Large Gas Bill Help - How much should it be?

Gorie

Hello!

In December I moved into a new house, I have never owned a house before and it’s all new to me so I’m hoping for a little help/advice regarding my wacky gas bill.

The house is 3 years old, has two bedrooms, one bathroom and one lounge/dining/kitchen open plan area and is well insulated (‘kingspan’ in cavities, double glazed windows etc…). It has a condensing combi boiler (supplying radiators and water including shower) and a gas hob. It does not have a gas fire and the oven is electric. It is a small house.

When I moved in I went to my meter box and took a photo of the reading (02532 metres squared/metric units), called British Gas with this reading and didn’t think about it again until I got a bill yesterday. The bill (for one month) was an estimate asking for £21.55 (assuming my new meter reading would be 02554). As I was given the option of supplying a physical reading and getting a real bill I went and read my meter. The actual reading was 02719 metres squared. When I did the calculation using my actual reading my true bill was £174.53 for one month.

I have checked and my gas bill is in metric as is my meter. I checked my initial photo again and the initial reading I took is correct, as is the repeat. I have used 187 metric units over a month according to my meter. This is not based on an estimate but my own physical readings (and I have photos so I have double and triple checked).

I run the heating for about 3-4 hours each day (for an hour each time) and turn it off when I am at work during the day. I take showers, but not for hours at a time and more often at work after cycling in. I have had three baths… I rarely cook on the gas hob.

Any ideas why my bill might be so high?

Greedy me using too much gas? I live here alone and like to think I’m a bit tougher than that…

Leak: I have never smelled any gas in the house but boiler is in a separate room at the side of the house not linked to the main house – still I have never smelled gas in there.

Boiler Problem: The boiler is an Alpha HE CB 25 – I don’t have a clue about boilers? I presume it is 3 years old since the house is 3 years old.

Meter: Could the meter be broken?

Sneaky Neighbours: They seem honest enough and I haven’t noticed any huge hoses from my meter cupboard.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, how do I go about investigating this? Or is this just typical now prices have gone up???

Thanks a million!

Dave

HappyMJ

You need to take meter readings much more often if you want to track down excessive usage.

You used 187 cubic metres of gas over how many days exactly? I'll guess at 30 days. That's 70kWh per day. You said you used the heating for 4 hours per day but an hour at a time so I'll assume the heating is running most of the hour you have it on. That's 17.5kWh per hour. You boiler is rated at 25kWh output but uses 2.61 cubic metres per hour. That's about 29kWh per hour on max. It does add up. You might have the heating on longer on weekends and days you aren't at work.

If you live alone I would suggest just heating one room at a time. Maybe the lounge when you are in it and the bedroom in the late evening and early morning.

Now the tariff. That's very expensive. Ebico would have been £100 for the same usage. My calculator tells me that British Gas would have been about £93. Check it for yourself http://www.ukpower.co.uk/tools/smart_meter_calculator

jalexa

Gorie wrote: »

In December I moved into a new house, I have never owned a house before and it’s all new to me so I’m hoping for a little help/advice regarding my wacky gas bill.

Well done for the attention paid to the actual meter reading.

Almost certainly the previous poster has hit the nail on the head. The consumption (as a number) is completely reasonable for a centrally heated house in winter, not "whacky" at all.

Apologies if I missed it but I didn't notice the number (and size) of the radiators stated. Nor whether the radiators had TRVs fitted and if so what number are they set to. Being a new house almost certainly there will be a room stat, but what room is it in and what temperature is it set to? Whatever it is set to what is the actual temperature reached in the other rooms?

Personally I would keep alert to your consumption but not worry about isolated consumption during the month that statistically 20% of annual consumption can be expected.

notbritishgas

Just to agree with the others above, your usage is quite reasonable.

You seem either to be on a very very expensive tariff or you have worked out the cost incorrectly, you didn't use the primary unit cost for all kwh used did you?

My rough costings are, 187 units = 2094 kwh, an average price for gas is about 4p so that is £83, add abit more for a standing charge or the primary units used in that time, say £6, and that brings it up to £89 which is about HappMJ's figures.

macman

Your calculations are wrong. The bill should be around £101. Even the most expensive tariff doesn't increase that by 75%.
http://www.energylinx.co.uk/gas_meter_conversion.html

Gorie

Thank you very much for the detailed responses, I was not expecting anything like this much detail!

You are all entirely right - I did my calculations based on the tier 1 price (8.276p) and did not factor in the tier 2 price (3.781p). It looks to work out at around £85.82 when I used the calculator in the link listed by HappyMJ (thanks again).

The readings were taken on 17th December 2011 and 25th January 2012 and I do have radiator control valves and have them all open... I will address closing some of them.

I have the thermostat (which is a little remote control RF thingy) in various rooms, including by my bedroom so I can turn the heating on 1/2 hour before I wake when I lie in. I will move that to the warmest room now. It is set to 25 degrees I think, is this reasonable? What should I set it too?

Also is it better to have the heating come on infrequently on full, or leave it on for longer at a lower heat setting?

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

Dave

PS I am with British Gas on standard Tarrif and am awaiting my final bill as I am switching. I am therefore paying on reciept of bill!

HappyMJ

25 degrees? What is your house like? A bahamas summer? Set it 1 degree lower every week until it's too uncomfortable. Mine is set at 18 and it feels very warm to me. I do sit on the sofa with a blanket covering me and wear an extra layer of clothing.

The less frequently it comes on and the lower you set the thermostat to the cheaper it will be. The remote sounds like a good idea. Some people will keep it on a low setting overnight and it doesn't cost that much more. Low meaning about 12 degrees.... You are under a blanket so it doesn't need to be high and if you have it at 25 before you go to bed it'll probably take 12 hours to drop to 12 anyway so it won't you any more at all.

Gorie

I have googled it also and your right - it's warmer than an old folks home! LOL!

The house keeps its heat really well so I will turn it down to 18 and see, I never need it on when I am in bed. I had absolutely no idea about any of this but it appears I'm burning dead dinosaurs like they are going out of fashion (which they are)!

Dave

macman

The longer you leave it on, the more it will cost you-see the hundreds of other threads on this topic.
And if you leave it on at 25C, your bills (like most of your heat) will go through the roof.