Meter reading help please

ollow

Hi

I was wondering if you could please explain in simple terms to me how to convert my meter reading to kwh.

07/11 - 9676.17
14/11 - 9683.20

On imeasure it says I've used about £16 in the past week. I've only had heating on for a maximum of 1-2 hours a day some days not at all. I have a combi boiler and a gas cooker does this seem high to you?

victor2

So in a week you've used 7.03 units.
Presumably you've got a metric meter. The formula is multply the units by 0.284 then by the gas CV your billing company uses. If you don't know that 39.5 is a good number to use and will probably be close to what your supplier will use. It dooesn't vary much anyway and you can probably tell from your last bill what was used then. That will give you 78.8 kWh
A quick way is to multiply the units by 11, giving 77 kWh.
Don't know how you've got £16 from that usage though. If you're using imperial units, it would work out to about 223 kWh (roughly units x 33), which is not a typical week's usage, but could come closer to the monetary value you've got.
Are you mixing your units up and what gas pricing are you using?

ollow

Thank you, sorry should have said my meter has ft3 on it.

The money figure is what has come up on imeasure, I chose the 100ft option for my meter.

I'm just about to change suppliers so keeping an eye on usage, and I've just become a single parent so need to keep an eye on things.

victor2

Then that is high usage for what you describe.
With my central heating on for several hours a day, hot water in a tank and not a combi boiler, plus a gas hob, we've averaged 63kWh per day over the last week. That's in a 4 bed house.
Maybe your heating is having to work hard. Perhaps if you describe your heating layout, some suggestions will come up with ways to save a bit.

Edit:
The formula for imperial units to kWh is multiply units by 0.804 then the gas CV, or roughly units x 32, not 33 as stated before. Sorry!

ollow

I have a main 24e combi boiler 5 radiators downstairs and 4 upstairs.

Bathroom 1
Hall (downstairs) 1
Living room 2
Kitchen 1
3 bedrooms 3
Shower room 1

Gas cooker in kitchen.

Should I get somebody out to check it?

victor2

Is there just one central thermostat (often in the hall) and/or do the radiators have individual thermostatic controls on them?
If there is just one thermostat, what is it set at?
Also, do you know what your annual gas usage has been in kWh? It may be stated on your recent bills, if not you should be able to get it from your supplier - if you've been with them at least a year.

macman

Use this tool to convert to kWh:
http://www.energylinx.co.uk/gas_meter_conversion.html
You have used 226 kWh in that period, approx cost is £8.00-little more than £1 a day, assuming around 3.5p per kWh. That's extremely low once the heating is on.
No idea how you arrive at £16.

ollow

Thank you for taking the time to help.

The thermostat is in the hall it's not set at anything if it goes cold I turn it on to about 18/9.

The 2 bathroom radiators are the towel rail type - no thermostat

Hall, kitchen and living room have dials on them from 0 - 5 these are all set at 5.

I think bedroom is switched off. Ds room no thermostat, dd room not to sure.

My yearly use from march to march was 1566.40 kwh

ollow

macman wrote: »

Use this tool to convert to kWh:
http://www.energylinx.co.uk/gas_meter_conversion.html
You have used 226 kWh in that period, approx cost is £8.00-little more than £1 a day, assuming around 3.5p per kWh. That's extremely low once the heating is on.
No idea how you arrive at £16.

Thank you, for the first 640 kwh I'm charged 7.2p inc vat, after that it goes to 3.50p ish per kwh.

I've changed from Swalec to scotish power web saver 16 I think.

ollow

Just checked nothing on upstairs radiators.

macman

ollow wrote: »

Thank you, for the first 640 kwh I'm charged 7.2p inc vat, after that it goes to 3.50p ish per kwh.

I've changed from Swalec to scotish power web saver 16 I think.

Yes, so the vast majority of your consumption per billing cycle is charged at the lower rate. The first tier rate is probably 10% or less of your average annual usage. So 3.5p is the reckoner to use.
On your present usage, you'd use up the Tier 1 allowance in about 2.5 weeks.