Check your Gas Meter!

Pssst

I hear similar tales often.

The era of cheap energy is finished. People need to get used to conserving energy,insulating their homes and wearing clothes.

tattoed_bum

i just had my bill online and from the end of dec to 11 mar it's an atonishing £289 considering my boiler broke down and i had no heating for 2 weeks this has floored me ,

Tracyk_2

Drat! Got all excited there - just been out in the rain to check mine - hoping it was metric - but no - imperial. Bill was correct!

Koolance

my bill from 08 nov to 15 march is around £330.. 2 bed flat..1 person living there! ouch ! lol

so much for estimated £64 per month british gas estimated after i set up a direct debit!

andrewmp

Koolance wrote: »

my bill from 08 nov to 15 march is around £330.. 2 bed flat..1 person living there! ouch ! lol

so much for estimated £64 per month british gas estimated after i set up a direct debit!

£64 probably isn't all that far off, it's just you probably use 80% of your total gas useage in the winter months.

A_Star

Now to add to the original problems that I thought were sorted they've decided that our opening meter reading was 369 units lower than it actually was so the bill is still twice as high as it should be!

The new meter was fitted before we moved it, British Gas had the right meter so was charging us right, it's only since we moved to Scottish Power that we've had a problem.

If you have a metric meter it's worth checking your bill to make sure it's been calculated correctly.

A_Star

poet123 wrote: »

Ours was nearer £500....and we only have wooden flooring too.

If your bill was £500 for a quarter check that it's right, even U-switch said our consumption shouldn't exceed £430 a quarter for a 3-bed semi.

naijapower

I just think we need better insulation in our homes and also wear warm clothes indoors. This can reduce our bill

danhar707

I just had my Dec-Jan-Feb quaterly bill through saying we've used 12800kWh (or £450 worth) of gas! :eek: We've got a ft3 meter and are being charged for ft3. That leaves these possibilities:
i) We have indeed used a lot of gas
ii) Our boiler is knackered.

It's an early victorian 2-bed end-terrace, which is very large for a 2-bed house. Huge rooms with stone and wooden floors everywhere. The heating has been set to be on for ~6hours every evening and around 1.5hrs every morning. I'm on a competitive tariff (changed last year.)

Does this seem like reasonable usage to you guys?

I was just checking over the boiler and found that the flue outside is kicking out a lot of steam. I put my hand in the steam and found that it was quite warm. Anyone know if this is normal, or is the boiler trying in vain to heat up the entire earth and make me poor in the process? It's a fairly new boiler fitted by the landlord a year or so ago.

SwanJon

danhar707 wrote: »

That leaves these possibilities:
i) We have indeed used a lot of gas
ii) Our boiler is knackered.

If (ii) your boiler is knackered, that would lead to (i) you have indeed used a lot of gas.

danhar707 wrote: »

It's an early victorian 2-bed end-terrace, which is very large for a 2-bed house. Huge rooms with stone and wooden floors everywhere. The heating has been set to be on for ~6hours every evening and around 1.5hrs every morning.

So big rooms to heat, and probably not very well insulated.
7 1/2 hours heating during the coldest months of the coldest winter for years.
What temperature was the heating set at?

danhar707 wrote: »

I'm on a competitive tariff (changed last year.)

A good start, but doesn't mean you can't check again.

danhar707 wrote: »

we've used 12800kWh (or £450 worth) of gas!...Does this seem like reasonable usage to you guys?

About half the annual 'average', but I'd expect you to use a lot less in the summer months. Might be worth looking at insulation/energysaving to cut down, but I'm afraid that looks perfectly possible.

danhar707 wrote: »

I was just checking over the boiler and found that the flue outside is kicking out a lot of steam. I put my hand in the steam and found that it was quite warm. Anyone know if this is normal, or is the boiler trying in vain to heat up the entire earth and make me poor in the process? It's a fairly new boiler fitted by the landlord a year or so ago.

Not sure about boilers, but it sounds normal - the fumes form the burnt gas need to escape somewhere.