40,640 KWH gas usage- help!!!!!!

nicola_86

it seems that your usage is high, because you are using a lot of gas, heating on 04.30-08.00 and 16.30- 22.00 (average) you have your heating on for 13hours a day!!! Average household put theirs on between 4-6hours per day. As noted above, the dial in your hallway will be a room thermostat, if broken get this fixed ASAP, as may be on 24/7 on a high temperature.

Also your Direct Debit will have increased as you were only previously paying £59 per month, which isn't enough for your amount of usage.

if you lower your consumption, then your direct debit will decrease!

longhauladdict

Hang on, i'm not here to be attacked!!!:cool:
I have the heating on at 04.30 as my boyfriend starts work at 5am and I leave at 8- I really don't think its worth turning off for an hour???

also in the evening boyf gets home about 4-5pm and I'm at 7-8pm so dependent on shifts etc it can be really cold in the apartment. I'm away but boyf in but then often out at weekends so don't have it on additional to this.
the times it was off completely was during the winter, ie if I felt it was too warm then I would turn it off, not just leave it on for the sake of it!

And thanks jem- I have turned everything off completely at the moment and it's bloody freezing but I have literally had it on for 1 hour today. In regards to my DD, it has always been this low or lower - bearing in mind that i don't cook a lot from home or have it on for 13 hours per day... i work out 04.30- 08.00 (3.5 hours) and 16.30-22.00 (5.5) to be 9 hours. yes may seem excessive to some but i still don't see how I am using more than double the national
average on a small 2 bed apartment!!!!!!
I think everyone is getting at the cost of the gas, I understand that it has shot up but I am more concerned about the usage of gas - if i was using the average (or even a little more) then my bill would be half! Does anyone agree that this is extremely high even with having the heating on for 9 hours?

jennifer56

I still have my heating on, this morning I got up before it came on and the temp in my kitchen was 14 deg C

In the winter I had it on 24/7 and was using about 136 kWh a day sometimes for heating and hot water but there is no way that would equate to 40000 kWh a year, just now I am using 40 - 50 kWh a day of gas

Jennifer

mattcanary

Maybe a stupid question, but have you checked the reading on the meter matches with that on your latest bill? Maybe the meter-man read the wrong meter?

Or. did you read the meter when you moved in (or switched to NPower). Does that match with the opening reading on the first bill you got? If it doesn't, maybe NPOwer were previously billing you based upon the wrong meter, and only in the latest bill have they actually used the correct meter?

Your latest bill seems massive. If you lived in an old Victorian house and your bills were so much lower and there was the same pattern of usage, I seriously think something is wrong and you have not used all of the gas that you have been billed. It doesn;t add up. I would not say you would have your gas on excessively taking into account your lifestyle (you and your partner having to get up at different times, etc). Besides, plenty of people have their heating on just about 24/7 in the winter-time (my dad does!) and usage is nowhere near as high as your latest bill.

jem16

nicola_86 wrote: »

it seems that your usage is high, because you are using a lot of gas, heating on 04.30-08.00 and 16.30- 22.00 (average) you have your heating on for 13hours a day!!!

Maths not your strong point then? That works out at 9 hours not 13 hours.

As noted above, the dial in your hallway will be a room thermostat, if broken get this fixed ASAP, as may be on 24/7 on a high temperature.

It might be broken and it might be on a high temperature. However the room stat does not override the timer so it will still only be on for 9 hours, not 24 hours.

jem16

longhauladdict wrote: »

i work out 04.30- 08.00 (3.5 hours) and 16.30-22.00 (5.5) to be 9 hours. yes may seem excessive to some but i still don't see how I am using more than double the national
average on a small 2 bed apartment!!!!!!

I don't regard 9 hours as excessive - some people like to only use their heating for around 4 hours but I don't see the point in freezing at home unless I was struggling to pay it. Plus it's cold up here!

My heating is on for around 9 hours a day over winter - more like 16 hrs over Christmas & New Year when I was at home and it was really cold. I have used around 12,516 kwh from Septmeber till now. This is in a 1938 built 3 bedroom semi-detached bungalow.

My normal year's usage is around 20,000 kwh so yes I would say even for your usage, over 40,000 kwh in 6 months is excessive.

Cardew

longhauladdict wrote: »

Hang on, i'm not here to be attacked!!!:cool:


but I am more concerned about the usage of gas - if i was using the average (or even a little more) then my bill would be half! Does anyone agree that this is extremely high even with having the heating on for 9 hours?

Well said!

It seems that every thread on here these days has 'contributions' stating how they themselves can manage with heating set to 10C for an hour a day in mid winter or whatever;) and so everyone else should do the same.

Frankly in a small newish build(and thus well insulated) 2 bed flat with a modern boiler I wouldn't have thought it possible to use 40,000+kWh with the heating on 24/7 for 365 days a year. let alone 9 hours in winter.

Regardless of the wall thermostat not working, the radiators must have TRVs fitted(mandatory at that age)

How(and why) did the landlord have the meter checked 2 months ago? He can't check it himself, it needs the gas company and costs about £70(refunded if proved to be faulty)

If the OP is sure it is the correct meter and correct readings then something else must be wrong.

longhauladdict

Hey, thanks for the support on this.
I was starting to think i was going a bit crazy as I agree that IF I have used that much gas, then yes I need to pay for it but even having it on 24/7 and at top heat I didn't think it would be that much (not do that I do!)
The gas was checked independently as per my contract, but I have contacted the landlord and he is coming to see me on sat so I'm sure he will try to help out as he is really reasonable and if there is a fault then I'm sure he will get it fixed.

i'll keep you updated as I'm sure that there is probably an obvious answer to this horrendous bill!!! xxx

Cardew

The gas check is just a safety check which is mandatory in rented accomodation - just checking for leaks, blocked flues and correct operation of appliances etc.

One rough check you can do on your meter is to note very carefully your meter readings down to the decimal places.

Then open your windows turn up the heating, and run all the hot water taps full to fill the bath and if necessary with the plugs out of the sink. That will ensure the boiler is working flat out, do this for 10 minutes exactly, turn everything off and note exactly the meter reading.
You can check the input rating of your boiler and if it is, say, 24kW(a typical size) you should have used 4kWh -(only cost you about 12p plus a penny or two for water) If you have used more than one sixth of your rating,(i.e. if 36kW then no more than 6kWh) it points toward something being wrong.

Fire_Fox

jem16 wrote: »

I can't see what's wrong with having heating on in April - it's only 2 degrees C outside at the moment!

But it is highly unlikely to be anything like that temperature inside a modern apartment - certainly mine (north facing, Yorkshire) has never measured below 10C, even in the snow! I haven't measured the temperature lately, but it is comfortable in a t-shirt and fleece. :T

My main point about the heating was simply to make the OP think about her statement that she could not be using so much energy as she is out for nine hours a day. In fact it sounds like she is using far more heating than the average flat dweller - the two of them work shifts and she likes it warm for months on end.