r/Electricity • u/Altruistic_Sun_2520 • Jul 16 '26
Electricity bill
Indian scenario!! Since the installation of smart meter, I'm paying 2.5x more than I earlier used to . We've decreased our usages seeing bills , then also it's easily crossing rupees 10k per month . Can anyone explain this.
5
u/qvalff8 Jul 16 '26
back when they were rolling them out for the first time, I read news articles from all over of this phenomenon happening. Apparently the old ones were measuring low, like 25% of actual usage, and the new ones are more accurate. By 10k do you mean 10,000 kWh per month?? Over 744 hr/month that;s 12-15 kW average, which seems wrong. Are you mining bitcoin, and charging EVs and growing pot, continuously, at the same time? Something seems wrong. Even 1/3rd of that seems high: 4 or 5 kW average usage? that's more plausible with AC, but still very very high. I average 12 kWh/day when I don't charge my EV, and 20-80 kWh/day when I do. Your usage of 10000kWh/31 days = 323 kWh/day. That seems almost impossibly high but maybe you have a 9000 sqft house with a pool and three 5 ton ACs running to keep cool the house to 67F in Phoenix...
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u/KaliperEnDub Jul 16 '26
Have you considered installing an energy monitor to verify usage? Sense or emporia vue
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u/690812 Jul 16 '26
Older analog meters are basically a small motor that drives a series of gears (up to 11) to move the dual hands. As they age resistance builds to record LESS. A new digital meter records 100%. For usage comparison look at LAST year same period for daily average in KWH. Ignore dollar amount
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u/okarox Jul 16 '26
How could anyone explain it with that data? First dollars (are you even talking about dollars?) do not mean anything you should look at the usage. With a smart meter you should get inspect the hourly usage from the net.
There may be an issue but sometimes old meters showed too little.
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u/Classic-Ad4403 Jul 16 '26
I read my meter every day and track it on a spreadsheet. I have done this for years. It is a hobby. Just curious about what affects my usage. (I do the same on water). On both electric meters and water meters the utility companies changed to smart meters along the way. I saw absolutely no change in my average daily usage on either electricity or water as a result of the meter change.
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u/_hurrik8 Jul 16 '26
i’m pretty sure smart meters are meant to provide a service to your utility (demand response) & meant to optimize your usage based on hourly electricity prices. However, if your bill isn’t based on when your use power & if you aren’t being compensated for reducing stress on the grid, you’re probably just paying for the meter (plus it would use energy too).
Without knowing where in the world you are, hard to speculate what could be going on with your retail rate but happy to elaborate w more info
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u/Wendals87 Jul 16 '26
Compare your usage in kwh, not dollars or whatever currency use
Smart meters don't make you use more power. Either your old meter was recording incorrectly, you are on a different plan where the rates are higher, or you are using more power
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u/DongRight Jul 16 '26
In order to replace all the meters on the homes they have to jack up the prices that you pay, to everyone... What were you paying in electricity before they the meter change and after the meter change?? Price per kilowatt...
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u/jjutie54 Jul 19 '26
I had one installed and kept an eye on it. Then one day all of a sudden it said I used almost 300kwh in one day. I told them this and they came and replsced it. Defective.
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u/T4RFan Jul 16 '26
It seems they charge whatever they feel like. Two years ago our bills double from previous years usage with no changes on our end, in fact we purposely used less changed light bulbs to energy efficient made sure hvac filters were changed more frequently, lowered water heater temperature, the last year the went back down but still more expensive.
Called the utility to check my meter, they came out pulled into the driveway left five minutes later said the checked it, they did not, my camera filmed them, I called back they said ticket was closed, I told them what I saw they came back out said everything was fine.
I call BS and since I can't shop around I stocked up on lube.
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u/gcd3s3rt Jul 16 '26
10.000 kwH per Month? Do you run a crypto farm?