Iberdrola stitch up - Page 6

Hi, I've had similar trouble with them in past. However, as I've got the app, can I ask you how you check the daily usage on it. Thanks.

Yes thanks, my son has the app now, thanks for your help

do you not switch off your electric when you leave 

I have had a house in Spain  for 19 years. When I leave the power is turned off at the consumer unit. I have yet to receive a bill with any power consumption when the house is empty and power turned off. Standing charges yes. No power company is going to put a supply to your property without standing a charge. Just check your bill for KW consumed. If power is used you have appliances left on. Maybe you are paying for the pool, common area lighting?

Hi there.

I have been living in my house for over 2 years. I have had work done, workmen using electric tools, but I run my personal area with a pellet stove (with electric) a fridge-freezer, another fridge, electric oven & usual appliances including a coffee-maker, water heater plus usual lights, TV, etc. 

My daughter lives at the other end of the house in an independent flat with microwave, fridge-freezer, TV, electric fire and all usual appliances. 

We also run a swimming pool.  We have a potenzia, which is the amount of the power supplied, of 5 kW. With all this consumption I once paid €100, but usually pay around €80 per month. 

A personal story from the past:                                                                                      I had the keys to a friend’s house & turned the electric off when she wasn’t there and also the water supply. When I went to check on the property I noticed the water was on before I had a chance to open it to flush the loo and open up the taps for a while. I presumed I had forgotten to turn the water off on my previous visit. 

Then we noticed the electric bills. 

My friends had also given the key to someone they knew in the same area who was coming to the property with a girlfriend, sometimes with other friends. He simply turned on the electric meter & water when he arrived & turned it off when he left. Electric fires in the winter, or simply turning on an electric oven to warm up the home, can consume an enormous amount of electricity in peak hours. Is there a washing machine in the flat?

May I suggest you change the locks? Do not give the new keys to the same people. They are ripping you off. In theory these are the only ones likely to cause the high bills if you are sure nobody else has keys. I would change the keys once a year if you are renting.

Janice

I think you are absolutely correct, Janice. We have a fairly large 2 bed 2 bath detached house. We have no gas at all. We have all the usual stuff plus in the winter underfloor heating, serviced by heat pump. Separate heat pump for hot water 24/7. We have potencia 5.75. Our bills are normally between 70 snd 80 per month although using underfloor they were around 130. It has to be somebody accessing the supply.

Yes Stephanie,

The fault lies with anyone who has a key and if the key holders aren’t doing their own washing/ironing/oven cooking in this apartment, then it must be someone else who has a key. So for me, a change of locks is essential. 

I even heard of a neighbour/key holder who did washing and ironing for several properties and used an extension lead from one house to another to avoid paying electricity from her own meter!

Many forum members have had these problems themselves or heard of something similar so it is not unknown to have dishonest keyholders. If the O.P. Is convinced their keyholders are trustworthy, then change the locks anyway, give them a copy of the new keys and explain that they are the only people now to possess the keys.       If they are the culprits, the abnormal electricity consumption will terminate. If there were others with the key, the bills come down to the normal standing charge anyway as they will no longer have access to the property.  Either way, the owner resolves the problem. But I would look for other  Keyholders!!!

Locksmiths are less expensive in Spain than they are in the UK, but you can just change the barrel yourself and have a couple spare for a regular change-around. 

Janice

Thanks Janice for that info, the only people who have their keys are close friends who live out there, so we know nobody’s getting in and using it.  Craig, my son has the app now and when he left last Thursday , although everything was off before, he has turned electric off from mains so will keep an eye out for the next bill, but thanks again for your help x

If you ate absolutely certain of them, then something else is draining the power, or your supply has been tapped into.

Have you actually told your Close friends with the keys about this and if you did what was their reaction? 

I had a couple on my Community who were very friendly with another couple who lived across the road on a different Community, the woman was actually their President. They had the keys to my couples house and so they knew exactly when they were coming over and used to get it ready for when they were coming over. They even paid them. One day my friends who live there permanently, were walking up the road in the evening to go out, as they got nearer, they could see water was pouring from the upstairs terrace of the master bedroom. They immediately phoned me and I contacted the owners. It turned out the so called friends were using their car, renting the house out and using it for visits by friends. One vistor had left a tap on and flooded the place. Needless to stay that was the end of their friendship and it later transpired they had done the same with other peoples holiday homes. Within a few months they had left and returned to the UK.

I really hope for your sake these friends haven't been up to what many on here think, but I'll be surprised if they haven't.