Excessively high bill, or just me??

stuffedrice

Hi
We just got our electric and gas bill for a 3 bed terrace built in 1900. From 4th December 2008 to 26th March 2009 they reckon we used £748.27 of electric and gas!

Ive made several phone calls and heres what ive got:

Electric was £127 which is fair enough.

For gas they said:
(4th december to 26th march) 420 units x 2.83 x Volume correction (1.022640) x calorific value 1.022640

divide by 3.6 =13607 kWh

12192x4.209 = £513.16
1415@5.292 = £74.88

Winter quarter gas bill = £588.04

3 bed terrace, heating not on all time (off during summer+winter night).
Shower uses gas boiler, no electric shower
Gas fire, but used sparingly
Gas hob.

The heating was on during the day as people were home but surely c. £300 would be more realistic? Is £588 too high for a gas bill?

BruceyBonus

stuffedrice wrote: »

Hi
We just got our electric and gas bill for a 3 bed terrace built in 1900. From 4th December 2008 to 26th March 2009 they reckon we used £748.27 of electric and gas!

Ive made several phone calls and heres what ive got:

Electric was £127 which is fair enough.

For gas they said:
(4th december to 26th march) 420 units x 2.83 x Volume correction (1.022640) x calorific value 1.022640

divide by 3.6 =13607 kWh

12192x4.209 = £513.16
1415@5.292 = £74.88

Winter quarter gas bill = £588.04

3 bed terrace, heating not on all time (off during summer+winter night).
Shower uses gas boiler, no electric shower
Gas fire, but used sparingly
Gas hob.

The heating was on during the day as people were home but surely c. £300 would be more realistic? Is £588 too high for a gas bill?

Were estimated or actual readings used?
What supplier and tariff are you on?

stuffedrice

The initial meter reading was read and was 8970, estimated march 2009 reading was 9390 and was accurate.

We are with Scottish Power, according to our bill we are on "domestic standard",

"domestic standard: secondary 12192@4.209 £513.16"
"domestic standard: primary 1415@5.2929 £74.88"

daveyjp

If this is based on actual readings, 13607 kwh is 121 kwh PER DAY - 5kwh every hour for 24 hours.

BruceyBonus

stuffedrice wrote: »

The initial meter reading was read and was 8970, estimated march 2009 reading was 9390 and was accurate.

We are with Scottish Power, according to our bill we are on "domestic standard",

"domestic standard: secondary 12192@4.209 £513.16"
"domestic standard: primary 1415@5.2929 £74.88"

Is your meter metric or imperial? I.e. does it say ft3 after the numbers?

stuffedrice

How much would 5kwh power?

stuffedrice

Our meter is imperial (feet) and according to the call centre scottish power think we have an imperial meter. It doesnt state on the bill if we have an imperial meter but the "multiply by2.83" bit allegedly converts it from Imperial

BruceyBonus

stuffedrice wrote: »

Our meter is imperial (feet) and according to the call centre scottish power think we have an imperial meter. It doesnt state on the bill if we have an imperial meter but the "multiply by2.83" bit allegedly converts it from Imperial

Does it definitely say feet on the meter? They could be billing you incorrectly. Because if it were a metric meter, your usage would be more realistic.

BruceyBonus

stuffedrice wrote: »

How much would 5kwh power?

A 60W lightbulb for 83 hours
or a 1000W heater for 5 hours

Magentasue

I don't think 120kwh a day through this winter is excessively high. High yes, but not unbelievably so for a three bedroomed house with gas CH and a gas fire and hob. We have averaged about 100kwh a day this winter but that's because we've been trying to cut back. Even so, I recognise it's high because we do keep the house warm and there's someone in all day. On the plus side, we do a new energy efficient combi boiler.