.
Anyway thank you in advance for any thoughts you may have.

 

[Philip Saunders]

Hi - there's no way that power consumption figure can be right IF it's just feeding your house.

I have a 10 bedroom property with 1kw of heating pumps that run 24/7/365 - they don't even have an off switch other than the service isolator.

My consumption is 20,500 kw/h per year

You will need to put a clamp meter on each live phase and switch off circuits in turn to see what is using all the power.

If you get sensible readings, consistent with what you know is connected, it's likely there is indeed some problem with the meter. I would expect to see less than 500 Watts (about 2 amps as a constant draw) in the middle of the day, allowing for standby devices, timers, etc. Anything significantly more needs investigating.

Your power consumption suggests a constant 24 hour per day 15 amp draw split between the phases which is bonkers for a single house.