How to work out gas & electricity bills

geek84

Good Morning

To work out my gas & electric bill, do I first work out the number of units used in a period and multiply them by a formula, and multiply the answer by the supplier's rate of charge?

If so, does each supplier use the same 'formula'? And if so, can someone remind me what that 'formula' is?

Thanks in advance

macman

Electricity meter units are already in kWh, so no conversion is necessary-just multiply by the unit rate at each tier, add standing charges, VAT, deduct DD discounts, etc.
Gas meters read in cu m or 100's cu ft, so you need to multiply by approx 11 or 31 respectively to get to kWh.
If you want exact figures you will find the gas formula (including calorific values) on your gas bill
Or save yourself a lot of hassle and just put our kWh figures into any comp site ad let it do all the work for you in seconds.

geek84

Hi macman

Thanks for your reply.

For gas, how would I know whether to multiply by 11 or 31?
Is this the standard procedure to follow regardless of who the supplier is?

Can you tell me which sites would do the calculation for me?

Thank You.

devilsadvocate88

Sometimes you don't need to do any calculations for your gas supply. It all depends on how many units are on your gas meter. If your gas meter has 5 digits in black then it is a metric meter. If it has 4 in black then its an imperial meter and you'll have to do extra calculations to figure out how many Kwh of gas you have used.

There are websites available to help you out with this. Just google "calculating a gas bill to kwh" (Other search engines are available )
In terms of working out your bill, it all boils down to how your supplier charges you.

macman

geek84 wrote: »

Hi macman

Thanks for your reply.

For gas, how would I know whether to multiply by 11 or 31?
Is this the standard procedure to follow regardless of who the supplier is?

Can you tell me which sites would do the calculation for me?

Thank You.

For an imperial meter, multiply by 31. For a metric meter multiply by 11. The type is marked on the meter. It does not vary by supplier, as the formula is constant (aprt from the calorific value, which only makes a tiny difference).
I find this site useful for kWh conversion.
http://www.energylinx.co.uk/gas_meter_conversion.html. And www.energyhelpline.com for price calculation and comparison.

macman

devilsadvocate88 wrote: »

Sometimes you don't need to do any calculations for your gas supply. It all depends on how many units are on your gas meter. If your gas meter has 5 digits in black then it is a metric meter. If it has 4 in black then its an imperial meter and you'll have to do extra calculations to figure out how many Kwh of gas you have used.

There are websites available to help you out with this. Just google "calculating a gas bill to kwh" (Other search engines are available )
In terms of working out your bill, it all boils down to how your supplier charges you.

No it doesn't. All meters read either in cu m or 100's cu ft-both types require conversion to kWh for billing.
All suppliers bill in kWh, since a meter unit is a measurement of volume, not of energy.

notbritishgas

macman wrote: »

For an imperial meter, multiply by 11. For a metric meter multiply by 31. The type is marked on the meter. It does not vary by supplier, as the formula is constant (aprt from the calorific value, which only makes a tiny difference).
I find this site useful for kWh conversion.
http://www.energylinx.co.uk/gas_meter_conversion.html. And www.energyhelpline.com for price calculation and comparison.

Slip of the tongue there Mac, wrong way round.

For an imperial meter multiply by 31, for a metric meter multiply by 11.

macman

Darn, I'm always doing that...post amended.

elantan

i'm 11.2 per unit for my gas ... that .2 can make a difference

macman

elantan wrote: »

i'm 11.2 per unit for my gas ... that .2 can make a difference

That's the unit rate per kWh. We are discussing the conversion factor from metric meter units to kWh, not the price of gas.

elantan

sorry thought they were the same thing... i just know when i am checking my meter i take a reading multiply it by 11.2 and then my costing per kwh