REALLY confused about gas bills!!!! EDF

t0rt0ise

Bark01 wrote: »

Having your heating on for 8 hours a day for 6 months of the year is quite frankly ridiculous.

I have my heating on all day because at the moment I'm in all day. Do people really live today as if they are in the 50s and 60s? I remember back then we lived in a house with no heating as such, just a coal fire in the living room that we only used at weekends and a .. what was it called.. a closed fire in the kitchen which was lit with a gas poker... as a child I was so scared of that thing.

Upstairs was freezing. Ice on the inside of the windows in the mornings. Why do people want to relive those days when we've got central heating? Well I can understand why if they want to save money but saying that others who choose not to live like that are ridiculous is bizarre and unfair.

grahamc2003

It's not so much how long the heating is 'on' for - the main cost implications come from the thermostat setting, which governs how long the boiler actually burns gas when 'on'.

Some people have the theromstat set to 25 or even higher (my mother for example. She doesn't understand what a thermostat is, doesn't want to understand and prefers to turn the system on and off manually, even though she has paid for an expensive sophisticated control system for her CH).

If the thermostat is set to 5 degrees c for exmple, the boiler would rarely fire up, and in the summer would use no gas at all, even though 'on'. If set to 25 or higher, then I guess the boiler would fire much of the time when 'on' throughout both summer and winter.

Some like it hot - but these days they'll pay a lot for the privilidge. I'd set the thermostat to about 17 during the day (when more active) and 19 in the evening when less active (for those at home all day).

(Heat loss in a house is roughly proportional to the temp difference between inside and out to the power 3. This means, even a one degree difference in thermostat setting results in a large difference in heating costs).

As a matter of interest Scarlet, what is your thermostat set to?

dogshome

Hi scarletwoman - With the changeing D/D values in your post which EDF will have been inflated to clear accumulated debt, I can't work out what a true figure is.
But taking the £70 figure before the present demand for £84, you were paying £840 a year for gas which is Helluva lot for a 1 bed flat - this could be caused by you being billed for the wrong type of meter

Have a look at your meter. On the front it will be marked either ft3 for an Imperial meter, or M3 for a metric meter
Now look at the line on the Bill which says how many meter units you used, which are then converted to the number of Kwh charged.
Divide the Kwh charged by the meter units used, if the answer is appx. 31 you are being charged for an Imperial ft3 meter, if the answer is appx. 11 you are being charged for a Metric M3 meter
If there is a mis-match between the meter type and the billing formula, GET ONTO EDF IMMEDIATELY

If you do have a Metric meter, but it is being charged as an Imperial meter the £840 a year you paid should been under £300 - Which is a much more likely figure for a 1 Bed flat

scarletwoman

Hi Graham,
just checked the thermostat, it was set on 20, I lowered it to 18. We work shifts so sometimes i'll leave the house at 0430 to start a shift and my husband will be coming back at 0800 after a night shift and will complain that he keeps waking up because it's too cold.
Last night the heating was turned off and we had to sleep with a heavy quilt + 2 lighter ones on top!!! Cracks in the floor will be sealed off soon but I'm not sure about loft insulation, cavity wall etc... We're on the ground floor with just the one floor above us and terraced house so neighbours on either side. I don't think we have double glazing, I think we have double glazing only in the bedroom which is at the front of the house. So it should be warmer in the bedroom not colder lol!!!!

@ t0rt0ise: thanks, I thought Bark's opinion was a little bit harsh too!

scarletwoman

Hi dogshome,
I checked the meter and the bill and it is an imperial ft3 meter and the bill seems to be right, it says it is measured in cubic feet so no, that's not the reason... we'll figure it out one way or another...

SwanJon

micim1 wrote: »

Then change to quarterly billing - really only works with actual usage - and calculate yourself how much in ££'s you use each month and put this aside until the bill comes in (remember to do the kwh conversion as shown on your bill/on this forum).

and wave goodbye to your dual fuel discount.
There's nothing wrong with remaining on DD and providing regular readings.
If you like you can do all the maths each month too.