Gas Meters

kel1911

I have an old imperial gas meter, and after receiving my most recent gas bill have been billed for using 31 units of gas, which after being converted equates to 979kWh.

My in-laws have a metric meter and have also recently received a gas bill and been billed for 60 units of gas which equates to 670 kWh.

What I don’t understand is how the kWh can be so different? I understand that as I have an imperial type meter I have to use to multiplier value to convert to cubic meters, which on a metric meter you do not have to do. What I can’t understand is after performing the conversion it would appear that my kWh usage is then higher and therefore the total cost increases. I can’t understand why my kWh is higher on my imperial meter than on a metric meter, especially since my actual consumption of gas is lower, yet I have ended up paying more. I contacted my supplier to see if the could shed any light on this subject, but I drew a blank with them, they suggested I contacted Siemens! Who it turn said it’s down to my supplier. Can anyone shed some light on this, I would thought that a unit of gas used on an imperial meter is the same as one used on an metric meter?

espresso

kel1911 wrote: »

I have an old imperial gas meter, and after receiving my most recent gas bill have been billed for using 31 units of gas, which after being converted equates to 979kWh.

You have been billed for 31 units but that does not necessarily mean that you have actually used 31 units. Were the start and end readings actual readings or was one an estimated reading?

My in-laws have a metric meter and have also recently received a gas bill and been billed for 60 units of gas which equates to 670 kWh.

That is a different property with different people using energy probably in a different way e.g. different type of boiler, different amount of insulation/double glazing etc. etc.

What I don’t understand is how the kWh can be so different? I understand that as I have an imperial type meter I have to use to multiplier value to convert to cubic meters, which on a metric meter you do not have to do. What I can’t understand is after performing the conversion it would appear that my kWh usage is then higher and therefore the total cost increases. I can’t understand why my kWh is higher on my imperial meter than on a metric meter, especially since my actual consumption of gas is lower, yet I have ended up paying more.

An imperial unit (100 cu FT) is in the region of 32kWh and a metric unit (1 cu M) approx 11kWh.

I contacted my supplier to see if the could shed any light on this subject, but I drew a blank with them, they suggested I contacted Siemens! Who it turn said it’s down to my supplier. Can anyone shed some light on this, I would thought that a unit of gas used on an imperial meter is the same as one used on an metric meter?

It is not units that you are charged for, so therefore only the actual kWh consumed is important, along with the rate per kWh, which may well be different depending on the supplier.

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DirectDebacle

kel1911 wrote: »

I have an old imperial gas meter, and after receiving my most recent gas bill have been billed for using 31 units of gas, which after being converted equates to 979kWh.

My in-laws have a metric meter and have also recently received a gas bill and been billed for 60 units of gas which equates to 670 kWh.

What I don’t understand is how the kWh can be so different? I understand that as I have an imperial type meter I have to use to multiplier value to convert to cubic meters, which on a metric meter you do not have to do. What I can’t understand is after performing the conversion it would appear that my kWh usage is then higher and therefore the total cost increases.

I am not sure what your query is. You are correct that to convert a reading in cu. ft. to cu. mtrs. you multiply cu.ft. by 2.83.

To calculate your bill properly multiply cuft used by 2.83.

Multiply this answer by the calorific value and the correction factor shown on the bill and divide by 3.6.

Answer will be the kwh you will be charged for rounded up or down to whole kWh.

Therefore the conversions on the bills are correct. You used approx 88 cu. mtrs of gas which is more than your in laws. Seems reasonable that the more gas you use the bigger the bill.

Cardew

kel1911 wrote: »

I would thought that a unit of gas used on an imperial meter is the same as one used on an metric meter?

That is where you have made a mistake.

A gas unit on an Imperial gas meter is 100 cubic feet and is 2.83 times bigger than a gas unit on a metric meter, which is 1 cubic metre.

Although the kWh value of both utits can vary slightly because of the changing calorific value of the gas(the figure around 40) an Imperial gas unit is approx 31.5 kWh and a metric gas unit about 11.2 kWh

kel1911

Thanks glad someone could clear this one up for me.