working out ££ used from gas/elec meters

kethry

Apologies in advance if this is somewhere really obvious, but i've had a look around and i can't really find anything to answer my question.

We pay our gas and electric by use of cards every 2 weeks - not prepayment meters, just cards that we pay our bills via every 2 weeks at the post office, like payzone and so on. we're also in debt on the electricity side by a couple hundred quid, which we're paying extra on in order to try to clear it. Because of that, and because we're heading into winter, i don't want to have to wait 3 months any more to find out if we're ahead or behind, in the balance between payments and useage.. so, i want to be able to do regular meter readings here at home, and work out how much we're using to make sure we don't use more than we're actually paying for on a two weekly basis.

We're with E-On for both gas and electric, and we have a standard bill, the kind that charges you at a higher rate for the first so much, then drops to a much lower rate, which does complicate factors somewhat... my question is: is converting from the meter a simple question of working out the difference between reading A from 2 weeks ago to reading B today, and then multiplying by whatever rate applies at the time, or is it more complicated than that?

Many thanks!

keth
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spiro

For elec it is that simple. For gas there is a formula which you will find on the bill which means you take the difference between the 2 readings and then put the answer through it to get £s.

KimYeovil

Say tier 1 is 15.1p and tier 2 is 12.2p Subtract tier 2 from tier 1.

15.1p - 12.2p = 2.9p

Find out your quarterly allowance. Say it's 225kWh. Multiply that by this difference (the 2.9p). That gives you how much you pay in standing charge per quarter.

225 x 2.9p = 652.5p.

So put aside £6.50 for your quarterly standing charge.

Now you can work out much you need to pay as you go along using your readings. Take the readings every fortnight or month. You will be due what you've used times the 12.2p.

KimYeovil

Oh. As mentioned by Spiro, to convert gas meter units to kWh multiply by 31 if in cubic feet or 11 if in cubic metres. (approximately.)

jd87

Hi Kethry. Perhaps you will find my spreadsheet tool useful: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1184735

kethry

spiro, Kim, and JD87 - many thanks.. I've worked through your instructions, Kim, although i went the route on the gas bill for the conversion - i wanted to be as accurate as possible! - rather than relying on the general x11 figure you gave. I've worked up a spreadsheet, and i think i got it all worked out accurately now.

jd87 - your spreadsheet is great.. i'm keeping mine though, for now, with yours as a backup to check figures, because mine has weekly meter readings (where possible, sometimes its fortnightly) along with all my fortnightly payments so i can see where i am with the balance of gas/electric used and payments made!

Many thanks!!

keth
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trish06

Hi
not sure if you know about this site

http://www.imeasure.org.uk/

you add your readings each week and it tells you how much you spend on elec and gas each week
hope it helps :beer: