what is a unit??

de1amo

İ have a home abroad and recently had gas service put in--along with a combi and necessary changes to an old oil system--the lot cost me 1500 quid for a top notch bosch boiler and 2 fitters for 3 days-you might gauage the value we are getting in the uk for the same item!
i digress-abroad i get a monthly meter reading for both my gas and electricity in the form of a 'ticketed bill left in my post box--they are clear and 1 unit is priced at a set rate and the units are clear and simple--ie--last months meter reading and this months are stated and the mathes is done simply--why are our bills here' so complicated --out there i can watch the meter and see precisely how much i use each day!-at the moment the gas on the new combi with cooking is running at 7,5 units per day average and a unit costs about 21p--i have no idea how many kwhours or whatever this country charges in but its simple and all helps me budget--oppinions

jrrowleyws

We have a few issues here.

1- Some gas meters are imperial, others are metric (ie, square feet or sqare metres)

2- calorific value of gas (amount of energy in the gas supplied) varies slightly.

A combination of those gives rise to a long winded method of bill calculation!

A_fiend_for_life

You need to check whether your meter is imperial (cubic feet) or metric (cubic metres).

1 m3 is roughly 11.3 kWh (three digits after the decimal place on the meter)

100 cubic feet is roughly 31 kWh (two digits after the decimal place on the meter)

When you get your bill make sure:

- it is in the correct units as displayed on the meter
- the meter numbers are the same
- and your readings are actual (a) rather than estimated (e)

Have you submitted readings for when you first moved in?

Cardew

de1amo wrote: »

İ have a home abroad and recently had gas service put in--along with a combi and necessary changes to an old oil system--the lot cost me 1500 quid for a top notch bosch boiler and 2 fitters for 3 days-you might gauage the value we are getting in the uk for the same item!
i digress-abroad i get a monthly meter reading for both my gas and electricity in the form of a 'ticketed bill left in my post box--they are clear and 1 unit is priced at a set rate and the units are clear and simple--ie--last months meter reading and this months are stated and the mathes is done simply--why are our bills here' so complicated --out there i can watch the meter and see precisely how much i use each day!-at the moment the gas on the new combi with cooking is running at 7,5 units per day average and a unit costs about 21p--i have no idea how many kwhours or whatever this country charges in but its simple and all helps me budget--oppinions

A gas unit is aprox 11.2kWh for a metric meter and aprox 31.5kWh if you have an Imperial meter.

The bills in UK do show both the gas units used and the kWh totals to which they have converted those units.

The complexity of calculation is explained above, but you don't need to work it out as it is done for you; the calculation is shown for you to check if you wish.

It is equally easy to work out costs per gas unit in UK. If gas costs 3p a unit with a metric meter it costs 33p.

If you have a 2 tier system, just treat the additional charge as a standing charge per year - which most countries abroad charge anyway.

de1amo

woosh it seems to be getting too complicate for me--why cant meters like mine abroad be used here-simple and straight forward-plus why cant the ever so profitable power companies have meter readers do the job monthly-and leave a bill or be put online for the customer--transparency gives power to ecnomise and save money-a combi supplied shower abroad costs 10p from having on the spot information-i can clean up!!

KimYeovil

Sorry, it is trivial to work out how much a meter unit costs. It is trivial to watch your meter to monitor your consumption. You are just being silly.

de1amo

my gas meter is imperial and primitive!!plus the supplier abroad charges no rental-the price per unit is all inclusive and set centrally by force of the government on behalf of the people who vote for them and not the shareholder!-i look forward to my power bills abroad-i dread them here!-conclude which is much lower

de1amo

is watching your meter silly--why do they tout these power using censory things to see which item is using the most-i like knowing what bills are coming it helps me budget and economise-keeps me solvent

KimYeovil

Why can't you watch British meters? That is where you are being silly.

What's primitive about an imperial meter? You are making no sense. Grab any child and using primary school arithmetic they can tell you what a meter unit costs.

So your government has decided those who feel the cold should pay much higher effective rental charges than healthy scum like me? Good for them. I fail to see what central pricing has to do with interpreting meter units. That's a different topic.

de1amo

my government --i am uk born and resident--i have 2 homes and just flit!!--i know when i get my gas bill and electric nothing ever seems to be simple or cheap here!-the other governement is Turkish and they control what profits essential suppliers to their populace can make--old fashioned but people arent jumping out of the window because they receive and UNexpectedly high utility bill

Cardew

de1amo wrote: »

my government --i am uk born and resident--i have 2 homes and just flit!!--i know when i get my gas bill and electric nothing ever seems to be simple or cheap here!-the other governement is Turkish and they control what profits essential suppliers to their populace can make--old fashioned but people arent jumping out of the window because they receive and UNexpectedly high utility bill

Well that is about the first thing good I have heard about the Turkish Government!!

They can control prices because the gas company is State owned. In any case you have fallen for this myth that UK energy prices are high because of the huge profits the companies make. If they made zero profit prices would fall by about 2%.

In any case Gas prices in Turkey are forecast to rise 50% in the very near future.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/01/06/Turkey-expects-gas-rate-hikes/UPI-76121262798400/

P.S.
Your Imperial gas unit costs approx £1. - it ain't rocket science.