gas costs have rocketed

baron777red

hi i have just submitted my meter readings on line to scottish energy and my gas charges have gone through the roof.

a new meter was put in on31st may last year, and i have given actual readings at regular intervals as listed below

31st may - reading = 0
8th july - reading = 24 (cost £13)
21st oct - reading = 113 (cost £60)
22nd jan - reading = 682 (cost £260)

i was a bit late submitting my latest reading and they estimated it for me at 358, which is a lot less than the reading i have taken.

i understand that it costs more in the winter and because we have our central heating on, and i think the boiler maybe the problem (its a combi). i think the boiler is about 13-14 years old, could it really be performing that badly is its left without being serviced?

we have a 3 bed semi detached, and we have the boiler on timer 3pm to 10pm and 6am to 7.30am, gas central heating and gas cooker,

i guess the answer is to get it serviced, but could that really improve its effiency?

or should i get a new boiler??

HappyMJ

The boiler is working. It's almost never worth replacing a working boiler unless it's an old 55% efficient boiler with a new 90% efficient one. Servicing it may improve the efficiency but not enough to cover the cost of the service. £200 for 3 months of gas in winter is good. Don't worry about it.

aelitaman

The cheapest thing to do that will save money is go draught hunting. If you have draughts stop them.

chanz4

Im very tight on gas usage, and ours was about the same but we have had a rough cold weather and snow.

macman

If the meter was changed, and the old meter was imperial, have they switched your over to metric units at the time of the meter change?
Check your bills across the changeover.
It doesn't really help that your post just gives meter units, which could be either metric or imperial (though a new meter should be metric). Compare using your actual kWh consumption, since this is what you are being billed in.
If your cu m consumption is still being billed as 100's cu ft, then your (apparent) kWh consumption wil increase by 270%-as will your bills.
Having said that, your last bill (569 units) seems about right (6.465kWh, costing £260) at 4p per kWh.