Crazy bills from British Gas!

Nicklt

Hi,

We have lived in our current 2 bed apartment for around 18 months.

If our previous 2 bard apartment the Electric usage was around £20 a month.

British Gas are saying that we have used 10226KW of electric in 18 month and we have a £700 debit on out account. The monthly bills are coming in around an average of £150 a month!!

This seem ridiculously high but the Meter is giving these readings! We don't used much electric, TV on for a couple of hours, oven on for an hour, lights on for about 3 hours a day.

Could there be a problem with the Meter or am i missing something?

Any help would be great as it is stressing me out now.

notbritishgas

You have missed one very important piece of information, what heating do you have and was it the same in your previous property.

Given this info I am sure someone will help.

Cardew

Assuming the flat is all electric(heating and hot water included) 10,226kWh in 18 months is well below average - particularly as covers two winters.

Nicklt

But doesnt £160 a month seem rather excessive considering in our last apartment we were paying £20 a month and we are using pretty much the same amount now. (in my opinion)

I spoke to my father who said he pays less for gas & electric combined and they live in a 3 bed house with 4 people.

charlotte289

Nicklt wrote: »

But doesnt £160 a month seem rather excessive considering in our last apartment we were paying £20 a month and we are using pretty much the same amount now. (in my opinion)

I spoke to my father who said he pays less for gas & electric combined and they live in a 3 bed house with 4 people.

But it is all-electric? You're keeping us in suspense here

Nicklt

Yeah, it's all electric. Our last place was all electric aswell but as i said before we only paid £20 a month average there. And not much is different in out current place regarding usage.

Nicklt

Sorry yeah, heating is the same as previous palce aswell. And we lived in our previous place 6 months, and this was during the winter months.

charlotte289

Nicklt wrote: »

Yeah, it's all electric. Our last place was all electric aswell but as i said before we only paid £20 a month average there. And not much is different in out current place regarding usage.

£20 a month is incredibly low for an all-electric place - it must have been really well-insulated, or your neighbour must have leaked heat into your house! 10226kWh for a year and half is 6816kWh a year, which is less than I used in a year in my all-electric studio flat (about 7250kWh - ended up paying about £70 a month). So it all seems fairly normal.

peakoil_2

we rented a flat that was sandwiched in between flats on either side and above and below. We hardly ever turned our heating on

which supplier are you with? remember that prices have gone through the roof even just over the last few months. have a look at the useage, not the cost of your electricity statements, see how many kw/h you used at you previous and current place. this would be a better comparison than price.

Nicklt

But i'm getting sent bills for £160! we are very savvy users. Dont use the dryer. hardly used the electric heaters during the winter, we turn everything off apart form the fridge freezer at night.

charlotte289

Nicklt wrote: »

But i'm getting sent bills for £160! we are very savvy users. Dont use the dryer. hardly used the electric heaters during the winter, we turn everything off apart form the fridge freezer at night.

It's still not unusual - I'm guessing you paid a much smaller amount by DD beforehand? Even if you did wear thick jumpers etc. in the winter, you still would have needed to use high-consumption devices like the kettle, oven, and shower - the latter of which uses about 100 times more electricity per hour than a laptop! It may well be annoying but unless you get gas installed or enjoy cold showers, it's just something you have to get used to