Too much gas!

garyd

Hi Folks,
British Gas have advised me that I must pay them to have the gas meter checked, even though they agree our consumption seems rather excessive.
Surely, any reasonable supplier/business would check first and recharge later?
Ha! Who am I kidding?
Anyway, we rent a 4 bed end of terrace with gas usage for old but maintained boiler serving central heating and water, gas fire used a couple of times only and a five burner hob.
From moving in to last actual reading (= 236 days) my calculations show we have 'used' 47,437.75 kWh at an average of 201 per day.
On my bill BG advise: metric units used x calorific value x volume correction / 3.6
This equates to 4243 x 39.3578 x 1.0226400 / 3.6 = 47437.75
Therefore 47437.75/236 = 201 per day.
I'm at work so haven't got the meter figure but it is definitely made up of five black digits. No red ones!
The figure of 4243 is the number of metric units used as shown on the bill. It is also the difference from when the meter was read prior to us moving in to what the 'actual' reading was on 20/04/09. So I reckon it is displaying metric units. What ever they are. This is then turned into kWh by the previously mentioned formula obtained from the bill.
If my usage calculations are wrong apologies, however the cost of usage before vat etc of just under £1300 for the 236 days does seem excessive.

Does this seem correct? I have agreed a payment plan to cover the cost as I don't want debt over me but now I am in the mood to look in to this and would appreciate any help/advice.

All the best.

Magentasue

It's a lot of gas and it does seem that you have a metric meter and are being charged correctly, if you used 4243 units and 42437kwh.

Usual practice is to charge you for a meter check and refund it if meter is faulty so they don't have to chase up for non payment and to deter people having their meters checked unnecessarily, I suppose.

Old boilers use more gas than newer models. How much central heating, hot water and oven use? How well insulated is your house and hot water tank (if you have one)?

Alan_Vickers

We live in a 4-bedroom mid terrace property with gas c/h from a back boiler in the dining room, gas fire, gas oven and gas hob.

I have checked our consumption from 1st August 2008 to 27th April 2009 which is about 270 days and this was 480 units on an imperial meter until it was changed on 24th march and then 167 units onthe new metric meter.

I have calculated this to be about 16,765 kWh using a conversion factor of 31.1 for the imperial meter and 11 for the metric meter.

Alan Vickers.

garyd

Magentasue wrote: »

It's a lot of gas and it does seem that you have a metric meter and are being charged correctly, if you used 4243 units and 42437kwh.

Usual practice is to charge you for a meter check and refund it if meter is faulty so they don't have to chase up for non payment and to deter people having their meters checked unnecessarily, I suppose.

Old boilers use more gas than newer models. How much central heating, hot water and oven use? How well insulated is your house and hot water tank (if you have one)?

Aaagh!!
I typed a long, detailed response whilst at work inbetween jobs and it's been lost as I timed out! Man, that's so frustrating!!

garyd

Alan_Vickers wrote: »

We live in a 4-bedroom mid terrace property with gas c/h from a back boiler in the dining room, gas fire, gas oven and gas hob.

I have checked our consumption from 1st August 2008 to 27th April 2009 which is about 270 days and this was 480 units on an imperial meter until it was changed on 24th march and then 167 units onthe new metric meter.

I have calculated this to be about 16,765 kWh using a conversion factor of 31.1 for the imperial meter and 11 for the metric meter.

Alan Vickers.

Hi Alan,

Yeah, now even if ours was double that I could begrudgingly accept it.
I've seen the conversion factors you state and I don't understand how to apply the metric one to my reading, especially since BG put the formula (I used) on the bill.
Is it 11 x the metric units? Would affect the total of kWh slightly but wouldn't affect the cost, unfortunately!

Magentasue

garyd wrote: »

Is it 11 x the metric units? Would affect the total of kWh slightly but wouldn't affect the cost, unfortunately!

The meter units. The suppliers' formulas are more accurate but you can get a rough idea of how many kwh you've used by muliplying the meter units. A metric meter unit is about 11kwh whereas an imperial unit is about 31kwh.

Cardew

when the meter was read prior to us moving in to what the 'actual' reading

Are you sure that the meter reading 'prior to moving in' is correct? (did you take the reading yourself?)

You wouldn't be the first person to be paying for previous tenant's consumption.

Alan_Vickers

Garyd - the formula that is used by the energy company that you quoted in your first posting is a bit 'long winded' but must be used by them as they have to involve the calorific value of the gas in their calculation - in your case you quoted 39.3578. The CV varies, however the energy company averages out the CV for the period covered by the bill and this is the value that they use in their calculation. For general purposes it is more convenient to use an approximate value to multiply gas units by to calculate kWh used.

As Magenta says 31 is a good value to use if you have an imperial meter, I usually use 31.1 as the calorific value of the gas supplied in this area is generally a little bit higher that for other parts of the country.

Alan Vickers.

Pssst

British Gas dont check gas meters and neither do any other energy supplier.

What they will do at your request,is to have the meter removed and tested at an approved,independent test facility who will certify its registration accuracy. If it is not within spec then your bill will be adjusted accordingly. If it proves ok,the will bill you for the test.

garyd

Cardew wrote: »

Are you sure that the meter reading 'prior to moving in' is correct? (did you take the reading yourself?)

You wouldn't be the first person to be paying for previous tenant's consumption.

Hi Cardew

The readings were on the inventory supplied to us by the managing agent prior to us moving in.
Whilst I have other issues with the managing agent I do believe their figure is there or there abouts.

garyd

Pssst wrote: »

British Gas dont check gas meters and neither do any other energy supplier.

What they will do at your request,is to have the meter removed and tested at an approved,independent test facility who will certify its registration accuracy. If it is not within spec then your bill will be adjusted accordingly. If it proves ok,the will bill you for the test.

Not what they told me.
I need to pay a fee then they will have it tested.