[Chopsmum]

Hi all,

According to my smart meter my energy usage since Sunday has tripled when I have no new devices and have done nothing different in my home. I called Eon and the operator had no idea why and couldn't give me an answer. Can anyone help or suggest why?

[retrotecchie]

@Chopsmum

Gas, electric or a combination of both? Don't forget that with much lower temperatures right now, you heating will be working very much harder to keep things at the same level, so you'll naturally be using a goodly chunk more energy to keep warm.

[Chopsmum]

@retrotecchie
Thank you for your reply, it's mainly gas but I have noticed the electric too, especially when doing a wash etc. yes I have thought about the weather etc. but to be honest I turn my thermostat down to 14 in the night so the boiler doesn't kick in. Something has definitely changed and i'm totally baffled

[retrotecchie]

@Chopsmum

Ok. If you have a combi boiler, look for a setting in the controls for hot water that say 'Comfort' or Eco. If you can, turn that off.

Also, if you have an option to set a heating flow temperature, turn that down to about 60 if it's currently set any higher.

If your washer is using more electricity, that's likely because the incoming water is that much colder, so the heater is working harder. Unless you need to boil wash Whites, most modern detergents and indeed machines are just fine with a 30°C wash. The difference between 30 and 40 is about 15p a wash for the electric.

[Chopsmum]

This is really helpful thank you very much!!

I will try all of this you have suggested.

The wash I did was on a 30 minute wash on a 30° and cost me 52p which I thought was a lot?

[retrotecchie]

@Chopsmum

That does seem High. My machine does a 30 wash 29 mins and costs me about 20p.

Ok, I'm assuming you have smart meters and they are sending readings back ok? I'm wondering if your IHD has only recently been updated with current tariffs as this seems to have been a bit of an issue. A lot of older meters have taken weeks to update tariffs. Lots of people are seeing this.

If you have access to the app or the online account, or you can read the actual units recorded by the meters, might be worth having a look at your actual usage in KWh rather than the actual costs. If you look at a recent bill to get your current tariff, you can work out from meter readings what the energy should be costing you.

Another question is have you had a fixed rate deal that recently ended? If your fixed rate deal was lower than the current EPG prices, then that might explain the increase in costs. In any case, tracking actual KWh usage will give you a better idea of what you're actually using.