Pay as you go energy meter for a nightmare tenant?

[Richyboy]

Maxf said:

Immersion heater left on 24/7 so he has lovely scalding hot water maybe?

Finally, I think this is it. Hot water has been on for months like this:



Turned it off and the water is still hot. I hope this is the culprit but its a gas central heating system so have no idea.

[pherlopolus]

we have ours on twice for 90 mins at each end of the day...

if you are paying the bill, set it and put a lock box round it!

[surveyor]

Richyboy said:

Maxf said:

Immersion heater left on 24/7 so he has lovely scalding hot water maybe?

Finally, I think this is it. Hot water has been on for months like this:



Turned it off and the water is still hot. I hope this is the culprit but its a gas central heating system so have no idea.

That's a boiler timer and won't effect the immersion. You need to find another switch...

[Blue Oval84]

surveyor said:

Richyboy said:

Maxf said:

Immersion heater left on 24/7 so he has lovely scalding hot water maybe?

Finally, I think this is it. Hot water has been on for months like this:



Turned it off and the water is still hot. I hope this is the culprit but its a gas central heating system so have no idea.

That's a boiler timer and won't effect the immersion. You need to find another switch...

Agreed, all that's doing is ensuring that the hot water tank is re-heated by the gas boiler (I thought we were talking electricity here?) whenever it gets cold, rather than waiting for a set time of day to do it. I guarantee that's not making any noticeable difference to your electricity bill.

You need to look at the meter, see how quickly the light is flashing (IIRC it's one flash for 100th of a kWh but read the meter to tell you for sure) and analyse from there, go round switching things off until you find the thing that makes the light stop flashing quickly. If the light isn't flashing quickly when you're there, that suggests the tennant has turned something off in advance of your visit.

You can work out spot consumption by counting the number of flashes in 60 seconds. E.g. 5 flashes would mean 0.05 of a kWh per minute, so 3kWh per hour (which would be bloody high!)

[Pheo]

Doesthe houe have a hot water tank? Mine does, and there is an immersion backup element at the top controlled by a simple wall switch.

Go check that this is not turned on.

[Richyboy]

Finally sorted this, thanks people. It's in the round white cover right, I followed its wire to the switch and turned it off. The meter is no longer flashing every second.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

And how are you going to ensure the tenant doesn't simply turn it back on again?

[Richyboy]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

And how are you going to ensure the tenant doesn't simply turn it back on again?

Only two months left of tenancy so will keep a check on meter. This is probably mostly my fault, jumping to conclusions lol.

[Blue Oval84]

Thanks for the update, always good to hear how these things turn out!

[Riff Raff]

Richyboy said:

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

And how are you going to ensure the tenant doesn't simply turn it back on again?

Only two months left of tenancy so will keep a check on meter. This is probably mostly my fault, jumping to conclusions lol.

Shouldn't the switch be fused? If it is, take the fuse out