Scottishpower price/usage problems

will_i_am_2

Hi there, right my 1st post so please be gentle.....

The missus has been with Scottishpower since the start of Sept 2008, she was on the standard gas/electricity tariff but then switched to online energy stanard a couple of months ago to apparently save pennies. Anways here's the story:

She religiously had the gas heating come on from October to December from 5:30am to 7am and from 5:30pm to 9:30pm everyday, this would result in gas bills of around 45/50 quid and electricity bills would be around 30 quid so £80ish all in. I told her that this was silly considering the amount she is using and she should adjust the programmer asap. anyways now its set to come on at 5:30pm and go off at 6:30pm just to heat water, its not set to come on in the morning anymore as she is now on maternity leave so if it's cold when she gets up then she sticks it on for 1 hour. Ok the problem is that her gas bills are in excess of 60 quid a month making her energy bills over 100 quid a month all in, the problem being that she never has the gas on anymore. She lives in a 2 up 2 down house were the only radiators switched on are 2 in the master bedroom and 2 in the living room with a small 1 in the toilet downstairs. Thats 5 radiators only for central heating and NO gas cooker. I really think there is a problem here and have started a row with Scottishpower. A rep came to the door the other day and asked us about our energy prices in general, we told him it was over 100 quid and he couldnt believe it, he said famalies in the area are only paying 60/70 a month for more than fair usage and that there was something wrong with our service and that we should take it up with scottishpower asap. Anyways I rang the cusomer sevice department to only be greated by some complete pr1ck with "sorry sir there's absolutely nothing wrong with it". So how can there be nothing wrong if even their own rep has been out in the field doing his homework and tells us something that we suspected was wrong, livid to say the least. Ok the meter outside is imperial and I seriously think its inaccurate but is this ever a common problem? I know all meters need calibrating and the ones I work with albeit test equipment in work get calibrated every year, do gas meters ever get done? the boiler shouldnt be the problem as it was only serviced a few months back, also the boiler was set to maximum from October till December and is now on level 3 out of 5, and the thermostat has he reduced by 5 degrees since, but now we are averaging 50 units of gas a month as opposed to 35/40 when it was being used more. Sorry for the long winded writeup but its just a nightmare that we are freezing our nuts off for over 60 quid a month for gas alone, and if we wanted to have the heating on alot more and be comfy then it would easily double, and my work colleagues and everyone i've spoken to have said they pay nowhere near this, the bottom line is I don't trust scottishpower and want to take some sort of action soonish, I asked for someone to come and check the meter but to no avail as they played stupid and ignorant to it all, please help someone, kind regards.

Will

Magentasue

We have a three bed house and pay about £1000 a year for gas. It's cheaper than electricity but it's still expensive stuff and it has been very cold.

It sounds as if your meter readings have been estimated. You need to work out some accurate figures. Preferably kwh. Post how many kwh and the period it covers. Or how many meter units - if you do this, say whether metric or imperial (your meter will tell you).

It's not common for meters to be faulty but it is possible for them to have the wrong meter (check serial numbers on the meter and the bill) or for them to bill you for an imperial meter when you have a metric meter (check what it says on your meter).

will_i_am_2

we have been providing meter readings via the online account every month so they are accurate, as for kwh average, its now up to about 1500. do you have your heating on 24/7? also the serial number ties up on the bill and the meter, as does the reading of cubic feet so its imperial, something isn't right surely if the usage has more than halved when the price is going up.

Magentasue

No, we have our heating on morning and evening but our carbon-fiends can use the programmer so it's often on all day.

Could it just be that it's been so cold? We were using £5 a day but that's gone down now. We used 35 units in the coldest week but down to 15 last week. That's imperial units.

smokingchills

The most common complaint a supplier receives is that there is something wrong with the meter when actually your bills are correct.

I would not say £100 per month is excessive for Gas and Electricity - I have seen people paying more.

I would suggest that you look at your usage on your invoice - suppliers have to now provide calculations showing year on year if possible and this should be on the bill.

If you are still having problems take readings over 7 days at the same time each day and you will be able to see how much you are using.

SC

Premier_2

Simple heat transfer theory.

It's not all to do with how long you have the heating turned on for, but also the difference between the ambient temperature and the desired temperature. The colder the ambient temperature, the greater the heat loss to the outside for a given desired internal temperature.

It was colder in January & February than it was in October-December.

will_i_am_2

ok 2 hours a day gets you averaging 50 units a month? I think not!!! we have just had another scottishpower rep come to the door today and I managed to get his name as he said again that there is something seriously wrong to be heating 4 normal sized radiators and 1 small radiator 2 hours a day at 60 quid a month, someone please tell me im not going bloody mad am I?

Fire_Fox

Premier wrote: »

Simple heat transfer theory.

It's not all to do with how long you have the heating turned on for, but also the difference between the ambient temperature and the desired temperature. The colder the ambient temperature, the greater the heat loss to the outside for a given desired internal temperature.

It was colder in January & February than it was in October-December.

What he said.

Premier_2

will_i_am wrote: »

ok 2 hours a day gets you averaging 50 units a month? I think not!!! we have just had another scottishpower rep come to the door today and I managed to get his name as he said again that there is something seriously wrong to be heating 4 normal sized radiators and 1 small radiator 2 hours a day at 60 quid a month, someone please tell me im not going bloody mad am I?

Sounds about right.

If you really only have the heating on for 2 hours per day, it presumably is running at full blast for those 2 individual hours it is turned on.

Assuming a typical household gas boiler is 80,000btu (equivilent to 23.44kW), then you'll use about 47kWh per day or about 1400kWh per month.

1400kWh is about 42 imperial gas units, or costs about £56 @ an average of 4p per kwh.

will_i_am_2

the heating is set at 23 degrees and the boiler is on level 3 so no its only on half power if its got the options of level 1-5 then maximum. I would like to know what a family of 5 living in a 3 bedroom house with all radiators on and the heating on constant are paying a month.....

ali_p_4

will_i_am wrote: »

the heating is set at 23 degrees and the boiler is on level 3 so no its only on half power if its got the options of level 1-5 then maximum. I would like to know what a family of 5 living in a 3 bedroom house with all radiators on and the heating on constant are paying a month.....

If it's any help during the really cold spell i was on 9 metric units a day just unser a fiver. It is about 2/3 of that now. Our heating is on in a morning from 5 til about 10 then about 4 til 10 we are a comfortable 21 degrees and open plan in 3 bed semi (older style) 8 rads in total i cook on hob gas but rarely use gas fire as it whizzez round I am with scottish power.