my first gas bill

victor2

monnie38 wrote: »

as im at work i cant read it at the moment, so im going to check it when i get home and im also going to get my new supplier to come over and check my metre is running correctly.
I hope it doesnt have anything to do with it but when i moved in i had to call the emergency gas people as there was a strong smell and he changed a part on the metre so i hope that hasnt got something to do with it either !

I hope its something simple.
Thank you all

Gas central heating and a gas leak (clearly not in close proximity)could equate to quite high usage! I'd monitor your usage now things are sorted.

dogshome

Hi monnie38 -
The Electric Bill The period 5 Sep/13 Oct covers 39 days and your £22 bill works out to 56pence a day, which allowing for a 20% increase in the winter roughly equates to £225 a year, which is very low

The Gas Bill £142 bill for 141 units? Something is very very wrong with this bill -
Does the opening reading on the bill match the one you gave when moving in?
Is there an outstanding debt that has been added to consumption costs?

If these are OK, there is the possibility that you are being charged for an Imperial Gas meter when in fact you have a Metric meter, which when charged at the correct tariff would have produced a bill of roughly £48.00, which is a much more likely figure over the 39 day period

Look at your Meter, on the front it will be marked either M3 for Metric or Ft3 for Imperial.
Then look at the line on the Bill which states how many meter units were used and converts them to Kwh. Divide the Units used into the Kwh figure - If the answer is roughly 11, you are being charged for a Metric meter - If the answer is roughly 31, you are being charged for an Imperial meter
If the chargeing method doesn't match your meters face plate, GET ONTO YOUR SUPPLIER IMMEDIATELY

LittleMissAspie

monnie38 wrote: »

it doesnt say estimated anywhere ?

Well did you phone up and give them a reading when you moved in, and a second reading for the switchover? They have no way of knowing what your meter says unless you tell them!

monnie38

I dont know until i get home if its metric or imperial, but i did give my reading to sainsburys my new supplier but i dont think i gave one to southern the one iv got the issue with , they have said that the 677 reading was given my the previous home owner befroe she moved.
the electricity bill for some reason ran from 3rd september to 30th september not to october like this one !

i love my little house but this has really scared me that maybe we cant afford it !!

Premier_2

141 units is almost certainly billed on an imperial basis.

As planned, check the meter when you get home - if its a modern one it'll be marked in m3 (cubic metres) and you have been charged about 3x as much as you should have been.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/latest_meters_pic.shtml

If this is the case, contact the supplier and explain their error - they should rebill you as appropriate.

The other issue is that you don't seem to have taken a reading yourself when you moved in ... and the outgoing tenant may have gave a low reading leaving you to pick up the tab for their previous usage.
Unfortunately, unless you have some evidence of meter readings to the contrary, you'll have to accept the ones on the bill.


Regarding the smell of gas you reported, I doubt this had any (significant) effect on your meter.

(a) you need a relatively large amount of gas to move the meter significantly, and gas is extremely pungent (as well as explosive). If you did have such a leak, you probably wouldn't have a house now :eek: (especially if the meter is located inside the property)

(b) there's not much that can be replaced on a meter by the average engineer attending - they'd change the whole meter if necessary. What can sometimes leak very slightly is the regulator - the big lump at the end of the flexi-pipe that connects to the meter.
Any leak will by minute (although it will smell strongly, especially in a closed cupboard), but it's before the meter anyway so won't get recorded.

monnie38

hey all , when i got home i checked my metre and its cubic ft,
and now i dont know how my reading is 6833 !!! im checking it daily and im using a unit a day !
i spoke to southern electicity and said im not paying for 141 units as its obviously wrong and they suggested i call back in a week with a reading from every day to try and determine whats going on !

victor2

You might have a mistake there, you said the bill showed a reading of 818 on October 13th. Unless the meter itself was changed, it can't be 6833 now!
That aside though, 1 unit per day is not outrageous - my 4 bed detached with gas central heating is currently using around 1.5 units (on an imperial meter) per day.

monnie38

When i asked about the 677 reading that was given to the company , they said it was given by the previous owner and they were in keeping with all previous readings so how its jumped to 6833 is beyond me !
i think im going to ask the company to come and check the metre is ok, its definatley using a unit a day so far !

t0rt0ise

Is the 677 and the 6833 on the same meter or different ones? The facts so far are really confusing.

victor2

The difference between those two readings equates to something like 195,000 kWh. That would make your previous bill pale into insignificance and is equivalent to about 17 years usage at the 1 unit per day you are saying you now have. If those readings are genuine, the meter must have been changed. I am also confused!