Huge gas bill

gosiap

Hi,

I've just recieved my first gas bill having transferred back to EDF from nPower for what is in affect the first quarter. The gas bill is just over £217 for this quarter. On the face of it, this doesn't look extortionate...however the only gas item I have is the hobs on my cooker! Everything else (boiler, heating, even the oven on the cooker!) is electric. Surely this can't be correct?

I've done the usual things. I've checked my bill and checked my meter. The meter is imperial, the gas calculation is likewise based on imperial conversions. I've also taken my own meter reading for the past week, I've used 3 units in this period. I've used a website in an attempt to calculate the cost this would be based over a year (in essence multiplying the 3 * 52 to get a yearly "reading" and then divided by 4 for the quarter...if that makes sense!) and this came out that my bill per annum should be in the region of £60. I'm really confused as to why EDF have charged me this much, and if it is really correct as I'm guessing my calculation may be wrong! (No confidence in my maths skills!). Does this seem extremely high for gas based on only hob usage on the cooker? Would you please be able to tell me any other method I can check this, and what I should do to have it corrected if it is wrong? I am really going to struggle to pay this bill if I have too as I wasn't expecting this to be anywhere near this high.

Many, many thanks in advance.
Gosia

Cardew

3 units on an Imperial meter is approx 96kWh - so most of that be at the Tier 1 rate - normally around 7p to 8p/kWh and the rest at 3p 4p/kWh. I think most EDF tariffs have 4,572 tier 1 units a year and the rest Tier 2.

So I think your £60 is for a metric meter -

Is the meter a digital readout or pointers on a dial?

Old Imperial meters with a dial are easy to mis-read as alternate dials read counter clock wise.

gosiap

Hi Cardew,

Thank you for your quick response, I'm really worried about this as I wasn't expecting such a high bill for my gas hobs.

re the 3 units from last week, my price is on the bill per unit is showing as 3.886p/KWh. The website I used to calculate the cost I would anticipate was based on imperial units, however this was also a comparison site. (It actually came out at £40 a year for the cheapest deal so I added £20 on assuming I wasn't on the cheapest deal, so an approximation).

The meter is a dial one. However because it's accessible the meter reader has read it themselves...when I say accessible, it's not the most accessible as it's in a dark corner that you have to turn your head sideways to read, with a torch.

I guess my question really is, according to EDF I have used 4893 KWh in this quarter (154 units). This seems extremely high considering the only gas appliance is the hobs on the cooker, and using the past week as an average of 3 units per a week, surely there's no way I could have used that much gas and got a bill of £217 for a quarter based on hobs only?

Again, doing some dodgy calculations, a quarter is 13.143 weeks this quarter, with my partner's reading of only 3 units in 7 days, 13.143*3 = 39.43 units estimated in a quarter and not 154 I'm being charged for. Just to add, my partner didn't say he was taking meter reading for the past 7 days usage so as to ensure we weren't using less gas than normal. I can only imagine that at some point the meter reading was taken incorrectly, so is there any action I should now take please?

Many thanks again
Gosia

HalloweenJack

call them?

gosiap

Hi HalloweenJack,

I've already called them. They have said that as it was read by a meter reader hence it must be accurate, and that the consumption therefore is accurate. I really cannot see how it can be though. If I had other gas appliances then I'd understand it, but surely just for hobs this cannot be correct? (PS, the cooker itself is about 6 years old too)

Thanks
Gosia

Wilma33

You have just moved supplier, but surely you can look at readings with your old supplier to see how much you used to use? With your old supplier was the bill for the final quarter particually low i.e. was the final reading maybe wrong? How much do you use the hob?

Wilma33

Have you checked that the final meter reading with the old supplier matches the first reading with the new supplier?

gosiap

Hi Wilma33,

The older bills don't match from our previous supplier. Basically it's a rented accomodation. There was a gas fire which was condemned and replaced with an electric fire prior to us rejoining EDF. However, our last quarter gas bill from nPower was £65, which is what I'd expect from this quarter considering the rise in energy costs.

Cheers
Gosia

Wilma33

What was the last meter reading on your final bill from nPower? What is your first meter reading on your bill from EDF?