Outrageous 1st bill from smartmeter

  • davidfromhull's Avatar
    Level 5
    Hi all, has this come up before anyone please?

    I have been with Eon over 3 years now, always providing accurate meter readings each month which reflected in my bills.

    Electricity used was approx 100kwh each month for me, 1 person living in a 2 bed house and out most of the days plus a scrooge like watch on the pennies.

    My smart meter was installed on 02.05.24 just 21 days ago now. The reading was zero upon installation and today I received my email bill, an amazing £412 electricity use in just 21 days. The smart meter shows 1710pkwh usage so far.

    How is this possible?? Internet threads are suggesting a back payment issue but as accurate meter readings were given each month I don't see how a mistake is possible.

    100kwh per month jumping to 1700kwh in 21 days???

    I've messaged Eon and am awaiting a reply.

    Not doing my stress levels any good, def not feeling Zen today !
  • 24 Replies

  • Best Answer

    meldrewreborn's Avatar
    Level 91
    Best Answer
    @davidfromhull

    Is the smart meter actually communicating properly. If so the bright app should allow you get half hourly readings back to the installation date.
    As I don’t have smart meters myself others here will have to supply the exact method of setting it up.
    Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    @davidfromhull

    Your IHD is showing an extremely high figure, but can you get a reading from the actual electricity meter itself?

    Your consumption over the 21 days seems to be around 81kWh per day which is rather extreme. Even an electric cooker on all day or permanent electric hot water shouldn't use that much power!

    Have a look at your online account and check that the meter serial number of your electricity meter matches the meter itself and whether the online account shows readings that make sense.

    If you haven't accidentally left an immersion heater on, or something else is sucking huge amounts of power, you can have a look at the electricity meter and do a meter sanity test. Details in this thread :https://community.eonnext.com/thread...ll=1#post29370.

    It could be the meter is faulty and racking up units erroneously, but I'd rule out any other causes first.
    Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. I DON'T work for or on behalf of EON.Next, but am willing to try and help if I can. Not on mains gas, mobile network or mains drainage. House heated almost entirely by baby dragons.
  • JoeSoap's Avatar
    Level 91
    @davidfromhull

    Do you have an In-Home Display (IHD)? If so, have you noticed it showing a daily usage of around £20 every day? You could start monitoring consumption starting with switching everything off and seeing if the meter stops incrementing and then switch things on gradually to see if the consumption looks about right. All the information you can gather will help when you eventually talk to an advisor at customer service. If the meter looks like it's faulty then a check meter will need to be installed which would normally be at your expense. If the meter is proven to be faulty you would be reimbursed.

    A call to customer service would be my priority but being a bank holiday weekend doesn't help.
    I'm an Eon Next dual fuel customer with no particular expertise but have some time on my hands that I am using to try and help out a bit.
  • ANN8619's Avatar
    Level 6
    I assume changing the meter is the only new variable you introduced? My neighbour's bills doubled when he introduced Phillips Hue into his home. They were supposed to be saving energy, but it's not that simple. In any case, if changing to a smart meter is the only variable here, then it is likely it has been installed incorrectly or their system is counting it wrong. This can happen with new installations.

    As @retrotecchiementioned, conduct a basic energy audit at home to identify any devices or appliances that might be consuming unexpected amounts of power.

    It may also be worth asking Eon to conduct a formal test of the smart meter to verify its accuracy.


    You've already compared your historical energy usage data with current readings, so consider getting a second opinion from an independent electrician.


    Give us an update when you speak to them, if you will. I am curious about their response 🤔
  • davidfromhull's Avatar
    Level 5
    @davidfromhull

    Hi thanks for replies.

    IHD showing £1.56 usage per day average, and the reading of 1710kwh today matches the meter itself.

    This meter was newly installed too on 2nd May, engineer left a paper tag showing the replaced meter final reading (the display was broken on that one hense replacement). The opening reading was noted as zero on the tag although I didn't think actually check myself, didn't think I'd need to.

    Eon have replied via WhatsApp asking me to take readings each day at the same time and report them. Also asked if I'd had elec heati g on etc but I've stressed I've had absolutely no chances to my home routines, appliance use, working patterns etc.

    There is a record of my energy use on their statements so it's really clear that I'm using a consistent kwh over the last 3 years.

    1710kwh in 21 days just doesn't make sense, impossible really.

    I'm not particularly assured or confident from my online chat with the operator, really need them to sort this out.
  • retrotecchie's Avatar
    Level 92
    @davidfromhull

    On your last bill, did it show the new meter as starting from zero, and did they take an accurate read from the old meter when it was removed? Do the figures from the old meter tallly up?
  • JoeSoap's Avatar
    Level 91
    @davidfromhull

    Good idea from @meldrewreborn about downloading the Hildebrand Bright App to get a detailed view of your consumption from whenever the smart meter started communicating. It's worth a try and after answering some questions you should know soon enough if there's any data to see.
  • Mailman's Avatar
    Level 59
    @davidfromhull

    In addition to all the other suggestions, It might be helpful if you could show this first bill generated since the smart meter was installed with any personal detail blanked out for us to look at. As your historical (kWh) usage is low this should be reflected in the EAU (estimated annual usage) figure (also contained in the statement on p2) so I'd be expecting it to be at least 1200 kWh possibly as high as 1500 kWh if you have been submitting regular accurate readings for electricity over the last 3 years.

    Another final question is whether Eon Next bill you monthly or quarterly?
  • Andy65's Avatar
    Level 46
    @davidfromhull

    Hi thanks for replies.

    IHD showing £1.56 usage per day average, and the reading of 1710kwh today matches the meter itself.

    Something is clearly wrong with either the meter and/or your account because if the IHD is showing an average daily cost of £1.56, that reflects your normal monthly usage of 100 kWh, it's nowhere near the cost of 1710 kWh over 21 days.

    If you're doing what E.on-next have requested and recording daily readings and usage, if it's 3 to 4 kWh per day then that reflects your historical usage and suggests that the meter is recording correctly. It looks to me as if on installation a high reading has somehow been entered rather than it being zero. That is the only explanation of how your IHD shows a high meter reading of 1710 but the daily cost is only £1.56.
    Scroll the menus on the IHD and look at the cost per week and month, does that reflect your normal usage or is there a spike anywhere?