Strange but true

A 5% increase in voltage would not equate to a 50% increase in power consumption. Many items would not use any more power with a small increase in voltage.

Smolley snipped-for-privacy@rest.uk wrote in news:vt05lv$3d1g3$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Even if your load was entirely resistive the increase in voltage would only account for a rise of 15% in your use. I'd keep looking (but only if you really want to . . . )

Well say the use was 3kwh/day, that is an average of 0.125 kwh/h i.e. a avg power consumption of 0.125 kw.

That would imply an average current of 125W/230V = 0.54A. At 247V and assuming all that load was resistive[1] 0.54 x 247 = 134W, or about

(for simplicity you can just scale by the ratio of voltages, so: 3 / 230

• 247)

So the the answer is "no" the voltage change would not account for the extra power consumption.

Perhaps a capacitor has stopped working in the fridge or Freezer.

Something off with your E7 timings? eg if your storage heater timer was set to GMT and your meter updated to BST, or similar? Could cause a spillover from night to day rate - an extra hour for a 2kW device would do it.

Someone left the fridge door open Someone left something else on. You've been playing too many action games on that hot little gaming computer. Your SO finally got around to doing the washing Next door has tapped into your house supply for his cannabis farm

So many explanations

If you have a smart meter you can set your account to 30 minute readings, and then you can look at your consumption over the course of a day. It'll tell you if it's a constant drain or if something is turning on and off, and when.

You can do the same by hand with the spinning disc or the flashing light on a non-smart meter, but it's more work.

Theo

clock on C/H incorrect, and making the heating come in the mornings while it's still frosty out there?

This is a good point. E7 timings vary across the country. Round here there are

Smart meter not connecting because I am north of the sensible connection line.

Does your IHD (portable display) work? If so you can set it to display live watts and daily consumption so far, and then keep an eye on it.

Theo

Yes thanks, that is probably the answer.

It wouldn't double your consumption.

If you are running an extra 100w, day in, day out, it sounds like an electrical rather than an electronic load. Ditto if it is 500w for five hours - or even an hour at 2.5kW. Logging your meter should give you plenty of clues.

Something left on in the loft or shed? External lights?

I have not had one, the installer said as the meter is dumb any linked display wouldn't work.

Oh no its not, just noticed its not the off peak usage..

Fridges / freezers tend to use capacitors to enable induction motors to either start, or start and run (typically to create the illusion of an extra phase being available to create phase rotation to spin the motor. Without the cap the motor will basically just not work.

In other cases caps can be used for power factor correction (PFC) - e.g. reducing the inductive nature of a load like strip lights that have magnetic balances, or smoothing the pulsed load from switch mode power supplies.

In industrial settings where you may have financial penalties for presenting a poor power factor to the grid, this could cost you more.

However in domestic environment where you are only billed for the "real" component of your power draw, there would be very little effect. (with a poor power factor, your apparent current would rise somewhat, and that could result in increased thermal losses in wires etc, it is not going to make a noticeable difference in your bills.

It seems far more likely there has been either a real change in load, or a change in the accuracy of the metering.

So build or by a basic power monitor that will let you see at a glance what the actual household load is. Then by a process of elimination (i.e. turning circuits off one at a time you can see if there are any unexpected loads).

Not true. The IHD should still show live consumption even if the meter isn’t communicating with the DCC and your power company.

Tim

Thanks folks and Theo for the 'heads up'. I had misjudged the off peak time slot because of the switch to BST and turned the water heater on too early. All checks out ok now, back with 3 kW/h reading for day rate. Off peak time 1:30am to 8:30am.