High gas usage?

bengarton

Hi.

We moved into our current house a year ago. It is a mid terrace house with three bedrooms, gas central heating and a combi boiler.

Ever since we have lived here our gas usage seems very high compared to our old(larger) property.

I have just received a bill from Npower, who state for the period 18 April 2006 - 15 July 2006(I have just taken a reading) I have used 390 cu ft (not sure how to convert this to kWh).

On their estimated bill we had used 58 units and that cost £52.06, so 390 is going to cost an absolute packet for 3 months!

Does this seem right? We use the shower(mixer) in the mornings, and have a gas hob. We haven't had the heating on really for the period the bill covers. If it is this much now we are going to be stuffed in winter!

Help!

Thanks
Ben.

stewie_griffin

1. For imperial meters: Take the volume used, shown with the suffix 'hcf' on the front of your bill and multiply this figure by 2.83 to convert to cubic meters (m³). Follow step 3 onwards.
2. For metric meters: Take the volume used, shown with the suffix 'm³' on the front of your bill.
3. Multiply this figure by the conversion factor shown in your charge details, then by the calorific value also shown.
4. Finally divide this figure by 3.6 to show your usage in kWh.

Using the conversion fact and calorific value from my bills 390hcf is about 12300 kWh. OFGEM's national average amount is 22,500 a year so your usage does seem high.

bengarton

Hi. Thanks for the reply. They are calculating based on imperial meter. How would I know if it was metric or imperial?

I just can't believe we have used that many units when we are hardly at home and hardly use any gas! Anyone got any suggestions as to why it is so high?

EasilyAggravated

i had a high bill from npower and my suggestion was it must be the 20 or so patio heaters i had in the back garden plumbed into the supply.

i think its because they estimate. only thing is estimations always favour the supplier not the user. id ring em an tell em u estimate you owe em nowt unless they sort it out. they'll ask you for 2 readings in a week or so and re work the bill from those

bengarton

EasilyAggravated wrote:

i had a high bill from npower and my suggestion was it must be the 20 or so patio heaters i had in the back garden plumbed into the supply.

i think its because they estimate. only thing is estimations always favour the supplier not the user. id ring em an tell em u estimate you owe em nowt unless they sort it out. they'll ask you for 2 readings in a week or so and re work the bill from those

Well it isn't an estimated bill so the meter readings themselves seem to be right. It is just how they are so high that bothers me. We literally have nothing apart form a gas hob and the hot water. As it is a combi boiler I thought they were supposed to be cheaper!? We haven't had the heating on at all as we have a coal fire.

Cardew

If you look at the meter it will say 'cu ft' (or 'm3' somewhere on the dial. Cu Ft being Imperial and M3 is metric.

The later meters are all metric and there is a program to replace the older Imperial meters.

It is not unusual for a utility company to bill you for Imperial units and your meter has been changed to metric. Thus the kWh you are charged for are(as indicated above) 2.83 times too much.

In very approx figures an Imperial unit is 31 kWh and a metric unit is 11 kWh.

stewie_griffin

Normally a metric meter will have 5 main dials whereas an imperial metrer only has 4 ie a metric meter might read 12345.678 but an imperial meter would read 1234.56. Hope that makes some sense.

bengarton

It appears to be an imperial meter as it says ft3 on it. So the type of meter seems right and the meter readings seem right. But I cannot see how we can possibly use that much gas.

stewie_griffin

Does the bill that you've just had with 390hcf on it go from an actual read to an actual read?

bengarton

stewie_griffin wrote:

Does the bill that you've just had with 390hcf on it go from an actual read to an actual read?

The bill I have had is from an actual read to an estimate. The 390 is a figure I have got from taking a meter reading today.

cdon

390hcf units seems very high by about 3-4 times. I suggest you check the reading every day for the next week and keep a record of it, this should help you to tell if the high usage is ongoing in which case somethings not right.

Another thought, you say you haven't used gas much which makes me think the figure should be even lower, I know it sounds silly but you are ignoring the last dial/digit when you're reading the meter? (the red one I think). ie Maybe it should be 39 units instead of 390?