Am I being overcharged by my supplier?

Chilternmumsto4

Hi Guys,

First time of posting here, but having a real issue with my Gas / Elec supplier.:(

The background
I live in a pre 1900, 4 storey house with 4 bedrooms, Kitchen, Dining Room, Front Room, Cellar (used as lounge), with conservatory, with my Wife and 2 children Aged 14 and 9 (and 2 children aged 13 and 7 that visit every other weekend)

We have 3 televisions (but 2 very rarely get used) a PC, a laptop (used for homework), Wii, Playstation (rarely used) gas oven and hobs, fridge freezer and another freezer, 1 convertor heater (thermastatically controlled) Gas Central Heating (13 radiators) with Hot Water Solar panels (won in competition) plus the usual phone chargers (3), toothbrush charges (only on when charging), the house is mainly double glazed.

I work and am out of the house from 07:00 - 17:00hrs, the kids are at school from 08:15 - 15:45.

I am currently paying 249 per month, I have asked them to break down to consumtion vs arrears, and they have told me 220 is consumtion

They tell me i amd using 38Kwh daily on the electric and 93.92 Kwh on the gas.

I feel this is high when most people I speak to are only paying between 70-80 a month

They have advised I can have the meters checked but there is a charge (£50 for Elec and £89 for Gas)

They have looked back at the history since I moved to them (Sept 2008) and the previous supplier (we moved here in Dec 2007) but I know the meter was replaced in Dec 2006.

I originally paid 100 gas and 100 elec but even then I though was high

The problem is this expenditure is / has caused arrears, and I do not have the sxpare cash to pay the charges to test (although refundable if found faulty)and I am finding them very unhelpful.

Please can you suggest where / what I should do going forward as this is making me want to ?

Looking forward to your help
All the best B

KimYeovil

First check that you are being billed for the correct type of gas meter - if you have a metric meter there is a (remote) chance you are still being charged for an imperial meter. Look at the kWhs and the meter units used on your latest bill - divide the kWhs by the meter units used - this should come out at either about 11 or about 32. If it's 32 and you have a metric meter then you are being overcharged.

Otherwise

38 kWh is four times the national average - have a look at what you are using.

93 kWh is reasonable for a winter's day (cost about £2.50 or £3) but is not reasonable if it is averaged over a year - you should only need to use that much when using your heating. Mind you, with a four-storey house it probably isn't that much.

I think you have to sit down for a day or two and a week or two and study your meters carefully and try to fathom out where you are using the energy.

At worst, at least with your high consumption there is plenty of scope for reductions!

KimYeovil

Failing any errors, note that with your high consumption you are quite likely to be able to get your energy more cheaply by choosing single tariffs from separate suppliers. Once you have confirmed your consumption is as it currently seems check the comparison sites and look under the 'gas only' and 'electricity only' tabs. Particularly with the electricity you may well be able to get it an awful lot cheaper.

Mrs_Thrify

Hiya, I think having 13 radatiors is alot compared to my 7. your gas is quit high. Can you turn the rad's down and have the CH on for less time?
You also have a gas oven... Is the wife home all day with the heating on?
£220 per month or £55 per week for total duel fuel in a large house. Try turnig some electric items off and use a clothes airer instead of tumble dryer.
The whole family needs to think first! and turn things electric off to see a reduced electric bill.

KimYeovil

(By the way, as to charges for checking the meters, this is perfectly reasonable - it really would open the floodgates if everyone was allowed a free (ie every customer pays higher prices) meter check every time they were unhappy with their useage. The charges are refunded where there is a fault.

The electricity meter is easy to check yourself so no need to get it tested unless there is an obvious fault.

Gas meters are trickier to monitor yourself but with the size of house I think you have to look more carefully at what you could be reasonably using first.)

Cardew

I would look carefully at how the solar water panels are 'hooked up' with your HW system.

If they were won in a competition, were they fitted correctly? Is it possible that you are using an immersion heater instead of gas?

ochiltree

Hi

Its my first time on this site but need the expert brains of some of you guys. I have had incredibly high gas bills for years but have just got one in today that comes to nearly £800. I have tried to follow what Kim has suggested but not sure I know what I'm doing. I do wonder if I am being charged for the wrong meter. from what i can work out I have used 753 units. they have then done the following calcculations:
753 units x factor 100 x correction factor 1.02264 = 77004.79
77004.79 x conversion factor 0.0283 = 2179.23
2179.23cu meters x calorific value 39.8/conversion factor 3.6 = 24092.59 kWh

Does this seem correct to others? Sorry but I really struggle to understand these bill layouts sometimes. Thanks for your help though if anyone can assist.

KimYeovil

(You probably should start your own thread, but:

Your kWhs divided by your meter units* is 24092/753 which is 31.99.

So they think you have an imperial meter. Does it have ft3 printed on your meter? If so, bad luck, you owe £800. If your meter is metric and has m3 written on it then good news - your usage is 2.83 times smaller, ie nearly a third of what they think it is.)

* Doh! Wrote that the wrong way round in the original post. No wonder I confused someone.

ochiltree

Thanks kim, that has really helped, unfortunately it has ft3 :mad:, thanks soo much for you help, and next time i will start a new link, wasn't sure how to earlier.