My Extremely Gas bill

The_Jester

I've just received my online gas bill and I'm staggered to discover that it is an incredible £283.06!!! That's from 24 Dec 08 - 17 Mar 09!!!

I'm single and I work all day. I have my heating on from 6-10pm, 6-9am and my water from 6-7pm, 6-7am. I'm staggered by this amount so I called British gas to find out what's going on. I gave them another reading from the meter and they insist the bill is correct!!

A new meter was installed when I moved in to this property sometime in September and I asked to have the meter checked as I'm sure it must be faulty. I was informed that if it's discovered by Transco that the meter is not faulty then I would be charged about £60! Now obviously now I'm not sure whether or not to go ahead with this and get it checked out as it's possible it's working fine and remember I'm relying on Transo to tell me if it's faulty or not. BG also told me the chances of the meter being faulty is one in 10,000!!!

So I'd like to ask members if my bill sounds about right? I'd like to attach a copy of my bill should some very clever people on here would help me and have a quick look at it but I can't see where I can do that, any ideas?

P.s. I still have an outstanding balance as I'm paying them extra as they didn't set up my direct debit from September and I didn't bother to check.

Thanks in advance for any help

withabix

Looks about right for the winter period for the hours you've quoted.

Magentasue

How many kwh did you use for the quarter Dec - Mar?

Rikki

That seem right considering the price increases we've all had and the bad weather.

My December bill was £230 and this bill due in any day now will be a lot higher because of the snow. (less hours than yours)

The_Jester

I hope this makes sense to someone?

Any chance an administrator can turn on my attachments please?

Gas you've used this period
24 Dec 2008 - actual 505 We read your meter
06 Jan 2009 - estimated 646
= 141 metric units over 14 days (actual)
Gas units converted = 1602.32 used over 14 days
First 103.00 kWh x 6.434p = £6.63
Next 1499.32 kWh x 3.220p = £48.28
07 Jan 2009 - estimated 646
18 Feb 2009 - estimated 1039
= 393 metric units over 43 days (actual)
Gas units converted = 4466.05 used over 43 days
First 316.00 kWh x 6.434p = £20.33
Next 4150.05 kWh x 3.220p = £133.63
19 Feb 2009 - estimated 1039
17 Mar 2009 - actual 1239 We read your meter
= 200 metric units over 27 days (actual)
Gas units converted = 2272.8 used over 27 days
First 198.00 kWh x 6.361p = £12.59
Next 2074.80 kWh x 2.969p = £61.60
Total cost of gas used £283.06

The_Jester

:mad: Jesus just what I feared. I suppose it's just hitting me now the rise in gas & leccy. I'll have to be more vigilant in future.

Thanks for all your replies. It's much appreciated _pale_

Magentasue

24 Dec - 17 Mar = 734 units = 8340kwh over 84 days. So about 100kwh a day on average.

We've used about the same. We're a family of six with a combi boiler but when we had hot water on a timer, we had it on less than you do. Heating about the same in a three bed house and brand new energy efficient boiler. We're high users so yours looks high - more likely to be you using heating more (it has been a cold winter) rather than a faulty meter.

Rikki

I've just looked at the number of units of gas you have used from 24 Dec 2008 - actual 505 We read your meter to 17 Mar 2009 - actual 1239 We read your meter. 734 units in total. That's is a lot of gas. :eek:

I've just checked my readings from the two closest dates (I take weekly readings ) and I've only used 284 units.

You rate is better than mine and your prices have gone down. :j My supplier hasn't changed theirs yet.

The_Jester

Magentasue wrote: »

24 Dec - 17 Mar = 734 units = 8340kwh over 84 days. So about 100kwh a day on average.

We've used about the same. We're a family of six with a combi boiler but when we had hot water on a timer, we had it on less than you do. Heating about the same in a three bed house and brand new energy efficient boiler. We're high users so yours looks high - more likely to be you using heating more (it has been a cold winter) rather than a faulty meter.

Thanks for this. The boiler I've inherited is 13 yrs old and with a storage tank. The walls don't have any cavity insulation so as soon as it goes off the heat escapes quite quickly. I'll have to remedy that in the summer.

Magentasue

Our house is Victorian so no cavity walls and extension is even worse. We've done what we can with carpets and curtains - even put bubble wrap on some windows - but I can't be doing with being cold so can only cut back so far.

That said, I read our meters regularly so that I know what we'll be paying.

Fire_Fox

How many hours are you home for in the morning? If you switch the heating on at 6am I would assume you get up by 7am. Therefore out of the house by 8.30am latest ... Switch the heating off half to one hour before you leave. Once you are dressed (wear a thick sweater) you should be fine with the house cooling down.

And why do you need the hot water on twice a day? We are two and manage fine with the immersion on for 45 minutes overnight.