I cant follow this, maybe someone with a qualification can do the maths and tell me if its right?
I put on one of the storage heaters last night ( not the new one, it hasnt been fitted yet).
I have checked the meter daily so I know my electric usage each night is between 15 and 17 units WITHOUT the storage heater(s) on.
I am charged at 5 p a unit ( kw?)
I put one 3.25 kw capacity storage heater on last night. The electric meter read 82 units used overnight.
Now if I take away the 17 I would normally use during the night for my essentials and drabs , that means the heater used 65 units over night. That means the heater cost me nearly a fiver to have it on for one night.
Is my maths correct?
Is that right, should a 3.5 kw heater running for 7 hours on economy be using that much electric?
Does that sound right to you? Just need to know. I am clueless and confused totally.
On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:09:40 +0100 someone who may be "endymion" wrote this:-
A 3.5kW heater, if it charged up for the full 7 hours, would gobble up 3.5 * 7 = 24.5kWh. In reality it will probably not charge up for all 7 hours, but that depends on conditions.
Your meter will have at least two dials or electronic displays (on the same panel, press the botton(s) to scroll through the display. There is something fishy about what loads you are actually turning on, or in reading the meter.
Yes, thats what I thought. But it looks like the heater is using three times that. Its a new meter and I have been reading it daily so I know its not dodgy otherwise - and I have figured how to read it.
The hike in figures has only gone on over last night. I didnt have it on full input either. I had it on number 4 so it should only have taken 2/3 charge.
I know exactly what I am switching on ( assuming its not connected to heating thin air or something! I am also clear about the meter. Its a brand new digital one and is accurate and steady ( except for the hike last night. ) I am sure I only switched on one heater. Honest. I had to put it on. I have chest problems and I was struggling without the heat.
I had thought I had found the source of the problems in another heater but it looks like they have all been using the same - 65 units per heater per night. No wonder I had that high bill!
Well..... it should have been cycling on a thermostat and should only have charged up 2/3 but it seems to have used 3times what it should have doesnt it? Thats why I am asking. I thought I might have not understood it right.
Thank you, thats what I thought too - but I also thought I must be mad. The readings are the readings.
So, now, how the hell do I find out what is going on? Where is that 40.5 kw going to?
Its got to be to do with the heater hasnt it? That is logical ( I need reassurance or correction here. I am confused) . There wasnt a problem when all the heating was off.
How can a heater draw that much electric and not blow out the fuses - by the way, its not even that hot ( and before anyone asks - no of the other heaters are on or even warm, so its not all wired in one or something).
Its got to be in the heating though ( or is that not a correct assumption?) I had thought it was another heater that was faulty. Now it seems I have at least two faulty heaters. But I just cannot see how it can do this.
I set the heater input control at 4. I set the output at 3. The heater has warmed across the top and the bottom is cold. So its not heated up the storage capacity.
Unless you are inadvertently reporting untruths, there seem to be two reasonable possibilities. First, your meter is crap. Second, something, somewhere *is* taking that electricity. Is it possible that immersion heater, neighbour's heating, the local street lighting or something else is connected?
If the heater is taking that much in, it must be getting very hot - so no, I don't think it is the heater itself. (Again, assuming the rating is correctly reported.)
But it was possible it was happening on the last meter too ( no way of knowing because the meter never got read properly even my the meter reader). I am supposing by deduction its not the meter since it seems accurate enough for all other appliances . After all it wasnt hiking up high readings for my night rate before I put the heater on.
Second, something,
(LOL - if I didnt I would cry) . The immersion heater has always been on. It was part of the 17 overnight figure I quoted as the base rate for my supply. I live in a detached house ( bungalow) and I cannot believe my neighbours heating would rush me that much when they have coal for their heating anyway. I dont think thats posible ;-) There is no street lighting.
But its not getting hot. I am not under reporting I promise you. There is something up with the storage heating obviously but I cant see what and its driving me mad. I asked for help as some will recall a bout a month / six weeks ago when I got a meter reading and a 240 quid a month bill ( with just one heater on - not this one another heater.) I switched everything off and I had to put the heater on last night because I cannot cope with the cold/ damp any longer. I am asthmatic ( result of lung problems after having pneumonia)
But I cant afford this bill either. If its going to take 65 units a night, I cannot keep affording it. And what about the rest of the house? I have three of these heaters, one 2kw heater and tow 1.7kw heaters ( so called) are they all consuming the same? I dare not even put them on to find out quite honestly!
It wasnt a new heater. I havent had the new one fitted yet. This was one of the existing heaters. A creda 3.4 kw model number 79065B . I have it on every winter. but this is the first year I have had problems but as I said, it could have been going on sometime because the meter was not being read ( the meter reader didnt do the job but I didnt know because he came. It was only when they took the old meter out they adjusted for the under estimate.)
I have religiously checked the new meter. It hasnt been doing anything odd until last night when I put the storage heater on.
There MUST be something else using power on the off peak heating circuit. If you are unable to identify something which is doing this then I strongly suggest you engage the services of someone with the knowledge, equipment and ability to track it down. Are you certain that nothing else inside the dwelling is getting hotter? Do you have any circuits feeding outside buildings? When the "normal" consumption was taking place where were the off peak heaters switched off - at each individual unit adjacent switch or at the off-peak consumer unit main switch?
There MUST be something else using power on the off peak heating circuit. If you are unable to identify something which is doing this then I strongly suggest you engage the services of someone with the knowledge, equipment and ability to track it down. Are you certain that nothing else inside the dwelling is getting hotter?
I am absolutely certain nothing else is getting hot or seems to be switched on. I have a fridge, freezer and one low energy light bulb ( 60 equivelent in normal lights) running all night. The dishwasher is programmed to come on at 4,00 am and wash up for an hour and the immersion heater is time switched for two hours each night. All of these (and a washing machine twice a week) have used no more than 17 units overnight every night for the last six weeks.
The day usage ( when I am out anyway) stands steady at about 5 units ( unless I cook a lot in which case it goes up to 10 units) .
When I put the heater on last night it went up to 82 units used in off peak time. Nothing different on.
"Do you have any circuits feeding outside buildings? When the "normal" consumption was taking place where were the off peak heaters switched off - at each individual unit adjacent switch or at the off-peak consumer unit main switch?"
Whatever it is is not heating anything because the house is bloody cold! Thats why I was forced to put heating on. There are no outbuilding with anything on. Even if there were, it would be no more than a 60 watt bulb since my only outbuilding is a toilet ( outside) and the only electric supply in there is a 60 watt bulb.
All the heaters are switched off individually at their own socket ( whatever its called - the box which connects them to the electric supply situated at the side of each heater. When I put the neater on last night I switched that one heater on. All the others were off ( and one is missing all together because I had it taken out when it seemed faulty and haven't put a new one in). None of the other heaters are getting anything other than stone cold.
There is nothing apparent on. There is nothing else to be on. Thats what I cannot understand. I cant even see an electrician picking this one up ( not to mention the cost and worse finding one!!! Despite everything when you want an electrician all they want to do is small simple jobs , not hunt down my problems. Even asking one to come and look at a storage heater which wasn't working was too much! A result of Maggie and her privatization of utilities. No electric board , no electricians who will do the work! - sorry about the rant)
I don't know where to look for something that could use that amount of electric . I only live in a two bedroom bungalow. Hardly a mansion and no fancy appliances or anything.
I can only think its got to be the heater itself drawing that much electricity. Obviously it has no resistance in there and the electric is running through it somehow. Not as I know anything about it. But thats all it can be. Doesnt seem possible but it must be.
It sounds to me like your meter might be faulty. What I would do is:
First, turn everything off - turn the main switch off if that's easiest. Check the meter. If it's mechanical, the wheel in the middle should be stationary, if it's digital the red LED should not flash at all. If this isn't the case your meter is feeding something else (or is seriously broken).
Next, find something with a constant load - an electric heater (not a storage heater) is probably good, but make sure it doesn't have a thermostat. Note the meter reading, then turn on just that one device. On a mechanical meter you will have a "tenths" dial, which makes things easier - a digital meter might not. Run the load for a fixed time - say an hour, or half an hour, then switch it off. Work out how much power you should have used - the power in kW times the time in hours - and check that the meter has gone up by that much and no more. If the meter has gone up by more than it should, and you're sure you didn't put anything else on, the meter is over-reading. Call the electricity company and get them to check - and if they find it is wrong, don't forget to ask for a refund back to when they installed it.
This might be a daft question, then again... I don't think this applies to you unfortuately :-/
Are you on a pre-payment meter ? - if so, it might be that the rate it clocks up costs is higher than your true usage (it's a programmable rate).
AFAIK the dial / display will read the true number of units, but the maths behind it are skewed for prepayment meters, so you may have (for the sake of ease of numbers) used 100 units at 5p/unit, but you can be charged a variable rate over and above the true usage, i.e. you might be getting charged at a collection rate of 7p/unit - this is often done for people who have a debt on their account.
True enough but the OP is working in units (I guess read of the meter). not the resulting cost. Maybe the meter *is* faulty as there seems to be 82-22.25 = 57.25u adrift on this 3.24 kW load. If this is true then presumably the same error ratio applies to the "basic" load (without heaters) that the OP said is 17u/night. In which case that should be only 17/2.5=6.8 units. As someone said earlier - try a test load with everything off. Ensure no thermostats intrude. If 2.5 x 3.25 ~ 8kW is being used for 7 hours something is getting hot or glowing very brightly somewhere (I'd bet even the feeder cables)
The 17 units figure seems suspiciously high. Without storage heating or an immersion heater, we average less than 4 units per night - and this includes two freezers, a fridge, and dishwasher and washing machine (both elderly) each run, say, 4 times/week.
Add in your 2 hours of immersion heater, 6 kWh if the thermostat doesn't kick in, and it would still only come to less than 10 units.
Our daytime use pattern is sufficiently different to yours that comparison is much harder, but we average 9.5 units/day in summer, which includes the freezers, PC all day, power tools, electric oven, etc.
As others have suggested - time to check the meter with a known simple load and _everything_ else turned off - even the fridge and freezer for an hour.
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