Gas bill astronomical - possible leak, faulty meter, supplying my neighbour?!?!?!?

Smegreg

Heloo,

I am with EDF energy and pay my gas bill via a Direct Debit of £50 per month. Yet despite this in the last quarter, I have still received a further bill of £200.
£350 in total for 3 months gas.....

I live in a terrace house with only 2 adults in it.

Now knowing about the price rises we decided over the "summer" (she says with a sarcastic tone!) months, we would turn the heating off COMPLETELY.

We have a (broken) electric oven so the only gas appliance is the hob. Now we are fond of eating out lots and not cooking so the hob only gets used about once , twice a week if that.

We have a combi boiler so (i think) our water is heated via gas.

But surely for only two of us who don't eat in much and therefore don't do many dishes (!) the only hot water we use is for showers. How can the bill be this much?!?!?!

I have contacted EDF who advised taking a 7 daily reading and get back to them.

They said that if then I still thought there was something wrong they could send someone out to look at the meter to see if it was faulty.

HOWEVER, if it was not faulty it would be up to me to pay for the call out AS WELL as the initial bill.

So now I'm too scared to do this incase the meter is fine and the problem is somewhere else. I can't afford their call out fee!!

And if its not the meter then how do I go about finding if the problem is else where???

Is it possible my neighbours are getting my gas?

Is it possible it could be a leak and if so, who would have to pay for the repair?

SOOOOOO many questions. It sucks how depressing issues like this are. Why does life have to be so rubbish?!

Thanks for any help/advise/jokes you give me.

Laura:o

whatatwit

Hi, a few things for you.

Go and read your meter and check that on the bill, they have used a correct figure.

Have a look at the bill and see what the opening reading was, was it a reading or an estimated figure (if it was estimated, then you may well have been playing catch up on last winter) If the start reading was estimated, then dig out your old bills to see when the meter was last read, then you can work out a usage figure during that time and see how it compares to the averages.

Have a look at the meter and see if it is measuring in cubic feet or metres, mine has got M3 on it (so I'm using cubic metres). If you have an imperial meter and are being billed as a metric meter than that could account for the difference.

Start reading the meter every day, ideally at the same time, then it's still fresh in your mind what gas you have been using, hot water, baths, showers etc.

If you post your findings on here, then more suggestions & ideas will follow.

KimYeovil

Also check that the meter number on the meter and on the bill are the same.

Smegreg

Thanks whatawit,

It says ft3 on it so defo cubic feet. And it says cubic feet on the bill as well.

Double checked the meter and that is correct.

The start reading was an estimate but so was the end reading on the previous bill and they both add up. And the reading before that was an actual reading.

This is the first year of having this house so am not able to compare to last year.....

Have taken my reading every day and it has gone up about 1 unit per day.

I have turned my boiler off completely and it has still continued to rise. No gas fires, no hob on, no cooker on, no central heating, no gas used what so ever in the past 2 days.

Im too scared to get the call out for them to check the meter though as I cant afford it.

What are the other possibilities?

jd87

If you're absolutely sure you don't have any gas appliances on, and the meter is still going round, then you should definitely get someone to come round and look at it. I wouldn't bother waiting the 7 days, get them to send someone asap.

paulonline123

jd87 wrote: »

If you're absolutely sure you don't have any gas appliances on, and the meter is still going round, then you should definitely get someone to come round and look at it. I wouldn't bother waiting the 7 days, get them to send someone asap.

Seriously from a guy who does this every day for a job don't do this. There will be nothing wrong with your meter and it'll end up costing you money for no reason. If you knew how often they do find something you wouldn't bother is very very seldom and even then its usually within 5 %.

I think you'll probably find your last 1 or more bills were estimated, and under estimated and this is why this bill is high. Ask EDF what you usage the last twelve months is, and then compare that with the twelve months previous. I recon they will be 10 - 20% different at the most and this is normal, especially after the crappy summer.

It is enormously improbable that your neighbor is stealing your gas, they would need to have a pipe running from after the meter in your property, if your meter's in your house or outside at the front you can rule that out.

It wont be a leak as fifty pence of gas will blow your house up, if your bill was 300 worth of leaks you wouldn't be typing


What this boils down to unfortunately is this bill is correct and the previous quaters you have under payed. A 7 day meter test is basically a way of fobbing you off tbh as they have nothing to test it against if your last read was estimated.

Sorry the news isn't better but this is something I encounter a lot.

paulonline123

If your serious about NOTHING being on then you do have a leak or issue with the meter, in order to test this turn all appliances off (even the pilot light) leave for an hour or two and check the meter, if it moves then you may have a leak or problem with the meter but this is really really unlikely.

n11ckyc

Please understand a gas leak is 99.9999 percent of time so incredibly small as to make no difference to the gas used. i.e the sort of bill you are talking about would be enough to wipe out a truly vast area. You should always take your meter readings regularly, as financially these days no one can afford to be caught out with (high) estimated bills.

Regarding appliances, all gas appliances should be serviced regularly, broken items repaired. They will not operate to their optimum ability. Example a car that isnt serviced is heavier on fuel consumption, doesnt run well, or economically etc etc.

Smegreg

Thanks paulonline123 and n11ckyc, I appreciate the advice. I understand that I was clutching at straws with the leak and the neighbour thing. I just dont understand why its so high!

EDF said as you did that it would be a 'catch up' bill. Trouble is, I can't afford for there to be catch up bills!!!

However, I am going to pay up, shut up, change provider and monitor that damn meter VERY closely from this moment on!!!

whatatwit

Smeg, you said that on your last bill the opening reading was an actual figure, not an estimate.....so adding your 2 bills together and dividing by the number of weeks, how much does it work out to?

Before you change supplier, compare their rates against the rates quoted by other suppliers, don't be seduced by the promise of huge falls in your bills by the likes of the U-Switch site. If the new unit rate is the same as EDF, then your bills will be the same

I (being sad) have done a spreadsheet on which I enter both my gas and electric readings and I can see how much we have used (and the cost) I am also on-line with E-on and I enter my readings at the end of each month on their site.

Hope you get it sorted.