ok i need to check with the company that i installed the air source how to turn it off, i'm sure they will be happy to tell me as we are going nuts at them because we only installed it to see a reduction in the electricity bills!! i really appreciate your advice, i am desperate to get to the bottom of this!
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Please checkout the new poll we will be pushing hard, and want some good stories to come out of this
result are public - you can change your vote over time, which might genuinely be the case from time to time.
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But did he know about the other supply?
or would turning it all off solve this? would the meter stay on if no power? its digital
They may not know it, but it is a definite possibility.
No point changing the meter again if it's been done already. You've had some good advice on things to do.
Or in the farm shop
i had the new air source joined to the small annexe meter, which had hardly anything on it before, tiny bills. now that bill is £300, for january, which makes sense as it is powering all the heating and hot water and it has been cold.
but the other bill, which should JUST be powering my lights (90% LED), kettle, toaster, oven etc is £1900 for a month. this doesn't include any heating hot water etc.
First step is to turn off all power-drawing appliances in the house that are wired to the offending meter and see if it still ticks over - do this when all adjoining property is occupied and in use. If it is someone is nicking the leccy and you're paying for it. If not, the meter could be buggered.
Either way you need a qualified electrician in (check they have Testing and Inspection qualification as they're much more likely to be able to find their way around the system) and after their diagnosis you need to alert your supplier. Either way, you're clearly not using £2k a month in electric with domestic norms like toaster, lights, kettle. You couldn't use that much if you left that all on constantly 100% of the time with that set up.
As an example, you know how if you leave the lid off a kettle it will boil contstantly and never finish? Well if you did that and left a 2600w kettle boiling for 30 straight days your bill would still be less than £300.
I would hope it's a damaged meter because then you have a chance of getting your money back. If it's a horticultural expert you've got little to no chance, they'll pay it off a quid a month.
I only turned off for a few mins and the numbers on the meter remained the same. i will turn it off for an hour tomorrw morning and see if the numbers remain the same then. i really appreciate this advice.
any idea how much does a 3* tumble dryer would cost per hour to run?
Their lights staying on isn't an indicator that it's not them - if i was going to steal leccy i would do it for the high powered stuff, not the lights.
If they have a loft full of weed or even Bitcoin mining modules it could just be running those.
If you've turned the supply off then anything being stolen which is out of sight such as a drugs farm won't register on the meter. You need to turn off everything you're using and not the actual supply to see if someone is stealing from you supply-side. Turning off the mains is only going to be useful if you can physically see something go off everytime you turn your mains off. To see if it's being nicked from your energised supply you need to disconnect every last piece of electrical equipment and turn off anything like lights etc, all sockets, fans etc and then see if there is still power being used via the meter. You need the line being potentially stolen off to be energised to check if there's something being drawn from it but at the same time need to be certain you're not drawing it yourself.
If nothing is registering it's likely your meter is dodgy and i'd get it replaced asap.
Either way, now is the time to call in a professional. Just google someone in your area, make the call, ask them if they are fully qualified and if they have the Testing and Inspection qualification. If they check out, get them in.
Discuss How can I ascertain if I am paying for someone else's electricity? Help! in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net
thank you i am going to order one of these!I have one of these connected at home... allows me to see exactly what I'm using... Very easy to use.
Elite Classic - Efergy
The Efergy Elite Classic Wireless Energy Monitor is the world's best selling in-home energy display (with over 500,000 units sold).efergy.com
I'd get the place warm and then turn everything off for a bit and sit and watch the meter. If it goes up someone is leeching from you. I reckon one of those meters is running somewhere else and you're getting the bill.
At the rate you are paying for power if there is any mistake then it would pay for an electrician's call-out in only a couple of days!
that's a good idea!! is there any way they could be taking from me but somehow from inside my wiring network? which would explain why the meter readings are so high. my dec bill said i used 15,000kw of electricity. all of my heating and hot water is on air source!!
yes i totally agree, but i want to find somone who "gets" how to unravel this... i had a local sparky and he attached a monitor onto my 3 phases to monitor them but couldnt really work out anything!!
If someone on here is near you they should be able to do it. Don't post personal details but most of a post code ought to be enough.
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But did he know about the other supply?
i totally agree. my house used to be part of a farm, i think i am paying for their farm shop freezers and lights. would there be a way they could leech off me from inside my wire network, ie so it looks like from inside the house?
or would turning it all off solve this? would the meter stay on if no power? its digital
i made him focus on the massive one
If one of those supplies did everything on that site in the past and is still connected up then yes.
They may not know it, but it is a definite possibility.
I will ask for meter change, but they did this already, its not the meter, that's whay i don't understand if somone is going through my meter, or how that is possible
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No point changing the meter again if it's been done already. You've had some good advice on things to do.
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What was the outcome
so i have tried this, and it matches, but i cannot see how this much usage is possible... i make toast , have a cuppa in the morning, nothing crazy!! and all my heating and hot water are now all on air source. i had assumed that maybe that was right is all my heat and water were on electric , but it has gone UP since having air source installed...
Turn the meter with the massive consumption off at the mains and see what still works inside your house.
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- 16,739
Or in the farm shop
he reported on the usage, which added up to the same as on the meter, (as he had clamps on each of the three phases on the meter) but couldn't explain why so high... so i'm thinking has someone managed to recently (or historically, given that my house was part of a bigger farm) get inside my wiring or my feed, so their stuff is going through my meter so usuage appears to be from inside my house, but is this possible?
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Do you have an EICR? electrical installation condition report?
If you do, post it up, it might give us some insight into where you are using all this power.
If not, the best course of action would be to employ a local spark, maybe someone here will offer there services?
What i would be doing is taking a snapshot of usage on each circuit to see where the electricity is being used.
it will help you narrow down what is costing you the most.
I.e.
db 1
circuit.................usage.........capacity..............max...............10 min average........per hour cost
1..........................lighting...........6A......................3A............................1.5A.............................6p
2..........................heating..........32A....................28A...........................20A........................ £7.36
3...........................sockets..........32A.....................8A..........................0.95A.......................4p
if you are lucky then a circuit will be identified that is feeding a shop or cannabis farm that you dont know about that is using more than half of the total electricity you are using.
If not, then it will certainly give you some good information about what devices/circuits are using the most power and therefore give you a good idea as to where you can make savings.
If you do, post it up, it might give us some insight into where you are using all this power.
If not, the best course of action would be to employ a local spark, maybe someone here will offer there services?
What i would be doing is taking a snapshot of usage on each circuit to see where the electricity is being used.
it will help you narrow down what is costing you the most.
I.e.
db 1
circuit.................usage.........capacity..............max...............10 min average........per hour cost
1..........................lighting...........6A......................3A............................1.5A.............................6p
2..........................heating..........32A....................28A...........................20A........................ £7.36
3...........................sockets..........32A.....................8A..........................0.95A.......................4p
if you are lucky then a circuit will be identified that is feeding a shop or cannabis farm that you dont know about that is using more than half of the total electricity you are using.
If not, then it will certainly give you some good information about what devices/circuits are using the most power and therefore give you a good idea as to where you can make savings.
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I mean even two 2500w heaters in each bedroom running at 8 hours per day only brings her leccy bill out at just over a grand if you add in everything else she uses. Deffo something else going on especially as the heating is now apparently been put on heat pumps.
I don't know about a small farm shop' usage but i would suspect it's even massive for that.
I reckon we'll see Giles on ThisMorning getting piled into the back of a jam butty for growing some wacky tobaccy for his gentleman friends.
I don't know about a small farm shop' usage but i would suspect it's even massive for that.
I reckon we'll see Giles on ThisMorning getting piled into the back of a jam butty for growing some wacky tobaccy for his gentleman friends.
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I suspect the house is being billed from the readings on the meter in the garage or on the total of both.
Not just from the meter in the Utility room.
Logically the meter in the Utility room is the one and only one for the house.
The one in the garage is most likely for the Farm shop.
The first thing to do is establish where the bill is being generated from.
The meter readings should be on the bill and should be close to the current reading on one of the meters.
Can Danielle the O.P post a photo of the last bill with the address and name covered up.
And on the Utility room meter press the Blue? top right button to cycle through the readings and take a photo of each reading
Not just from the meter in the Utility room.
Logically the meter in the Utility room is the one and only one for the house.
The one in the garage is most likely for the Farm shop.
The first thing to do is establish where the bill is being generated from.
The meter readings should be on the bill and should be close to the current reading on one of the meters.
Can Danielle the O.P post a photo of the last bill with the address and name covered up.
And on the Utility room meter press the Blue? top right button to cycle through the readings and take a photo of each reading
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- 9,016
I am miles from you, in coventry.
£37.50 per hour working
£30 per hour traveling
£0.40 per mile traveling
I could come and do a report for you, however I am busy with other work at the moment and could do without all the traveling.
SURELY there is a member here that can spend a day doing a load analysis without adding 7 hours traveling to the bill???????
£37.50 per hour working
£30 per hour traveling
£0.40 per mile traveling
I could come and do a report for you, however I am busy with other work at the moment and could do without all the traveling.
SURELY there is a member here that can spend a day doing a load analysis without adding 7 hours traveling to the bill???????
Some pictures of the fuse boards fed by the two different meters might shed some light on what is going on.
What is the electricity consumption recorded by the meter in the utility room ( the new one that says installed in 2016) I would imagine that you might find that one is more in line with the bills you would be expecting to pay.
What is the electricity consumption recorded by the meter in the utility room ( the new one that says installed in 2016) I would imagine that you might find that one is more in line with the bills you would be expecting to pay.
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I've corrected that for you...
the main part of the house was rebuilt 2016, the dual supply is because there is a small annex attached to the house which was separate; but is now part of the house.
i had the new air source joined to the small annexe meter, which had hardly anything on it before, tiny bills. now that bill is £300, for january, which makes sense as it is powering all the heating and hot water and it has been cold.
but the other bill, which should JUST be powering my lights (90% LED), kettle, toaster, oven etc is £1900 for a month. this doesn't include any heating hot water etc.
Ok so either someone is tapping off your home supply (which fyi shouldn't be three phase, there's absolutely no need for it in a domestic property) or your meter is naffed.
First step is to turn off all power-drawing appliances in the house that are wired to the offending meter and see if it still ticks over - do this when all adjoining property is occupied and in use. If it is someone is nicking the leccy and you're paying for it. If not, the meter could be buggered.
Either way you need a qualified electrician in (check they have Testing and Inspection qualification as they're much more likely to be able to find their way around the system) and after their diagnosis you need to alert your supplier. Either way, you're clearly not using £2k a month in electric with domestic norms like toaster, lights, kettle. You couldn't use that much if you left that all on constantly 100% of the time with that set up.
As an example, you know how if you leave the lid off a kettle it will boil contstantly and never finish? Well if you did that and left a 2600w kettle boiling for 30 straight days your bill would still be less than £300.
I would hope it's a damaged meter because then you have a chance of getting your money back. If it's a horticultural expert you've got little to no chance, they'll pay it off a quid a month.
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- 17,152
This is an amazingly high amount to be paying every month for past 5 years. Im surprised you haven’t investigated this sooner.
ok so i have turned off all the power in the house, the farm shop and the farm house remain lit up. so either its not them or they have tapped into my supply outside of my house.
I only turned off for a few mins and the numbers on the meter remained the same. i will turn it off for an hour tomorrw morning and see if the numbers remain the same then. i really appreciate this advice.
any idea how much does a 3* tumble dryer would cost per hour to run?
i've been paying it for 2 years, i investigated straightaway, and everything pointed to the fact that that all my heating and hot water was being powered by electricity, rather than gas/ oil. so i got a loan and had air source installed (this installation was finished nov 30th) last week i got my first bill, which i was expecting to be a third of previous bills and it was the same...
also i think (but not 100%) that we have 3 phase as originally the house was part of a farm (it was a barn). then it was a house that some teachers lived in who worked in a nearby school. i take your point though, no need for it, whould it cost me more just having 3 phase supply?
hahaha yes i totally agree!! i think i need a meter / electrical investigator, does such a thing exist?
no its Utility Warehouse, they are no help AT ALL!
the old one has normal consumption, the new one is £1900 per month... i need an electrical investigator!
Did you turn all the power off at both meters at the main switch, or did you turn off everything consuming electricity?
Their lights staying on isn't an indicator that it's not them - if i was going to steal leccy i would do it for the high powered stuff, not the lights.
If they have a loft full of weed or even Bitcoin mining modules it could just be running those.
If you've turned the supply off then anything being stolen which is out of sight such as a drugs farm won't register on the meter. You need to turn off everything you're using and not the actual supply to see if someone is stealing from you supply-side. Turning off the mains is only going to be useful if you can physically see something go off everytime you turn your mains off. To see if it's being nicked from your energised supply you need to disconnect every last piece of electrical equipment and turn off anything like lights etc, all sockets, fans etc and then see if there is still power being used via the meter. You need the line being potentially stolen off to be energised to check if there's something being drawn from it but at the same time need to be certain you're not drawing it yourself.
If nothing is registering it's likely your meter is dodgy and i'd get it replaced asap.
Either way, now is the time to call in a professional. Just google someone in your area, make the call, ask them if they are fully qualified and if they have the Testing and Inspection qualification. If they check out, get them in.
- Reaction score
- 17,152
Does the farm shop know you have these problems? I'm just thinking about all their freezers going off when the issue is found.
Reply to How can I ascertain if I am paying for someone else's electricity? Help! in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net
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