I have my electric with EDF, and they can not seem to give me a straight answer as to why we seem to be using more units than this time last year.......

Can anyone explain why one day when I read the meter in the morning and then when I get home, the meter has stayed the same, whereas the next day, do exactly the same yet the meter has increased by 2???

When I asked EDF they just said "dont know"..they then said it takes upto an hour for the reading to be right, so i took this to mean if i boiled the kettle at 4, it would not actually register until 5...is this right???? They just keep saying the meter is right and if someone was to come out and check it, it would be £80 which we would have to pay if it wasnt faulty.

All I want them to do, is explain why the readings are so erratic, bearing in mind we do the same things most days...

Can anyone help me please.

:-)

MontyDon,

Can you confirm whether there is purely a delay with the meter or whether your actual consumption appears to be inaccurate?

If it appears to be inaccurate, then EDF should come out to check the meter free of charge to ensure your bill/account remains accurate.

Regards,

Hiya,

I can not confirm if there is a delay as I really dont know. When I first asked the advisor this she said no there is no delay, however after trying to get her to then explain to me why the units were so erratic, she then came back and said yes there was.

I didnt think at the time, but if there is a delay its a pretty long one, as I have said, I read the meter in the morning when I go to work, so the only thing on is the sky on standby and the fridge freezer, some days I come home and its moved by 1 unit, sometimes none and sometimes 3. Now I leave for work at 8.30am and come home at 4.15....that is a long delay.

Its just really annoying when they can not answer my queries, all the lady kept saying last night was well you do have a fridge freezer.....

We have started turnng things off, Im not even using my electric blanket which I have always used, and the readings still seem to high compared to the same time last year yet they can not explain why.

MontyDon,

I'd advise that you keep a weekly log of your consumption figure and try to keep things as consistent as possible i.e. don't go and buy a 42" plasma in week 2. ;o)

From this we should be able to determine whether or not the meter is faulty or not.

Scott,

I have been keeping reading since 10.11.08, I read it at 8.30 when I go to work, and then again when I come home at 4.15, like I said, sometimes the meter stays the same, sometimes we use 2/3 units......Its just not consistant...

The other day we went away at about 12 on a friday afternoon,now I read the meter when we went, the only thing that would have been on was the fridge freezer/sky plus, plus the heating. When we got back at about 12 on the saturday the meter had moved on by 8 units......now i know our heating only use 1 unit each time its on, now you can not tell me the other 6 units were from the Sky and fridgefreezer....This is what I have been asking and this is what they can not answer.

At the same period last year we would use a maximum 10 units in a 24 hour period, now its more likely to be 13/14,I know its not a lot more, but it is more and we are doing exactly the same if not we are doing more to keep it down.

What is the average unit use for a 3 bed semi with 3 people?

Sorry, but this is really getting to me now :-)

montydon,

The average usage in the UK is 20,500kwh Gas and 3,300kwh Electric. This is the standard figure used across the industry to base an "average" energy bill on.

3 units may not seem much but in reality that could be adding a significant amount on to your annual bill.

If you have genuine concerns about the accuracy of your meter, which it's clear you do, then I see no reason why EDF should not come out to check the meter.

Hiya Scott,

You are right, I do have concerns, however EDF are adement that what we are using is correct.

I received an email from them yesterday saying they could see I had spoken to someone and whether or not they were able to help...to this I replied NO, and again requested someone contact me so I could discuss it.

I will have to wait and see.

:-)