canalsiderenovation Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Now I'm sure you're all sick of my saga with energy use but it now gets even more complicated. You will recall I was monitoring my energy use for part of January, all of February and part of March. Once I'd managed to get the heat pump settings a bit more consistent we were using between 20-40 units of heat pump use a day and no more than 8-10 units of other use. We moved to Octopus and I've been getting myself completely tied up with their app and our half hour smart use data because it's being recording some absolutely horrific figures - at it's lowest around 45 units of electricity a day and at its highest 123 units a day which I absolutely couldn't get my head around for a 24 hour period with major use between 2-5am when we ended up programming the heating off during those period and setting programmes for each room (thanks @Ultima357) I've been checking out heat pump meter reading and that was only between 17-39 units a day (even with the recent cold snap) and I've been monitoring our other use. Finally I've gone to taking good old fashioned meter readings from the box and checking every day. Luckily I had a photo of a meter reading the day we moved 12271 and a photo this morning gives 13811 so the past 41 days totals 1540 units which is pretty much in line with what I'd expect given we have had some cold days but also good sunny days when we have had minimal other electricity use as we have been using solar. The app for Octopus, adding up every days units gives a total of 3052 for 41 days - over double!!! I've just rung them to be told the smart meter readings are normally accurate (really)! Explained I'd got pictures of the electricity meter pretty much every day and as I'd been monitoring our electric use for 3 months I know the app can't be right. All went very quiet when I asked them to tell me what the meter reading was they have when they realised the app cannot be accurate at all given the opening meter reading and what they have now. They are looking into it..... I'm not going mad. I'm not going mad. I'm not going mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Oh dear, sorry to hear of your ongoing problems. Good for you for keeping evidence of your meter readings. This is another reason I like being a Luddite, I hate tech, don’t do apps etc. etc. I just read my meter once a month (after an Email prompt) and pay what I use (also Octopus). Stick to your guns, at the end of the day your meter readings are the accurate ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 10 minutes ago, canalsiderenovation said: ... I'm not going mad. I'm not going mad. I'm not going mad. Corporate **ck-ups are normal. But - you - you're mad, ravin' batshooshoo crazy mad. Just like the other self builders on here.... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 3 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said: Corporate **ck-ups are normal. But - you - you're mad, ravin' batshooshoo crazy mad. Just like the other self builders on here.... ? ? 5 minutes ago, joe90 said: Oh dear, sorry to hear of your ongoing problems. Good for you for keeping evidence of your meter readings. This is another reason I like being a Luddite, I hate tech, don’t do apps etc. etc. I just read my meter once a month (after an Email prompt) and pay what I use (also Octopus). Stick to your guns, at the end of the day your meter readings are the accurate ones. Because of the ongoing saga with the heating and electric use I know exactly what our usage is but then when I saw the app I thought great, half our meter readings easier to monitor usage.... One particular day they had our total energy use for a 24 hour period as 82 units. Our HP use during the same 24 hour period was only 26 units so they are saying we used over 50 units of 'other' use during this time period. This is at a day when we had a really good solar use and charged everything up, did washing etc and we also have hot water heated with the ASHP when the 830pm Octopus cheap rates come on but this has been minimal as the solar has been doing particularly well in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 I found interesting that in between turning the heating off last night at 10pm and checking temperatures this morning at 10am when it was 3 degrees, the lowest thermostat readings were 19 degrees which were rooms which formed part of the existing bungalow and have no EWI yet (the extension was warmer but this has far better insulation in walls). I didn't think this was too bad with 12 hours of no heating when we have no EWI and no render. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Does the App have it's own transmitter/ current sensor or does it use the smart meter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 7 minutes ago, dpmiller said: Does the App have it's own transmitter/ current sensor or does it use the smart meter? Smart meter! Here's just an example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 2 hours ago, canalsiderenovation said: the lowest thermostat readings were 19 degrees which were rooms which formed part of the existing bungalow and have no EWI yet My bedrooms are 19’ roughly with no heating upstairs (apart from bathroom towel rads.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 I'm waiting for a resolution from Octopus and am now bombarding them daily with photos of the meter and a breakdown of what the app is reporting during the same period. Having been taking the meter reading each 24 hour period for the past few days versus the half hour readings in the app I'm pretty confident the app is reporting just over double our use, e.g. between 9:45am Saturday and 9am Sunday we used 41 units of electricity (of which the heat pump used 36). The app shows 82 which is double and the times they have our use still isn't accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Good work, keep us posted when you get a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 What is your Current Cost monitor reporting. If you set the clock it will give an indication of when the energy is used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 1 hour ago, canalsiderenovation said: I'm waiting for a resolution from Octopus and am now bombarding them daily with photos of the meter and a breakdown of what the app is reporting during the same period. Having been taking the meter reading each 24 hour period for the past few days versus the half hour readings in the app I'm pretty confident the app is reporting just over double our use, e.g. between 9:45am Saturday and 9am Sunday we used 41 units of electricity (of which the heat pump used 36). The app shows 82 which is double and the times they have our use still isn't accurate. Definitely sounds like a mathematical problem - maybe the meter is double-listed against your account somehow? Odd that this could be possible though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 Latest update from Octopus - there is a problem (really?) They are hoping the issue will be resolved by the end of May at the latest ? and they have identified the issue and now need to fix it. They said they have now identified this happening to people exclusively on the Go and Go Faster tarrifs. They did say once they are clear on exactly the usage and split, they will come back to me but they should be able to clearly dentify this by reviewing meter data (I'm not convinced)! Until I have concrete information from them on what they have my actual use as and the split I can't do anything aside from keep taking meter readings daily. As yet my direct debit hasn't actually paid any bill, it's just sitting in my account in credit as they can't work out my bill currently and they have 40+ days so far to go through plus the issue is still not sorted so they can't actually clearly identify how much I owe. Once it has I'll be on at them for some form of compensation. The time and energy (energy get it ?) I have put into all this recording, monitoring our electric use and buying additional monitoring equipment has taken up an almighty amount of time whilst my other half has thought I was going completely mad unplugging appliances, turning off heating and complaining when our daily electricity use went over 100 units! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Cancel the DD till it is sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 1 hour ago, SteamyTea said: Cancel the DD till it is sorted. To be honest basing it off my calculations the amount we have paid so far won't be too far off what we owe and I'd rather not cancel it and end up with a big bill. They haven't yet applied the money sitting in my account from two direct debit payments to any bill because they can't bill me not knowing the amount! So for anyone with Octopus, keep your eye on your meter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Shame it’s been so stressful for you but looks like it’s being sorted (at last), see, I told you I hate tech (apps and all that sh1t), Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 2 hours ago, canalsiderenovation said: So for anyone with Octopus, keep your eye on your meter... Got our smart meter being installed by them in about a month, and will definitely be watching it carefully! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSS Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Agile rates have been up with the recent cold snap but tomorrow's rates are off the scale!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperJohnG Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 This makes me question smart meters to some extent (and I'm.a fan.of them and not having to do meter readings) our gas and electricity is mega costs for the last 12 months. I feel like it's ever since we got the smart meter but maybe that's me making that link. Might be because of lockdown...but we use horrific amounts of gas being at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 Octopus seem to have suspended the app as I can only see now Sunday but am continuing to monitor the meter every morning. For the past two days our total comsumption has been less than 30 units a day total, mainly all heat pump as with our weather are still struggling to get over 0 degrees once the sun sets but we have had some good sunny days so have plenty of hot water and have made good use of the solar in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 12 hours ago, SuperJohnG said: I feel like it's ever since we got the smart meter but maybe that's me making that link. Might be because of lockdown...but we use horrific amounts of gas being at home. Check it, probably unlikely unless you're on a Go or Go Faster Tarrif but it's worth double checking. If I hadn't no one would have picked up on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 13 hours ago, joe90 said: Shame it’s been so stressful for you but looks like it’s being sorted (at last), see, I told you I hate tech (apps and all that sh1t), I'm not exactly tech savvy either but if it wasn't for the app it would have been unlikely I'd of noticed the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 13 hours ago, NSS said: Agile rates have been up with the recent cold snap but tomorrow's rates are off the scale!!! Remind me of the advantage of this Vs paying 16/17p 24/7? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 28 minutes ago, ProDave said: Remind me of the advantage of this Vs paying 16/17p 24/7? I think there are days when it's very low but it wouldn't work for us. Our Tarrif is this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Yesterday the manager of my Local Costa Coffee got me to download the app because there is an offer in today, and for the next 2 days. 50p s coffee, about the right price. So after a tourtous login process, as I already have an account, I go in today to claim my cheap coffee (this is after a 7 mile walk because St. Michael's Mount us not really open, they just say it is to get people to park at 8 quid). App says it is broken. Try again later. One day, all our apps will say we cease to exist. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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