[lorraineseward]

We've had the same smart meter since moving here in March and are on a fixed tariff for Gas and Electric until March 2022.
Overnight, and for the last 2 weeks consistently our daily usage on the meter has increased significantly - 3-4 per day maximum to over £7 each day. Nothing has changed with the exception of one set of christmas lights (that really shouldn't make that much difference) - we've left them off for 2 days just to see and no difference in the charges.
Anyone experience similar??
Would try to contact Eon but apparently we've been changed to EonNext and their customer service is only open Monday - Friday, shocking!

[theunknowntech]

Hey there! That's not good and could indicate a possible fault with the meter.

Just so you know, I'm only a forum volunteer and therefore can't access your account or make changes. But I can give advice that might help you out. Hope that's OK with you.

I'd like to ask you to do something called a Creep Test really quickly. What this does, is tests to see whether your electric meter is still clocking usage in a situation where it should be recording nothing at all. It doesn't take long to do, but can I please ask that you safely shut down and turn off all sensitive electronics/electricals (such as computers, TV's, games consoles, smart home gadgets, Wi-Fi Router etc.) before you do this, just to keep them safe. You can leave the fridge and freezer on though, along with a few lights - they prove quite helpful for this test!

Once that's all done, here's what you'll want to do for a Creep Test.

1. Locate your fuse box/consumer unit and turn off all the power to the entire house - this will only be for a few minutes, so don't worry about spoiling anything in the freezer
2. Observe your electric meter for about three to five minutes - you should see no further consumption being recorded after the first minute at most
3. Keep an eye out for any red flashing lights on the meter during this time
4. After five minutes, feel free to turn the power back on when you're ready

If you don't see any consumption being recorded during the test (aside from the first 30 seconds or so), then your meter has passed the Creep Test and probably isn't faulty. However, if it continues clocking usage despite the fact ALL the power is off, then this is a good indication that your meter has developed a fault. In this case, you'll want to contact Customer Service and request a Meter Accuracy Test, which costs around £160 and you'll need to pay this upfront. If the MAT confirms that the meter is faulty, it will be replaced free of charge immediately. You'll also get the test fee refunded in full and your bills will be regenerated once E.On has been able to figure out how far out the meter was - you'll also be refunded the difference if it was clocking too fast. If it's clocking too slow, you won't be expected to make up the excess either.

Please bear in mind that if the MAT confirms the meter is not faulty, then you'll forfeit the test fee as it won't be refunded, and your bills will stand as valid. Obviously, a Creep Test is free and you can do that yourself pretty easily, so it's recommended to try this first - and only consider requesting a Meter Accuracy Test if the Creep Test confirms that there's a possible fault.

The other thing to consider, is are you definitely sure it's only those Christmas lights you've had on recently, but otherwise everything's unchanged? It's pretty common to use more energy in winter than in summer, so you may want to check for any other energy guzzlers in the house, just in case.

[theunknowntech]

Ok, I've found the details I was after for this. I really need to store them in a better place one of these days...

These instructions were originally posted by myself in another thread a while ago. I've carried them over as it's a lot of typing and all too easy to make a mistake.

Here's how to do a Burns Test. This is a quick test and only takes a few minutes, but you need to be able to get to all your gas appliances and your gas meter to do this one. Here's what to do.

1. Turn off ALL gas appliances, the boiler and everything else that uses gas on your supply
2. Wait for around 30 minutes to let things calm down and for the gas meter to completely catch up
3. Check your gas meter reading and make a note of it
4. Turn on just one gas appliance - a single ring on your gas cooker is usually the best option
5. Monitor the readings on your gas meter for five to ten minutes. You must do this on the meter itself as the IHD (if you have one) won't update fast enough and the Burns Test relies on faster updates than the every 30 minute schedule you can get via the IHD. Make notes of the current reading every 60 seconds during the test
6. Shut off the gas appliance you fired up
7. Check the gas meter reading again
8. Restore your gas appliances to normal service once you're done

The reading should only go up by a few units during the test. If it seems to be clocking up excessively quickly, this suggests there might be a fault. A Burns Test isn't perfect, but you'll be surprised how well it works. If you suspect an inaccurate or faulty meter after doing this, you'll want to call for help and request a Meter Accuracy Test (it's an OFMAT for a gas meter). These are not free and you'll be asked to pay the job fee upfront (usually around £160 or so).

If the test confirms the meter is faulty, you will get the fee refunded, the meter will be replaced and you should get refunded for any usage that you didn't actually use if the meter clocked too fast. Recalculations don't occur if the clocking was too slow. While electric meters are only replaced if they fail the MAT, gas meters are usually replaced anyway as part of an OFMAT process. Be advised that over 80% of OFMAT tests come back with no fault and you'll sacrifice the fee in those cases.

Hope this helps

[KriegeR]

I don't know if it's related but over the last couple of weeks, our weekly budget has overshot significantly and like you say all we've had is 3 sets of LED lights in addition to what we'd normally have, probably equating to < 20W of additional consumption. Unless someone has plugged into our system I don't know where this extra electric is going! We certainly aren't using it!

[Landmark]

Originally Posted by lorraineseward

We've had the same smart meter since moving here in March and are on a fixed tariff for Gas and Electric until March 2022.
Overnight, and for the last 2 weeks consistently our daily usage on the meter has increased significantly - 3-4 per day maximum to over £7 each day. Nothing has changed with the exception of one set of christmas lights (that really shouldn't make that much difference) - we've left them off for 2 days just to see and no difference in the charges.
Anyone experience similar??
Would try to contact Eon but apparently we've been changed to EonNext and their customer service is only open Monday - Friday, shocking!

If you want to double check that your account is all in order, the quickest way to get verification of this and further help regarding your account and pricing, is from Eon Next customer service advisors on Twitter by private message. You will need to sign up with an account if you are not registered with Twitter yet. If you are already with Facebook, you can try the same way with that, but I recommend Twitter for fastest communication with Eon Next Customer Services😉

[SueinFrinton]

We also bought a property in March, and had builders in for some weeks, then we moved in during the summer. Our builder's electrician told us that our meter was a first generation meter and was out of date. They found its display, and we have have been keeping an eye on that. Recently the cost has shot up, just as you say, only we were not in the house for 4 weeks (mid-November - 26 December) but it seems our usage has not gone down. The builders said that the gas was being metered while there was no gas in the house - we were having our boiler replaced as part of the renovation work. I recently emailed E-on Next but they wanted all of my security details sent to them by email. Given email is not secure I refused to send them my birthday and they told me to phone, which I will do in the New Year. I am also on a fixed tariff - something is going wrong somewhere - and it sounds like we need a new meter at the very least.

[theunknowntech]

Originally Posted by SueinFrinton

We also bought a property in March, and had builders in for some weeks, then we moved in during the summer. Our builder's electrician told us that our meter was a first generation meter and was out of date. They found its display, and we have have been keeping an eye on that. Recently the cost has shot up, just as you say, only we were not in the house for 4 weeks (mid-November - 26 December) but it seems our usage has not gone down. The builders said that the gas was being metered while there was no gas in the house - we were having our boiler replaced as part of the renovation work. I recently emailed E-on Next but they wanted all of my security details sent to them by email. Given email is not secure I refused to send them my birthday and they told me to phone, which I will do in the New Year. I am also on a fixed tariff - something is going wrong somewhere - and it sounds like we need a new meter at the very least.

Hi! I think this might be a good opportunity for you to do a Creep Test against the electric meter, and possibly also a Burns Test against the gas meter. I've already posted instructions for the Creep Test above, but I'll be back in a bit once I've grabbed the details to do a Burns test. This might help to prove if the meters are inaccurate or faulty. Please could you also post photos of your meters as well. That helps me a lot.