We had a smart meter installed by Octopus… the cost of making a cup of tea went from 1p to £5 per night
Boiling the kettle for a cup of tea left Ford and Ann Jones panicking when their newly installed smart meter showed it was adding £5 to their electricity bill.
To make sure their eyes weren’t deceiving them, they tried the washing machine and discovered they had to pay £15 to clean their clothes.
They called their utility company Octopus Energy to find out why their bills had suddenly skyrocketed after installing a smart meter a few weeks earlier.
Previously, boiling a kettle would only add about a penny to the bill. Initially, the energy supplier ignored their pleas.
It was only when they contacted an independent engineer who had installed solar panels on their roof that he noticed a ‘CT clamp’ had been connected the wrong way around, causing the meter readings to be ‘confused’.
Experts believe this is far from an isolated incident. An electrician says he was called out dozens of times last year because smart meter installers had incorrectly connected existing solar panel connections.
Not so smart: the meter was installed incorrectly and the couple’s pleas were ignored
This CT clamp is a ‘current transformer’ that is half the size of a matchbox and fits over energy wires that go into a smart meter and measures the electricity going in and out.
Sometimes there are arrows printed on the terminal, but these are difficult for anyone but an electrician to read.
In numerous calls from the facility last February, the retired couple in their 70s were told to “ignore the meter” and that “it could take a few weeks for the meter to settle down again.”
That’s despite being charged £3,000 over a three-month period – more than ten times the usual quarterly bill.
Ford says, “Octopus told us not to worry, but that didn’t stop them from continuing to send much higher bills.”
The couple had downsized to their modest three-bedroom bungalow two years ago and installed a dozen solar panels on their south-facing roof in a bid to future-proof themselves against rising energy bills.
Octopus Energy had claimed that a smart meter installed last February would monitor their energy consumption – and hopefully help keep costs down by showing them how to save electricity.
Ford adds: ‘It was only after I logged into the Octopus website and showed evidence that our energy consumption had increased after the meter was installed that they finally paid attention.
‘But it wasn’t until August that we managed to get an engineer to solve the problem.
‘I insisted that Octopus repair the CT clamp because if I had called in another technician to do the work, the energy supplier could have said it was not their fault.’
Octopus: The energy giant said it was a ‘very rare error’
And Dave Cookman, a professional electrician with more than two decades of experience in electrical installations – including solar panels – believes their experience is far from unusual.
Dave, owner of D Cookman Electrical in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, says: ‘This problem of people installing smart meters when they already have solar panels is becoming increasingly common. In the past year alone I have handled a dozen similar cases.
‘These clamps measure the electricity flow using magnets.
‘Reverse the terminal incorrectly, which often happens with smart meters installed by people who are not skilled in using the technology, and the reader suddenly has no idea what’s going on – and you might be thinking something say something other than what is going on. actual use.’
He adds: ‘Energy suppliers like Octopus are understandably reluctant to acknowledge their responsibility.
‘My advice is to contact your installer immediately and insist that he or she come out to resolve the problem if your energy bill unexpectedly spikes after you have agreed to have a smart meter installed in your home. ‘
The couple won compensation from Octopus after Money Mail intervened and admitted the engineer had installed their CT clamp the wrong way around.
Octopus said: ‘We install thousands of these clamps every year, and it is a very rare error, which means some of our team didn’t pick up the clamps as quickly as we would like.’
If you’ve been affected by wild smart meter readings: toby.walne@dailymail.co.uk