Gas bill confusion

flagpole_corner

Hello. We are with npower living in a poorly insulated old 4 double bed (+lounge) appartment with gas radiators and hob.

Just received our new gas bill for 27/9/10 (estimated 4453) to 13/12/10 (actual reading 4930ft3). This has us using 477ft3 which equates to 15108kWh. We have been billed for first 1329 @ 7.499p and next 13779 @ 2.388 giving a total including VAT of £473.27.

This gave us quite a shock and comparing it to the bill from 2009 (same property, same tenants, same work patterns, virtually same period) back then we had been estimated to use 63ft3 = 1990kWh = £186.52

Our reading today is 5044ft3 which I calculate as a usage of 114ft3 = 3610kWh since the bill was issued

I phoned npower up asking if the previous bill will be recalculated based on actual usage from 14/12/10 to 7/2/11 to which the answer was no. He said that since an actual recording was used for the last bill, it won't be. He said that looking at our balance since we moved in, £473.27 is the correct amount to be paid based on the last two readings (Dec 10 and Autumn 2009).

Is this correct? How can they say that we have used 4 times as much gas in 10 weeks between Oct and mid December than 7 weeks since then which have been the coldest all year? And given what we feel is the same usage how is the bill 2 and a half times more than the exact same period last year?

Am I being daft, have miscalculated or understood something?
Thanks

DUTR

I'm not sure why folk this winter are not expecting £400-£500 bills for winter, last year the bills were about £300-400 and gas has gone up, coupled with a cold december I have used £270 in gas in 2 months.

flagpole_corner

Just been on the phone again and they say it's a "catch up bill" i.e. the new big bill doesn't just represent usage over that 3 month period but brings our balance up to date as the last two readings they have are Aug 2009 (4248) and Dec 2010 (4930) so we've been under estimated a lot over the last 18 months or so.

macman

The lesson is to take your own readings at least every 3 months and submit them, that way you won't get into debt via estimated bills.
It's clearly marked on the bill whether it's actual or estimated, if you call them up then they'll recalculate and rebill you.

flagpole_corner

macman wrote: »

The lesson is to take your own readings at least every 3 months and submit them, that way you won't get into debt via estimated bills.
It's clearly marked on the bill whether it's actual or estimated, if you call them up then they'll recalculate and rebill you.

Yup. I've only just taken over paying the bills for us so will do so in the future.

Bigger lesson, I think, is that we need to cut down gas usage. We've spent about a £1000 on gas in 15 months, don't know how this compares to the "average" for a property of this size but it seems v.excessive

macman

if that covers 2 winter periods, it's not excessive at all. £66 per month.
But what is your actual kwh annual consumption?
Are you on the cheapest tariff?

flagpole_corner

Doing the sums quickly, August 09 to December 10 comes out as ~22,000kWh. 4 bed terraced flat in Central London, separate lounge and kitchen, two bathrooms, all gas radiators, gas hob, double glazing in 3 bedrooms, single in the other + lounge.

macman

Not that excessive, as it cover two winters, including the coldest December in 100 years.
But why don't you calcuate one years usage, 15m is just confusing the issue.
Typical consumption for a 3 b/r house would be around 17500 kWh pa.