Please help me look at my Gas & Electricity Bill - over £400 per Q

dannymccann

Macman - I was thinking this but then my gas bill with a combi (heating and power shower) is less than his in a bigger place...

macman

20,000kWh gas is typical for a 3 bedroomed property with gas CH. So a usage of 3,683 during the (very cold) winter quarter is just far too low. It would not be unusual to have 40% of your annual gas spend during that period.

Solid_Bruce

dannymccann wrote: »

Im no plumber but by your description that noise you hear is the gas burning to heat the water up. Do you have a pilot light? It also sounds like a combi if it starts up 'on demand'. Do you live in a new build property because AFAIK these dont come with conventional immersions anymore (a tank in the loft or upstairs cupboard that stores hot water, sometimes powered by electricity).

Something I did forget to mention - how and how often do you wash? 2x15 min electric showers a day for each of the 3 people in your house on a 9kwh shower = 75 mins = about 13kw x £0.1 = £1.30 x 70 days = £91 on its own

List everything electrical you use during one day, start now or tomorrow morning and everything you use that uses electricity note it down on a notepad and let us know. Same for your other half / kids / parents whatever. For example you have a 3 person household, maybe you have 3 50" plasma's going all at the same time, this will certainly push your leccy bill up considerably. Same for lights - are you on energy savers and turning them off in rooms you arent in? Wash everything at 90c. Are you absolutely sure there isnt an electric fan heater or electric fire being turned on somewhere?

Your circumstances sound familiar to mine with regards to the boiler and everything, yet my electricity costs £10 a month, even if I put an extra person in here I very much doubt it would immediately rise to £20 a month let alone £60+ at yours

Thank you very much for your reply!!

1) What is a Pilot light? When I switch on the hot water tap theres a light which lights red. Is this it?
2) The property is not new build. It's actually a council flat.
3) I tend to shower at the gym or at partners place so not much showering at this place. Other members in the household probably shower every other day.

List of Electricial Appliances -

PC
2 x TV
Microwave
Sky box
3 x digital clocks
dvd player
xbox
Washing Machine

Not much

Solid_Bruce

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

I have a Worcester boiler also and my electricity for this last quarter was £198 but that was with kids having lots of showers which I didn't realise used so much electricity, and also with the tumble drier being on every day.We got one of those electricity monitors and that is definitely helping reduce our usage.On the bill it says our daily use was 18kwh a day-now it comes to between 8 and 13.
Our gas on the other hand is way higher than yours due to lots of hot water being used(younger kids have baths not showers) and heating being on ALL winter(draughty bungalow and young kids who got cold at night), so your gas sounds about right.

1) Where can I get one of those electricity monitors?
2) My bill says my electricity usage is about 34kWh per day

Solid_Bruce

macman wrote: »

20,000kWh gas is typical for a 3 bedroomed property with gas CH. So a usage of 3,683 during the (very cold) winter quarter is just far too low. It would not be unusual to have 40% of your annual gas spend during that period.

With my Electricity bill so high and Gas so low.. what could this mean?

I've been suffering from expensive utility bills for as long as I remember. Was made redundant last year so I told everyone to wear more clothes.. lol.. and heating was rarely switched on this winter which may have lead to the lowered gas bills.

kjsmith7

Do remember that if you ask for your meter to be tested, they'll tell you to go away and take a meter reading a day for 7 days and phone back, so do this before you phone to avoid any issues. You may have to pay - and pay upfront - for the meter accuracy test, but if the meter is found to be faulty your bills will be adjusted (backwards to when they think the fault occured, can be when the meter was put in if it is recent) and the charge refunded.

You can get an Electricity monitor for free by signing up to EnergySmart. You get a monthly statement (still pay by direct debit if you want, either just what you owe or a fixed amount per month, or you can pay via debit/credit card monthly) after reading your own meter. It's not a contract so even if you plan to leave in the future you can still sign up to the EnergySmart now (you might want to consider the OnlineSaver2 tariff as well instead of that Price Protection 2012 you have been offered if you don't want your bills to rise too much, and this also does not have a lock in period/cancellation fee).

Solid_Bruce

I just called British Gas about my electricity and they proposed two tests -

1) Switch off everything and see if the meter still moves. Did this and the meter stopped moving so no fault there.

2) Burn Test - with this I take my meter reading same time everyday for 7 days and see if there are any spikes. If theres a fault they'll come and check it.

kjsmith7

Solid_Bruce wrote: »

...2) Burn Test - with this I take my meter reading same time everyday for 7 days and see if there are any spikes. If theres a fault they'll come and check it.

As I said in the post above

Remember to take the readings at roughly the same time every day. Expect your usage to be a little higher at certain times e.g. Wednesdays if you/partner/etc. have this day off or weekends.

Solid_Bruce

Heres the results from the 7 day burn test -

Day 1 6963
Day 2 6978
Day 3 6992
Day 4 7005
Day 5 7021
Day 6 7033
Day 7 7047

Does this look okay? Anything in particular I should men tion to Bristish Gas when I call them this afternoon?

Thanks

Premier_2

Solid_Bruce wrote: »

Heres the results from the 7 day burn test -

Day 1 6963
Day 2 6978
Day 3 6992
Day 4 7005
Day 5 7021
Day 6 7033
Day 7 7047

Does this look okay? Anything in particular I should men tion to Bristish Gas when I call them this afternoon?

Thanks

Seems ok. About 15 units per day, about £600 per year or £150 per quarter.

Naturally this will vary a little, being slightly higher in winter (when the lights are on more, and the heating uses some, even if it's gas central heating) and less in the summer (when people often are out more)

But that variation wouldn't be expected to be double unless you have, for example, been using some electrical heating in the winter.
You need to think back and consider what you used to use, but are not currently using.