Crazy spending £130 a WEEK electricity

  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    I think that confirms my suspicions of either:
    • A possible meter fault - which a Creep Test can definitely identify some of them - if the registers are showing 000000 then yeah. Something might definitely have gone wrong
    • A possible phantom debt that needs to be wiped
    • Both (somehow?)


    There's only one other theory I have. What kind of heating setup do you have? Some heating systems are less efficient than others, so I'd like to see if I can eliminate this as a culprit
    Just another guy passing by... The unknown tech way...
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  • Ahmedali's Avatar
    Level 1
    Morning guys

    So yesterday at night i left the meter at £0.00 electricity cut off as no credit as we were at my sisters. came back this morning to a balance of -£19.00 and nothing was actually turned on as i made sure the meter does go to £0.00 and everything turned off.

    This is really getting to me now, i wont lie to you guys but i had a nightmare and it was about the electric meter and the amount i consume daily.

    The Boiling system I have is a combi boiler.
  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    It definitely sounds to me as if your meter is faulty. Did you manage to do a Creep Test by any chance? I've put details in an earlier comment of this thread. It doesn't sound like you have electric heating though, as a combi boiler suggests you're using gas instead for that.

    I strongly recommend considering having that meter replaced as faulty, for which customer service can make the arrangements.
  • UKDave51's Avatar
    Level 3
    Even £160 a month in a flat seems like an awful lot of money, but maybe understandable with a young family, I can see a large refund coming your way when you get it resolved, good luck.
  • Landmark's Avatar
    Level 29
    This is really getting to me now, i wont lie to you guys but i had a nightmare and it was about the electric meter and the amount i consume daily.
    This has the potential to make you ill because it is causing you some anxiety. Therefore it is extremely important you prioritize this matter before things get out of control. Any reasonable boss would understand if an employee took time of work for health reasons, but lets hope you can follow the instructions between shifts.
    Best wishes for 2022 and keep us informed how you are getting on and if you have any further questions.😉
  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    I think I may have some more advice that could help reduce your costs a bit, at no cost to yourself.

    My gut feeling is telling me that you might qualify for the Warm Home Discount, which is currently £140 and is non-repayable so you'll never be asked to pay it back. As you're on a Prepayment Meter, if you get approved there's two methods that I think might be used to apply the credit.

    For a Smart Meter, the credit will usually be sent to the electric meter automatically within six weeks of approval, but you can opt to have it sent to the gas meter instead if you'd rather do that. You won't need to do anything else once your WHD application. been approved.

    The process is a bit different for Traditional PAYG meters though. It usually goes onto the electric meter, but you can choose to put it on the gas meter instead - simply request this from customer service. You'll receive a voucher with a code on it. Take that voucher to the shop the next time you top-up the relevant meter and hand it over to the shop assistant along with your key or card and your usual top-up amount. They will credit the key/card with your top-up as usual, but the code will also charge up the key/card with a further £140 as well - this special mechanism overrides the usual top-up limits but not the storage limits. When you top up and have a WHD discount voucher, please make sure that you've already emptied the balance of the key or card onto the meter and ideally don't top-up more than £40 at the same time, so that there's enough space left to charge up the WHD credit.

    You'll need to have a low enough meter balance to accommodate the extra credit on the key/card when you try to transfer it over, so I'd recommend running it down as low as possible first. The maximum credit balance on an electric key at anytime is £250 and for a gas card it's £249. If you try to transfer credit to the electric meter that takes the balance over £255 or over £250 for the gas meter, it won't transfer and you'll need to run it down further first.

    If you're planning on getting the Warm Home Discount and E.On Next needs to issue a refund, I'd definitely recommend discussing it with customer services first, so that they can make sure it doesn't cause any conflicts.
  • Beki's Avatar
    @Ahmedali I'm concerned that this is a huge amount for a flat and would urge you to get in touch with us via social media so we can go through some checks and then if we need to, get an engineer out to you. Would you be able to send a message across to us on Facebook (@eonnext) or Twitter (@eon_next)?
  • Ahmedali's Avatar
    Level 1
    @theunknowntech

    Hello there

    The Creep test was done, but i was unable to pinpoint the issue as the meter stopped flashing when everything was off, so i'm not really sure what is going on anymore. it is very stressing honestly, i feel i'm lost and words and complaints are falling on deaf ears with e-on.
  • Ahmedali's Avatar
    Level 1
    @theunknowntech i have applied for the £140 discount, and just waiting for their response now, hopefully they will get in touch soon.

  • theunknowntech's Avatar
    Level 80
    Thanks. It seems as if your meter passed the Creep Test, but clearly something's still not right. It's definitely worth asking for further help with this, but there's only so much I can do myself. If you don't get anywhere with customer service, Beki might be able to intervene.

    I'd say further tests are needed though, so I'm in agreement with Beki - it's time to get an engineer out.