Huge Gas Bill - HELP!!

DalesBoy

We live in a 3-bed end terrace and have had issues heating the house over the last few years, so installed a log burner at the end of the summer. However, even though we have only had the heating on for 3 hours per day between December and February our quarterly bill for gas is ~£400!! How can this be?? We are not too concerned about the provider (Scottish Power) as awe've calculated the number of units used and other providers would have charged us a similar amount.

I've read many threads indicating that gas meters are very rarely faulty so we are at a loss as to why our bills are so high. We've got a decent combi boiler and only about 6 radiators in the house. Maybe the hot water and not the heating is the issue??

Any ideas???

Andy_WSM

Is the bill based upon an actual reading in December AND an actual reading in February?

i.e. is this partly a catch-up bill for gas used last year - or estimated usage for gas that hasn't yet been consumed?

Scottish_Power

Hi DalesBoy

Check your invoice and see whether your gas is being charged for a metric meter or an imperial meter. An explanation of how this is calculated will be detailed on the back of your bill.

It could be that your being charged for an imperial gas meter when you have a metric gas meter.

If you have any questions let me know.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

DalesBoy

The readings are based on actual readings from both December and February. We always submit actual readings online and don't rely on estimated consumption.

DalesBoy

Thanks Colin, i'll check that out.

DalesBoy

Colin, could you give me some more detailed info on checking out whether we are on imperial / metric and whether we are being billed correctly for the correct units?

Thanks.

KimYeovil

Divide the kWhs by the meter units. The result should be either about 32 or 11.2. An imperial meter has 32 kWhs per unit, a metric meter has 11.2 kWhs per unit. (Approximately.)

Look on the meter to see whether it has cubic feet or cubic metres written on it (ft3 or m3 etc.)

notbritishgas

DalesBoy wrote: »

Colin, could you give me some more detailed info on checking out whether we are on imperial / metric and whether we are being billed correctly for the correct units?

Thanks.

An imperial meter will have "cu ft" somewhere on the face whereas a metric one will have "m3".
Then look at your bill and see how the metered units have been converted to kwh. If the units have been multiplied by approximately 31 then you are being billed for an imperial meter, if they have been multiplied by appox 11 then the bill is for a metric meter.

Gordon861

First thing to do is email/phone them and tell them that there is an error and that they are not to take the money from your account until it is sorted out. Otherwise you will find your bank account very light soon.

I had exactly the same issue a few months back with Scotish Power. It was caused by some confusion over whether I had an imperial or metric meter, along with the fact that the meter had recently zero'd, I think my bill was for about £800(quarter) when I keyed it in online.

It got sorted in the end by me sending them photos of my meters.

Scottish_Power

Hi DalesBoy

You have been given some good advice here. I've also replied to your private message so let me know if you need any further assistance.

Kind Regards

Colin @ ScottishPower

DalesBoy

Thank you everyone! We have just checked our meter and it is definatley metric. We then divided the kwh by the units used, which gave us a value of 32 i.e scottish power are charging us for an imperial meter when we are in fact a metric meter. Looking forward to the big pay out!!
:j