Spikes in electricity since having smart meter fitted
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2026 11:51 pm
Good evening, I am just looking for some advice please. I am in the UK and just starting out so I have 12 solar panels that I believe are around 5.5kwh, a 5kwh inverter and just under 10kwh battery and slave. I have had the system for around 10 weeks now and have not had any issues but since the installation of my smart meter on the 23rd March, I am seeing numerous spikes of electricity draws throughout the night (and possibly the day but less noticeable due to the amount of use anyway) that range usually between 3 and 3.5kwh. They usually last around 20 minutes but they are enough so that my smart meter says I’ve spent anywhere from £1.40 to £2 before I’ve even opened my eyes in the morning. I’ve had advice from Facebook forums but we’ve ruled out the fridge freezer and heat pump as they were operational prior to the smart meter installation and there were no spikes showing prior to that, it was also suggested that it could be my batteries drawing from the grid to charge but I don’t force charge my batteries yet (waiting on tariff approval) and it also happens when there is energy stored in the battery. I am seriously beginning to wonder if the issue is with the smart meter itself because there were no spikes on any day until the early hours of the 24th May which is the night of the smart meter installation. We don’t have electric heaters or anything other than a heat pump and I’ve also completely shut that down and switched off all electric to it to see if the spikes stopped but they did not. Does anyone have any idea what it could be? I have emailed my energy supplier who have said they’ve forwarded the information and the photographs to another department to see if they can get to the bottom of it but I won’t hold my breath.