NuBeginningsFrance Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 For a while we have been having huge electric bills. We just put it down to high consumption.However I decided I usage was far to excessive.€1500 every two months ! I had a specialist out yesterday who ran some basic tests his conclusion is we have a problem possible leak ????? He recommends that we organise to have the property tested to find out exactly where we are loosing power.Has any one experienced electricity leakage ?? Would home insurance cover that? Guess ill have to call the insurance man ;-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Are there any neighbours who could have tapped, into your system somehow? Has the meter been checked when everything (and I mean everything) has been turned off and unplugged? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Have you got any neighbours with cables leading from your property to theirs?Electricity doesn't tend to "leak" in the way suggested: something must be getting VERY warm - according to my calculations it is the equivalent of having 8 or nine one-bar heaters on ALL THE TIME!! - the equivalent would be a 9KW shower running permanently.Is the meter recording correctly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 If he used the word 'leak' then I doubt he is a specialist as it is impossible to 'leak' electricity.What you have is something using the electricity or somebody is stealing it (yes that does happen) by running something of theirs from your supply.It is very difficult to say much without a full understanding of what you have, for a start is it single or three phase? To burn that amount of electricity your meter should be counting at a pretty high rate. Mine has a light that flashes, the more you use the quicker it flashes. You could try the old 'half and half' system of detection especially if your distribution board is near your meter. Basically turn off half the breakers in your board. If the meter light continues to flash at about the same rate then turn off half of the half so your left with a quarter of the breakers on. If that makes little difference then half again till you get the light to slow right down.If however on the first half you switch off the light slows right down then turn half back on and if the light speeds up then turn half of that half off and see if it slows down. The whole idea is to try and find through which breaker this excessive amount of power is being used and seeing as the breakers are marked as to their use you should be able to work out what is using the electricity.If on the other hand you turn off all your breakers and the light still flashes very fast the chances are somebody is stealing your electricity or there may even be a fault with the meter. If it were me I would phone the EDF help line explain that you seem to be using a lot of electricity according to your meter and could they send an engineer out to have a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 So if Pickles calcs are correct and 9kW is being drawn all the time it will probably not be via just one breaker - otherwise when something else connected to that breaker is turned on it would trip.With bills like that you do need to act quickly.You have not got someone nearby growing some funny plants? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuBeginningsFrance Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 We turned of the tableaus one by one to see where the electric was going this had no affect on the energy that was flowing out of the main box. The electrician was by the EDF power box (three phase ) He had some kind of device that clamps round each cable to see whats flowing out of it. One of the phases seems to be consuming all the energy, that phase was pulsing i.e drawing energy for a couple of units stop drawing energy for a second or two then draw a couple more units and so it went on.I am wondering could a main cable leak energy in to the ground ? I hope the above makes sense.( Even with all the breakers off the meter is still spinning )P.S I doubt its theft as we have no other houses near by we are a small chateau surrounded by fields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 That is ridiculous - you can't pay that!Could the fault be in the main box? Or is there another old linked network hidden away somewhere in the chateau? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I'm now thinking that CERN has wired itself into your meter ... Are all the tableaux de repartition near the meter?Basically, all the cables that leave the meter should go to a tableau. Can you trace each cable to a tableau? If there is a branch in a cable before the tableau then Bob is your father's brother. If the cables are buried, then I'm afraid, at 750€ per month, it will be WELL worth your while to expose them to solve the mystery. What you are describing is drawing of the order of 40 AMPS (my calculation is based on 12cent/unit, therefore 750 €/month = 750/0.12/30/24 kw, which gives 8.6 Kw, ignoring standing charges). Something is getting pretty hot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 The electricity can't leak. Either somebody is stealing your electricity or there is a fault with the meter. Personally I would phone EDF and tell them with all the electricity turned off your meter is still going round, flashing or whatever and get them to send an engineer. I have found them quite good although the best you can get is a before or after lunch appointment on a specific day but the do turn up.You said only fields but there may be something like a series of pumps for wells or whatever that are 'hidden'.By the meter there is normally a big mains breaker, not part of your consumer unit, near or next too your meter, if you turn that off does the meter still show power being drawn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 [quote user="Quillan"]The electricity can't leak. Either somebody is stealing your electricity or there is a fault with the meter. Personally I would phone EDF and tell them with all the electricity turned off your meter is still going round, flashing or whatever and get them to send an engineer. I have found them quite good although the best you can get is a before or after lunch appointment on a specific day but the do turn up.You said only fields but there may be something like a series of pumps for wells or whatever that are 'hidden'.By the meter there is normally a big mains breaker, not part of your consumer unit, near or next too your meter, if you turn that off does the meter still show power being drawn?[/quote]From what NuB wrote, it looks like there is a real demand going through one of the phases. My suggestion would be to disconnect this phase, run a NEW cable to whichever tableau it feeds (making sure that there isn't a phantom feed going off from the input side of the board), and then wait and see (eg which part of the grounds floods, which part goes all dark, whether the hot water turns cold, etc). EDIT: get a professional to do this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 It is so long ago that I studied three phase supplies but I seem to remember something about extremely unbalanced phases and current being drawn through neutral. Not a real problem in the UK because PME (neutral and earth being linked together) is employed but that doe not exist in France. If your place has been rewired and the electrician is not knowledgeable about three phase it is possible that he has not balanced the phases.Now of course you can never get the phases exactly balanced unless everything in your home is three phase which it won't be so some allowance is made with the meter (in how it works) but it is possible that if the phases are terribly unbalanced and one phase in particular being used a lot then the meter can show some weird readings.With limited time (I have to now go cook for my guests) the best I can come up with which may help explain is the following paper. It does have a leaning towards electric motors and things but it does explain the effects of unbalanced phases.http://www.cpdee.ufmg.br/~selenios/Qualidade/Artigo4.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Just to put €1500 worth of electricity into perspective, that would represent best part of 3 years worth and that's on flat rate without us taking any particular action to limit consumption ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 [quote user="AnOther"]Just to put €1500 worth of electricity into perspective, that would represent best part of 3 years worth ... [/quote]And for us 18 months in our previous 3 bed all-electric house. Though, IIRC, the OP has a Chateau/business with equipment, which will use far more than us in our purely domestic, all-be-it full-time, situation.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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