Right then been on the phone to Hydro complaining that something has to be wrong but they are adamant that my usage is correct and my meter fine (although they refuse to come and check it). They state that im using over 24,000 units of electric every year at a cost of over £2500. I live in a two bed detached cottage (no gas or central heating) with outbuildings. We have the TV and Sat on most of the day, one heater on for a few hours (oil filled) each day, two freezers and two fridges, other than that everything else, water heater, micro, cooker, kettle is all switched off and used at most 30 mins each evening. I really cant see where we would be spending that amount of money and cant afford to pay that kind of money. I've been on at them for 6 months and its not getting better. I switched off all the breakers on my fuse box and turned each one on individually, the only one that started the dial with any real zest was the sockets, but like I say, only TV SAT and Fridges on, cant understand it, any help? I've ordered a "gizmo" to check individual items such as kettle and TV etc, thanks in advance

The heater and water heater will use most electricity. If you look on the back of most appliances, it will say how much electricity it uses. A small heater has a 1kW power so, if it's on for an hour (without a thermostat), that's 1KWh or one unit (or 10p or so). The water heater will probably be 3KW but with a thermostat, the usage per day is harder to work out. To check your meter, turn everything off except something that you know the power of and leave that on for a period of time. If a 1KW heater adds one unit to the meter in an hour, your meter is fine.

It's worth checking what the meter starts and finishes at for their calculation. It's not unusual for suppliers to use silly estimated readings.