[Stereo Steve]

We have just moved and had a new electric meter fited. Our previous use was about 500 units a month which was OK. All we have changed in this new house is the fridge and freezer and yet after 2 months, the meter reads 2000 units! That's double what we used to use.

The meter is a new Actaris ACE1000 SM0 model. What makes me suspicious is that every time the 1/10 dial clicks, it does it twice. So, it goes click-click. That would explain the heavy usage. I just can't think of any other reason.

Has anyone else got this particular meter and, if so, could you have a listen to it and tell me if it makes one click every time or 2 in quick succession please.

[clockworks999]

Easy way to check your meter:

Turn off all appliances/lights.
Make sure your meter has stopped, and note the reading
Turn on some lights, and make a note of the time.
Add up the the wattage of each light bulb.
After an hour, make a note of the new reading.

one unit = one kilowatt hour = 1000 watt hours.

So, if you had switched on three 100 watt lightbulbs, your meter should have increased by 0.3 units in one hour (300 watt/hour).

This is only a rough approximation, since the consumption of each bulb may vary from the stated 100 watts, but it will certainly show if your meter is reading double.

Steve

[flagpole]

I use about a 1000kWh a month, in a house of 6 people.

Quick thought, is the emersion heater on???

[jim4bb]

Originally Posted by Stereo Steve

We have just moved and had a new electric meter fited. Our previous use was about 500 units a month which was OK. All we have changed in this new house is the fridge and freezer and yet after 2 months, the meter reads 2000 units! That's double what we used to use.

The meter is a new Actaris ACE1000 SM0 model. What makes me suspicious is that every time the 1/10 dial clicks, it does it twice. So, it goes click-click. That would explain the heavy usage. I just can't think of any other reason.

Has anyone else got this particular meter and, if so, could you have a listen to it and tell me if it makes one click every time or 2 in quick succession please.

Clockworks idea is a good one try switching all you appliances off. Check the meter actually stops. If it doesn't stop then try isolating the various switches on your consumer unit untill it does to locate where the power is being consumed. Often best time to do this is in evening when neighbours are home just in case someone has tapped into your supply either through the loft or a socket on an adjoining wall.


Do the tails from the meter connect directly to your consumer unit ?

I appreciate your not stupid but is it possible this meter has Tenths & Hundreths of units. Can't find a weblink to meter.

As also stated water heaters or electric fires are the main consumers of electricity. Another possibility is you have switched from gas to electric cooking.

Other big consumers are electric showers as much as 10 Kw. How is your water heated ?

[Red Okktober]

I would think a quick call to your supplier to arrange for an engineer to come out would provide the answer. To speed up their response and to avoid any possible call-out charges (?), tell them it's making a funny noise or something and that you're worried it might be dangerous, while the engineers checking out the "fault" you can put your question to him about the double click and high charges

[Arwen1972]

Originally Posted by Stereo Steve

We have just moved and had a new electric meter fited. Our previous use was about 500 units a month which was OK. All we have changed in this new house is the fridge and freezer and yet after 2 months, the meter reads 2000 units! That's double what we used to use.

The meter is a new Actaris ACE1000 SM0 model. What makes me suspicious is that every time the 1/10 dial clicks, it does it twice. So, it goes click-click. That would explain the heavy usage. I just can't think of any other reason.

Has anyone else got this particular meter and, if so, could you have a listen to it and tell me if it makes one click every time or 2 in quick succession please.

Call your supplier and explain what is happening!!! They can work out approximately what you would use especially when your previous readings were 500 units. Years ago I had a faulty meter, called my supplier, they asked me a few questions on what appliances etc I had, sent someone round to investigate the meter and then refunded me the difference. It was easy.

[Mirage]

I've not got anything to add to the already good advice given, but please come back and let us know what happens.

[tomorrow]

If all else fails, you can demand .... and continue to demand a check meter be placed (this will check the readings).

Companies don't always want to place one of these meters in .... but will if you continue to ask for it ....

[Stereo Steve]

Thanks for all replies. THere are 2 of us in a 3 bed house. Gas central heating, as last house. Same amount of lights and exactly the same electric shower (Mira Sport 10.8kw). Only difference is we now have a seperate built in fridge and freezer as opposed to a fridge/freezer tower although the new ones are brand new and I would have thought efficient. Also have electric oven as opposed to oil rayburn but it gets maybe 3 hours use a week as we have gas hobs. Otherwise our lifestyle and PC/TV etc usage is the same. We have no electric heating, it's all on gas combi. Also, we have gone to an LCD TV which should use less power than the old 28" CRT.

I'm going to try the 100w bulb test in a min.

There is no chance of anyone tapping in. It's a new supply to a detatched house and I laid the armoured cable in the trench myself and can see the transformer it goes too.

I'll let you know what happens. Will phone Western Power as well and see what they say about the click-click. Our useage seems about double what it should be so I suspect that is the fault.

[Stereo Steve]

Ah, yesterday, I clocked the meter at 2310. I turned off our electric towel rail which is supposed to cost no more than a light bulb and should be on all the time. Today the reading is 2325. 15 units a day is 450 a month which would make sense. I wonder if the rail is faulty.

[Stereo Steve]

The rail is 150w and assuming the thermostat was faulty and it ran flat out all day that would be 3.6 units a day wouldn't it? Or 108 units a month. That should only ad 300 a quarter, not the 1500 increase we are experienceing. Is it possible for it to use more than this?

I plan to monitor daily usage over the next few days which I reckon should be about 15-18 units per day. Then I'll turn the rail back on on Monday and see what I use over the next 24 hours.

[comicsansserif]

I'm going to try the 100w bulb test in a min.

I would suggest doing the same test but with something more powerful as it will not take as long to do and will reduce the percentage of errors that can occur. Try an electric kettle for instance it should tell you how many kW it uses.

[jim4bb]

Originally Posted by Stereo Steve

The rail is 150w and assuming the thermostat was faulty and it ran flat out all day that would be 3.6 units a day wouldn't it? Or 108 units a month. That should only ad 300 a quarter, not the 1500 increase we are experienceing. Is it possible for it to use more than this?

I plan to monitor daily usage over the next few days which I reckon should be about 15-18 units per day. Then I'll turn the rail back on on Monday and see what I use over the next 24 hours.

If indeed it proves to be the towel rail it could have a wiring fault in the plug/fixed socket that is causing a short.


If you had a meter you could check the resistance of the towel rail it should be approximately 384 ohms. Making sure off course it is disconnected from the mains.

Quite interesting that you mention you have just had a new supply cable fitted, has the house been recently rewired as well ? You could have short somewhere.

Have you got a decent earthing rod fitted? Again not 100% sure if required as armour plating of cable serves as the earth.

I guess you are relatively isolated with the supply coming from a pole mounted transformer and wondered if they have fitted the appropriate meter for your installation. Not sure if its different for these compared to standard street type installations. These may be thing you could ask WPD when you phone them up.

PS My neighbour works for them.

[Stereo Steve]

Thanks again for your thoughts. I have taken a reading every lunchtime for the last 4 days since the rail was switched off and it's averaged 17.5 a day which comes out at 525 a month. This is the same as what we roughly used in the last place. We have used the washer/dryer a couple times in this time and carried on as usual. I have now switched the rail back on and will see what it says tomorrow and the next day.

My house is a barn conversion with a single armoured cable coming from a transformer. The barn was converted this year so all wiring is brand new. THere is no chance at all of anyone tampering but I guess a strong chance of a fault/ short in the wiring as a lot of fixing/ screwing of plasterboard etc. was done after the first fix.