Help Please? Meter Readings Suddenly gone high?

Candy53

Hi,

Panicking here!
We have an imperial meter for gas. We pay bill quarterly, and are with Eon.

As it was coming close to our quarterly bill, I wanted to see what we had used up until then.

Last reading from last quarter's bill - 8506.
So read meter on 22nd Jan - 87 days - 8585 = 79 units = 2,509 kwhs used. Average daily usage = 28.83 kwhs.

Put reading in today ready for bill - 11 days from the 22nd. Reading - 8600 = 15 units = 1,071 kwhs??
Average daily usage = 97.36 kwhs?!

Can't understand it. We haven't changed our usage in that 11 days. Could the meter be going wrong?
Most of the time this last quarter we have had heating on for 4 and a half hours per day.

Thanks,
Candy.

dzug1

It's been on the cold side the last week - maybe your heating was actually running for more of the 4.5 hours it was on than earlier.

And was the 8506 an actual reading or an estimate?

Candy53

Yes the 8506 was an actual reading. I can't see how we could possibly use 97 kwhs per day.

Candy

anniecave

Panic not, I think there might be a mistake in your conversion.

If 79 units = 2509 kwhs then 15 units (assuming the same multiplier) would only be 476 KWH.

Over 11 days this is 43 units per day.

And it has been colder recently..

JohnM5206

Hi, recheck your calcs, 15 units is not 1071 kWh, I make it 476.

Sorry, phone call intervened and I am now repeating above poster!

Candy53

Thanks, yeah, I can see that now, but this is how I originally worked it out and it still doesn't tally.

Last quarter reading 8506. Reading for 87 days 8585 = 79 units = 2,509kwhs.
11 days later reading 8600. Altogether = 98 days, and is 94 units = 3,580kwhs. Take 2,509 away = 1,071kwhs = 11 days = 15 units? Because 79 from 94 units = 15?

How have I gone wrong?

Candy

JohnM5206

Yep,

94 units is 2985 kWh, not 3500 or so.

Recheck your calc from the start.

HTH

Candy53

You're absolutely right! Can't for the life of me understand how I made that mistake, lol. Mind must be going.
Thanks to all of you for putting me right.

Candy

Candy53

I know what I did wrong now. Wondered how I could have made such a dum mistake, but blame poor lighting! Lol.

When I was using the sequence of calculating the units into kwhs, when it came to multiplying by the conversion factor of 1.02264, I missed the zero out.

Candy

macman

85 days prior to 22/1 is about the end of October. It was incredibly mild then, and well into November-one of the warmest Autumns ever recorded in the UK.
The last 11 days has been the coldest period in the whole winter, so you'd expect consumption to have soared.

JohnM5206

But the OPs consumption, whilst increasing in line with the weather has not soared. There was a simple arithmetic error which has now been identified and the matter appears to have been accepted as such.