Gas Supplier Advice Needed

The_Aquapanther

Hi,

I apologise in advance for the long post!

I’ve just moved in the last month to NPower Go Fix 6 for my gas.

When I did my comparison I used the previous gas suppliers (Scottish Hydro) consumption figures for the previous tenant.
Scottish Hydro said this was an average of 1375 units per month!
As I didn’t have anything to compare it against I went with it (I’ve always left this to flatmates to work out)!
Now in the last month I have used 3 units of gas!!!

Personal details;
There are my girlfriend and I in the flat.
Top floor flat in old building.
Double Glazing in all rooms.
Currently we use gas for cooking only.
The heating is gas however it has been on once since we moved in. (Plus windows been open most of the time...it is a hot flat!)

I know this is the summer, so I am likely to use the heating in the winter.

I was given a quote from my old supplier to fix for a year;

Scottish Hydro Fixed Rate 6
7.8p per unit for first 625 units
3.3p per unit above 625 units

I’m currently on;

NPower Go Fix 6
Daily Charge – 40.93p per day
Unit Charge – 3.361p per unit
£40 exit fee

I have two initial questions;

1. Does 3 units of gas per month just for cooking sound too little...i.e. does it sound like there is a problem with the meter?)
2. What do you think is a safe assumption for gas usage through the winter months? 100 units? 200 units?

As you can see from the below comparison, if I include the £40 fee, I would need to use an average of 200 units per month before the Scottish Hydro figure would be as high as the NPower figure;


I can't post the spreadsheet!


So my final question is, do you think it is worth my while changing supplier?



Thanks.

penrhyn

You do realise that the gas units that you pay for are measured in Kilowatt hours.
The units that are read from the meter are either in cubic metres or 100s of cubic feet depending on the type you have.
Modern gas meters are metric and are marked with a big M3.

one cubic metre of gas = around 11 kilowatt hours.

If you have an imperial meter then

1 unit (100cuft) of gas = 31 kilowatt hours.

Approx.


I have a relatively small property and use around 10,000 Kwh of gas per year.

Duing the summer, just heating water I use around 20kwh/week , in the coldest part of the winter I was using around 450Kwh/week

Premier_2

The_Aquapanther wrote: »

Hi,

I apologise in advance for the long post!

I’ve just moved in the last month to NPower Go Fix 6 for my gas.

When I did my comparison I used the previous gas suppliers (Scottish Hydro) consumption figures for the previous tenant.
Scottish Hydro said this was an average of 1375 units per month!
As I didn’t have anything to compare it against I went with it (I’ve always left this to flatmates to work out)!
Now in the last month I have used 3 units of gas!!!

Personal details;
There are my girlfriend and I in the flat.
Top floor flat in old building.
Double Glazing in all rooms.
Currently we use gas for cooking only.
The heating is gas however it has been on once since we moved in. (Plus windows been open most of the time...it is a hot flat!)

I know this is the summer, so I am likely to use the heating in the winter.

I was given a quote from my old supplier to fix for a year;

Scottish Hydro Fixed Rate 6
7.8p per unit for first 625 units
3.3p per unit above 625 units

I’m currently on;

NPower Go Fix 6
Daily Charge – 40.93p per day
Unit Charge – 3.361p per unit
£40 exit fee

I have two initial questions;

1. Does 3 units of gas per month just for cooking sound too little...i.e. does it sound like there is a problem with the meter?)
2. What do you think is a safe assumption for gas usage through the winter months? 100 units? 200 units?

As you can see from the below comparison, if I include the £40 fee, I would need to use an average of 200 units per month before the Scottish Hydro figure would be as high as the NPower figure;


......OK, I can't get the spreadsheet to post....I'll try again in a bit!


So my final question is, do you think it is worth my while changing supplier?



Thanks.

I dont think the figures you were given were the previous occupants consumption, rather 1/12 the average annual consumption figure as given by Ofgem They are in kWh, the units that gas is priced in.

When you say you have used 3 units, what are these units? Are these the units directly from the meter? If so that means just over 33kWh (on a metic meter) or about 100kWh if you have an imperial meter.

As for the winter, a typical 80,000btu boiler will use up to 24kW per hour when that's on.

As for switching, then you will need to consult a comparison site. The difficulty, as you already have found, is you don't know what you annual consumption is likely to be and so the words fire & fryingpan spring to mind.
However, some comparison sites do try to help those who don't know their consumption figures by asking for other infor (size/type of property, number of occupants, etc), but this can only be used as a guide.

Don't forget to allow for early exit fees you will incur if you decide to switch again, although you may be able to offset these by possible cashback.

The_Aquapanther

penrhyn wrote: »

You do realise that the gas units are charged for are measured in Kilowatt hours.
The units that are read from the meter are either in cubic meters or 100s of cubic feet depending on the type you have.
Modern gas meters are metric and are marked with a big M3.

one cubic metre of gas = around 11 kilowatt hours.


I have a relatively small property and use around 10,000 Kwh of gas per year.

Duing the summer, just heating water I use around 20kwh/week , in the coldest part of the winter I was using around 450Kwh/week

Naw! :mad:

I specifically asked this and they said it was the meter reading units to use!
That would explain the higher figures given to me originally!

The_Aquapanther

Premier wrote: »

I dont think the figures you were given were the previous occupants consumption, rather 1/12 the average annual consumption figure as given by Ofgem They are in kWh, the units that gas is priced in.

When you say you have used 3 units, what are these units? Are these the units directly from the meter? If so that means just over 33kWh (on a metic meter) or about 100kWh if you have an imperial meter.

As for the winter, a typical 80,000btu boiler will use up to 24kW per hour when that's on.

As for switching, then you will need to consult a comparison site. The difficulty, as you already have found, is you don't know what you annual consumption is likely to be and so the words fire & fryingpan spring to mind.
However, some comparison sites do try to help those who don't know their consumption figures by asking for other infor (size/type of property, number of occupants, etc), but this can only be used as a guide.

Don't forget to allow for early exit fees you will incur if you decide to switch again, although you may be able to offset these by possible cashback.

Right, first thing I need to do is find out what kind of meter it is!
I'll do that when I get home.

I'll come back on then, but already thinking it's not wirth the hassle (or saving) to change!