Does this gas and electric sound right?

FireWyrm

Hi

I've just bought a mid-terrace Victorian house and it's been a while since I lived in a gas using house. I've just had a quarterly bill from EDF covering the period 30th August to 23rd November and it's come in at £385 total.

Now, when I took over this house, I set the combined DD at £100 a month and I realise that the final £100 has yet to be paid for the quarter, but at this level of purported usage, something is very wrong. We use 96 KWh of electricity per week which I know because we have a meter and I read it, but I can't get into the Gas cupboard. The estimated reading on the bill for gas says 2462 but I don't understand how this can be. We have a combination boiler that is set to come on between 6am and 8am and on demand for hot water. Both dishwasher and washing machine are cold fed, so by my reckoning, we only use about 20 minutes of hot water a day and 2 hours of heating. How can this equate to the estimated reading they have given? Do I need to increase the DD to compensate?

Any help appreciated.

jalexa

FireWyrm wrote: »

... I can't get into the Gas cupboard...

What is preventing that?

FireWyrm

jalexa wrote: »

What is preventing that?

It has a lock. We don't have a key.

jalexa

FireWyrm wrote: »

It has a lock. We don't have a key.

Is this a security lock or just a meter cabinet secured with a standard meter key?

TBH you have been the householder for 3 months. The cupboard won't open itself. If the cupboard contains the gas c*ck there are sound safety reasons for ensuring you have ready access.

FireWyrm

I'm unsure what type of key it uses, it looks like a square one. The previous house I had the gas was in a cupboard and we had a key for that, but we don't have one for this. I've asked around and been told that only the gas meter reader has one. I'm unwilling to force the cupboard open but I would obviously in an emergency.

My question is more to do with the bill though. Does it seem reasonable and should I be considering increasing the DD to £150 a month. To be honest, that sounds like an awful lot of money for a few minutes of hot water and a couple of hours of heating a day, but according to the first quarterly bill, this is what we are using. As I said, it's been 6 years since I used gas and I knew it was expensive, but I didn't think it was that much. We use our open fire for heating in the evenings.

victor2

You're wasting your time with estimated bills and need a key to open the cupboard. Something like this:

£1.40 from Amazon with free shipping.

You should ideally be in credit with winter coming. Once you can read your meter, you can get an idea what is using gas and how best to economise.
Your electricity use doesn't sound particularly high and I find that it doesn't vary that much around the year so long as you don't have electric heating. You have the lights on more in the winter, but that doesn't count for too much if you use energy saving bulbs.

FireWyrm

Thank you Victor, I'll get a key like the one in the picture. As you say, we use energy saving bulbs and usually only have a single standard lamp on in the evenings. All other lights are turned off. However, my main concern is the gas. The estimate must be based on some sort of average figure. I have a starting figure, which is the one the previous owner reported on exit and I can obviously do the maths to determine the difference once I can get into the cupboard, but I'm still none the wiser if £100 a month for gas and electricity is anywhere near normal. Their estimate is going to be based on a comparable sized house with 4 occupants and according to EDF my DD is nowhere near enough and I'll be in serious debt by spring at this rate. I don't know what is normal with gas anymore.

dogshome

With the gas bill based on an estimate, it's vital you obtain a key to the Gas meter cupboard - Look at the lock, they are not complicated and usually operate with a Triangular Key or straight slot - both of which are available for the major DIY stores ( B&Q ?) If all else fails a pair of thin nosed pliers usually do the job

Useing rough figures your Elec use works out £149 over a 13 week period, most of which is during the Summer. This equates to £655 a year - app.5,400 Kw which is huge for a family mid terrace 3 bed. What elec appliances are you running?

With £149 going to the Elec bill, the balance for the Estimated gas is £236 for a summer Qtr, (appx 4720kw),which again is huge particularly in Summer months when poor insulation wouldn't affect the bill, and on the basis of your gas consumption increasing by 80% in winter the annual consumption goes up to app. 47,200kwh - £2,300 a year !

It occurs to me that the supplier probably based this Gas estimate on the previous owners consumption, and in that light you may be the victim of the classic Imperial meter v Metric meter c0ckup
When you get that key check the front of the Gas meter - It will be marked M3 if it's a metric meter, or ft3 if it's an Imperial meter. Then check the gas bill you've had by dividing the Kwh charged by the meter units consumed - If the answer is app.11.2 you are being charged for a Metric meter. if it's app.31.5 you are being cjarged for an Imperial meter If the chargeing method doesn't match the face plate, get onto your supplier immediately

FireWyrm

Thanks Dogshome.

Ok, over the last quarter, my electricity readings have gone from roughly 70KWh per week to 96 at the last reading. I read every Saturday morning. It's held steady at 96ish for the let 4 weeks. We have a small fish tank, we run a dishwasher at night, a washing machine 3 times a week and very occassionally the tumble dryer. The household lights are mostly energy saving except for the basement kitchen which has halogen spotlights...very pretty but expensive I know. We tend to go to bed about 10ish which means the during the winter months since it gets dark, we've had the lights in in the living room from 3pm apprx.

With gas, we have a gas oven used once or twice a day, a combi boiler which comes on for 2 hours of heating in the morning and on demand for water only. The heating is not on continually during the day and won't be until January when it gets positively parky here. We use wood and coal for heating in the evenings.

I'll get a combination key and see what the real reading is because from what you've said, we shouldn't be using anywhere near what I've said. I just don't understand it.

dogshome

That Tumble dryer and the Halogen spots are eating power, but you say you run the dishwasher overnight, is this just a matter of choice or because you have an ECO7 meter?

macman

If you've been in the house 3 months and still not read the meter, how did you manage to open an account with the deemed supplier (presumably EDF)? When you rang up to register for the account they would have wanted an opening reading-this is normally done on day one.
How are you now going to prove what that reading was if the outgoing occupant did not take a closing reading?