Utility gas consumption - What is true?

cygni

According to E.On, I use 33% MORE gas when I'm not actually living in a property & using the services.

I moved out of my end of terrace, 2 bedroom house in central London on the 22nd of December. I lived there alone, but my boyfriend would stay at weekends and my brother would lodge one night a week. I work long hours so am not at home much mid-week and I usually shower at the gym. According to E.On I used an average 6 units of gas and 6 units of electricity per day through out the year and up until 18th December when they took the last meter reading. This consumption has been consistent for the past 5 years and I have been paying £50 per month for gas and £27 per month for electricity for the past 4 years. I was on a standard tariff.

I moved out of the house on 22nd of December to move in with my boyfriend, and I left my house empty whilst I looked for tenants. I cancelled all services to the house such as phone line, sky TV, switched all electrical equipment off apart from the fridge, burglar alarm and boiler. I set the heating to come on in the evening for 3 hours only if/when the temperature dipped below 10 degrees.

I have just submitted my final meter readings to E.On and my consumption appears to have gone up to 8 units of gas during the 2 months that the house has been empty, and the electricity consumption has remained at 6 units. This seems very odd to me. I am certain there are no gas leaks because I had a British Gas service for Homecare, and a separate gas safety check for the purpose of letting the house, neither of which highlighted any issues. And the EPC gave me an above average rating. My gas & electricity bill in the new home which I share with my boyfriend is less than a quarter for the same period.

It turns out that I have the same consumption as my neighbours - there are 4 of them in the house, two of them being teenagers and one adult who is at home throughout the day.

I have lodged a complaint with E.On and I am thinking of taking the matter up with the regulator as it would seem to me that meters don't actually reflect a true consumption - although its almost impossible for me to prove this. I am really keen to hear other peoples' thoughts on this/related experiences or am I all alone in my experience?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

On what grounds are you complaining? Are you saying they have misread the meter?

It also seems strange that you have been paying '£50 per month for gas and £27 per month for electricity for the past 4 years.' As prices have increased a huge amount in the past 4 years, that ststement conflicts with this statement 'This consumption has been consistent for the past 5 years' If your consumption has been consistent, then the increase in gas and electricity prices of over 50% in that period would have entailed a similar increase in your Direct Debit.

I suspect what has happened is that you were in arrears(i.e. a debit balance) on your last bill and this final bill has simply corrected this situation. The 8 units gas and 6 units electricity simply reflects the size of your bill not consumption(like all computers rubbish in = rubbish out)

You need to look at your previous bill and compare with your last bill.

cygni

Cardew, thanks for the response.

My point is that my consumption of gas allegedly increased by 33% when I wasn't actually using it. I am also alluding to the possibility that the meter readings bear no relation to the actual consumption, that energy companies make blanket charges for people living in particular areas - rather like the water companies might estimate water consumption for those without meters.

Indeed, it is strange that my bills have not changed in 4 years. But I am very clear on what I've been paying and what my consumption is reported to be. In fact, I don't think it strange that my consumption is consistent because my lifestyle has not changed. In 2007 my monthly dual-fuel bill shot from £40 per month to £120 per month. At that time I complained to E.On who "magically" found a way to reduce my monthly bill, and I have been paying this amount ever since. As I stated in my original post, the cost, and the consumption is - mysteriously - exactly the same as my next door neighbour. But perhaps that's just a coincidence and they are an extremely energy efficient family.

I took the two final readings myself, so I know that these are correct. Furthermore, the last E.On reading was taken on 18th December and my readings tie in with theirs.

The bill at the end of December was in credit by £135 for the gas, so it seems incredible that I could have used almost £300 worth of gas whilst not living there. I would expect some usage but not an increase and I would expect the electricity usage to fall. Amazingly my final payment this month exactly covers the outstanding amount that I owe E.On - another incredible coincidence.

This morning I had a long conversation with a woman at E.On regarding my consumption and interestingly, my consumption for the same period last year, was also 8 units per day - yet more coincidences! This of course was balanced over the summer months, therefore giving me an average of 6 units. The usage from 1st September to 18th December 2010 was an average 6 units per day, as I have the meter readings from those dates.

So call me cynical, but this all points to E.On already having decided what my usage was going to be for the period December to March, and going ahead and charging me as though as I were still living in the property. What this doesn't explain is the meter readings, which I can clearly see have increased by the amount billed during the period. The meter cannot be "rigged" by the likes of E.On as these are installed by Centrica.

In summary, I do not trust the energy suppliers, I don't think that their pricing is fair, nor is it transparent - I have a phd in maths and yet even I find their calculations somewhat confusing. I don't believe that their charges are based on true consumption, but what they think they can "get away with", and I am interested to know if other people have had similar experiences?

Cardew

Cygni wrote: »

Cardew, thanks for the response.


In fact, I don't think it strange that my consumption is consistent because my lifestyle has not changed. In 2007 my monthly dual-fuel bill shot from £40 per month to £120 per month. At that time I complained to E.On who "magically" found a way to reduce my monthly bill, and I have been paying this amount ever since.


I took the two final readings myself, so I know that these are correct. Furthermore, the last E.On reading was taken on 18th December and my readings tie in with theirs.

I am not disputing that your consumption has been consistent for years.

What I am stating is that if prices have risen over that period by, say, 50% then your monthly DD payments should have risen.

I am not sure I understand the point you are making. If you took meter readings on 18 Dec and you again gave your final meter readings to EON when you moved out, it is surely just a case of simple arithmetic! i.e. you subtract the 18 Dec reading from the final meter reading(Gas units being converted to kWh) and that gives you your overall consumption for that period.

Whilst we all would accept that the companies all practice 'confusion marketing' with their various tariffs, I have never seen any suggestion that they would try and charge for units a customer has not used.

To do as you suggest would be conspiracy to defraud and almost certainly attract a custodial sentence for those resposible, as well as the firm being fined multi-millions of pounds.

[Deleted User]

I have the same problem with a different supplier, I was not at my house for 4 weeks over December/January and only had heating coming on for 1 hour a day as opposed to the usual 6-8 hours a day, yet my 3 month bill was nearly as much as the previous one! Can't explain why other than tariffs have gone up. A lot. The meter reading is correct so I have to pay

molerat

Were either bills based on Estimated readings, if Actual readings used did you check they were reasonable, if Customer readings were the same as you submitted ?

Cardew

molerat wrote: »

Were either bills based on Estimated readings, if Actual readings used did you check they were reasonable, if Customer readings were the same as you submitted ?

The OP wrote:

I took the two final readings myself, so I know that these are correct. Furthermore, the last E.On reading was taken on 18th December and my readings tie in with theirs.

cygni

I suppose what I'm hoping to establish is;
1) Have others got similar experiences to mine? And how did you tackle this with the energy provider?
2) And what could be the possible, logical, explanations for an increase in energy consumption - and how can these be evidenced?

E.On suggested to me that someone might have broken into my house to use the central heating and hot water. That seems a bit ridiculous, but with energy prices rising so high, I suppose it could become a reality in the future! However I'm fairly certain this didn't happen as I checked on the house regularly.

Regarding the bill I've been paying for the past 4 years; it actually trebled from 2006 to 2007, then immediately reduced to double the 2006 amount (after my complaint). I didn't think the fact this bill has been the same for 4 years was such a surprise, but are you suggesting it is? Do you think that it is particularly low? - I always thought it high compared to friends/colleagues who live in flats.

I intend to take the complaint further with E.On to try and establish exactly what has caused the increase in usage. Not least because I have a duty of care to my tenants to make sure there are no gas leaks! Therefore I would be grateful for any feedback from people with similar experiences, or with comments on my consumption, or my bill - am I totally out of touch with the consumption and cost that others are paying?

Premier_2

Cygni wrote: »

... I am also alluding to the possibility that the meter readings bear no relation to the actual consumption,...

Unfortunately you will have to pay for what the meter records as consumed (unless you can prove the meter faulty)

Cygni wrote: »

... I have a phd in maths and yet even I find their calculations somewhat confusing. ...

Where did you get your phd from; t'internet? :cool:

Whilst some, indeed many today, will probably stretch for a calculator do do the actual calculating, the method of calculation shouldn't exceed the abilities of a former CSE grade 4 mathematics student.

Cardew

You still haven't answered the crucial question!

Is the consumption from the meter reading on 18 Dec to your final meter reading(both of which you have verified were accurate readings) correct on the bill?

If the meter readings show you have used 'x' gas units and 'y' electricity units and the bill has charged you for those units, I really can't see where you have a complaint.