How likely is it to have a faulty house electrical meter?

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#1358165 3-Aug-2015 20:09

So everywhere you've lived you've had nothing more on than a fridge, 90W server and a single light bulb. To believe that normal power consumption is around 300 units/month is totally absurd. Even 1000 is low noting that my hot water and night store circuit alone uses around 690 units/month in winter.

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kiwikiwi

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#1358167 3-Aug-2015 20:11

Spyware: So everywhere you've lived you've had nothing more on than a fridge, 90W server and a single light bulb. To believe that normal power consumption is around 300 units/month is totally absurd. Even 1000 is low noting that my hot water and night store circuit alone uses around 690 units/month in winter.

And if you read probably I said that comparing two houses is means nothing. You also forgot that our water is gas heated on demand which I also did mention.

You can also follow me on twitter here @kiwifortw I do twitch streams every now and then at twitch.tv/kiwiforthewin :)

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Spyware

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#1358168 3-Aug-2015 20:16

I'm not saying you have water heating but the level of consumption that you consider typical would merely power a fridge, 90W server and a single light bulb. This level of consumption is not typical of any household I know of. Maybe the meter you had in your previous house was faulty, and many old meters were.

Jase2985

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#1358206 3-Aug-2015 21:07

i think there may have been an issue earlier in the year thats been rectified and now your actually paying for what you are using

Aredwood

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#1358279 4-Aug-2015 00:31

Are you on a low user rate or a standard user rate? As I have seen people get high bills due to being on low user yet using way more than 667 units per month. Agree with others. 200 units per month is way too low to be typical usage. My summer usage is around 400 to 500 units. And that is solar hot water and gas cooking.

blackjack17

1705 posts

Uber Geek

#1358288 4-Aug-2015 05:57

3 adults and 1 baby in a 120 sqm 1950s house in Auckland.

3 laptops 2 desktops chest freezer heat pump and panel heaters, and electric hot water we do have all led lights

Our summer useage is 10- 15 units a day
Our winter useage is 25-30 units a day

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Bung

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#1358295 4-Aug-2015 07:08

25-30 units per day is 750-900/30 days.

kiwikiwi's usage over the last few months is around 700 or around 24 per day which is high considering gas water heating and limited use of electric heating but not over the top. Forget 30+ usage based on estimates. As for summer use we can have some low months either travelling or cooking outside.

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andrewNZ

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#1358297 4-Aug-2015 07:25

Heating for 0.5-1 hr a day is pretty unlikely to say the least. If you told me they were on for 5 hrs a day I'd think you were underestimating.

Here's my guess.
Lights- 8 @ 75W for 8 hrs/day = 144 units/month
Gaming PC's - 2 @ 250W for 8 hrs/day = 120 units/month
Heaters - both on for 4 hrs/day = 504 units/month

andrewNZ

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#1358298 4-Aug-2015 07:25

andrew027

1286 posts

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#1358325 4-Aug-2015 08:26

kiwikiwi:

April was right but March, May, June and July have been dead wrong. That's the main concern.

Even worse March was an estimate and then April happens which was an actual reading. May was another estimate and June and July have been actual ones.

I'm not commenting on your usage here, just the graph:

When you say "April was right" this is not necessarily correct. In March they made an estimate reading of around 1040 units then came out in April and took an actual reading which was only 400 units more than their estimate for March. In reality you probably used less than 1040 in March and more than 400 in April, but the total for the two months should be correct - 1440 units used across the two months (assuming everything is correct up until the end of February, which I doubt looking at those December, January, February numbers).

That is the nature of alternating estimate/actual readings. I've had it like this before, and I've also had it go the other way where the second month is higher because they underestimated in the first month. The only way to get around this is to contact the supplier and request that they do actual readings every month.

When you look at the two periods of March+April (1440 units or 23.6 per day) compared to May+June (1550 units, 25.4 per day) it doesn't seem an unreasonable increase when May is the start of winter.

Bibbidybob

16 posts

Geek

#1358341 4-Aug-2015 08:59

I'm not sure your calculations about 300 units use is quite right Spyware - my average daily usage from 12 Jun to 12 July was 9.4 units, so my total usage for the period would have been about 300. We have a 2400W heater which we used whenever we needed (double glazed and well insulated apartment so this wasn't a huge amount), two fridges (one bar and one 240L), three laptops, 12 60W incandescent bulbs used intermittently, 2 50W Halogen bulbs and 1 100W halogen bulb. In addition there's a couple of hair dryers that are used every day, the TV, surround sound system, PS4 and PS3, MySky etc. We cook most days, using the oven 2-3 days a week and stove almost every day.

That 300 unit bill is the highest we've had in 20 months at this apartment.

Jeeves

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1358351 4-Aug-2015 09:13

kiwikiwi - just ask your power company to install a smart meter. They should do it for free (If they want to charge you, kick up a stink - most power companies do it for free).

Once done - get your half hourly figures or switch to a company that supplies them (like Flick) - then all your questions will be answered.

kiwikiwi

455 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1358352 4-Aug-2015 09:14

Jeeves: kiwikiwi - just ask your power company to install a smart meter. They should do it for free (If they want to charge you, kick up a stink - most power companies do it for free).

Once done - get your half hourly figures or switch to a company that supplies them (like Flick) - then all your questions will be answered.

It will have to get approved by the landlord but I'm sure they won't mind.

You can also follow me on twitter here @kiwifortw I do twitch streams every now and then at twitch.tv/kiwiforthewin :)

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Spyware

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#1358363 4-Aug-2015 09:32

Bibbidybob: I'm not sure your calculations about 300 units use is quite right Spyware - my average daily usage from 12 Jun to 12 July was 9.4 units, so my total usage for the period would have been about 300. We have a 2400W heater which we used whenever we needed (double glazed and well insulated apartment so this wasn't a huge amount), two fridges (one bar and one 240L), three laptops, 12 60W incandescent bulbs used intermittently, 2 50W Halogen bulbs and 1 100W halogen bulb. In addition there's a couple of hair dryers that are used every day, the TV, surround sound system, PS4 and PS3, MySky etc. We cook most days, using the oven 2-3 days a week and stove almost every day.

That 300 unit bill is the highest we've had in 20 months at this apartment.

I simply crunched the numbers for 250W + 90W + 100W over 30 days (316.8 kWh). Op stated that fridge used 2 kWh over 8 hours which equates to an average power consumption of 250W.

EDIT: The best estimate I can find in regard to fridge is that 30 kWh/month is typical, i.e., 1 kWh/day. So maybe the fridge needs assessing as potentially faulty.

Gordy7

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#1358594 4-Aug-2015 12:13

Lots of analysis going on in this thread....

Meter check....

Turn everything off in your house and check your meter does not move over half an hour..

Plug in your 1800W and 2400W heaters = 4200W and turn up any thermostats so the heaters will not turn off.

After an hour check your meter has recorded 4 units....

You seem to be looking for a 2:1 excess energy usage so this test should be accurate enough.

Gordy

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