Unexpected big gas bill in new house

sophiamaria87

Hi, I just moved to a new house in december, at my last house I was paying £60 a month direct debit for both gas and electricity and when I left in Dec I was nearly £100 in credit!
The new house is slightly bigger but still only two bedrooms. We had a new boiler and all new radiators installed just before we moved in. The house was with N power and I wanted to stay with eon (who I was with at the last house) it has taken just over a month to switch back, and I received the bill this weekend... £233 for 5 weeks worth of gas!!!
I couldn't believe it! I only had the heating on 18 degrees in the morning and evening. We now have a gas cooker which we didnt before but I really can't fathom how it has come to this much money.
The meter readings are correct and the meter is not turning when everything is off so it can't be a leak!
I've now cut down the heating to 17 degrees and put it on for 2 and a half hours less than before, but when I've submitted meter readings to eon after 2 weeks with them and I'm already racking up more debts with them too! I really can't afford it, and other then turning the boiler off altogether (when its snowing outside!!) I really don't know what to do!
What is the average gas KWH readings in winter for a 2 bed semi house anyone know?

Cardew

You have fallen foul of the NPower system of 'seasonal weighting'(or sculpting).

All suppliers using the tier sytem of charging allocate the Tier 1 units(kWh) evenly throughout the year - so if you pay for 4,572 tier 1 units pa, it is 381 per month. (4572/12)

Not so with NPower's dreaded Seasonal weighting! They 'load' the winter months with a much higher allocation of Tier 1 units(881 from memory). So your 5 weeks in mid winter will have a large proportion of the units used charged at a much higher Tier 1 rate(around 8p/kWh)

sophiamaria87

thanks, I really hope its going to make a difference being with eon then, but still the meter readings seem really high for the amount i'm using compared to the last house.
I wondered how they worked out the 'first' however many kwh you need a bloody maths degree to work out fuel costs sometimes!

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi sophiamaria87,

I can't speak for NPower, but I can try and help with your usage now you're with E.ON.

The average gas usage is 16,500 kWh per year. As you are using your gas for your heating then you have come over to us when you are going to use most of your gas (winter)

Take regular readings and monitor your usage, also have a word with the consumption department to go through this if you need to. They are experts in this area.

Have you checked your on the best tariff for your needs?

The primary and secondary units are worked out like this....
You are charged for 900 kWh at the primary rate per year, this is then broken up in to quarters for electricity.

If your bill covers an exact quarter of 91 days you will be charged your first 225 kWh at the primary rate.

Most of the time the bills cover slightly more or less than 91 days and this is why the amount of primary units used per quarter can differ.
Below is the calculation we use to determine your primary units on a statement;

900kWh for the year
Divide this by the number of days in the year 365
Then multiply this by the number of days the bill covers
This will then give you the amount of units that will be charged at the primary rate.

So for example, if your bill covered a 100 day period, you would be charged for 247 units at the primary rate. You will not in any circumstances pay for more than 900kWh in a year period.
The same applies for gas; however, the annual threshold for primary units is 2680 kWh.

Some tariffs do differ for gas.
Hope this helps a bit

Helena

new2012

Divide this by the number of days in the year 365

Should it not be 366 days this year?:D

sophiamaria87

Thanks helena, after alot of calculations, ive worked out that the same bill would have been £48 cheaper with eon! Its so annoying as I never wanted to be with npower in the first place and had to be given a few weeks to 'change my mind' before i could switch back, which seems a bit silly when I was already with eon and just wanted to stay that way.
Hopefully now i've cut down i will be back on track soon enough. By the way Helena, because i had to close my account at the last house all my credit got sent back to me, but i'd prefer to keep some on my account for the winter, and my first payment doesnt start till march, so I don't want to get into a lot of debit, can I put a little credit on my account even though I pay by direct debit? Or does it not work like that? Don't want my monthly payments to go up because i'm missing a payment this month! Thanks!

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

sophiamaria87 wrote: »

Thanks helena, after alot of calculations, ive worked out that the same bill would have been £48 cheaper with eon! Its so annoying as I never wanted to be with npower in the first place and had to be given a few weeks to 'change my mind' before i could switch back, which seems a bit silly when I was already with eon and just wanted to stay that way.
Hopefully now i've cut down i will be back on track soon enough. By the way Helena, because i had to close my account at the last house all my credit got sent back to me, but i'd prefer to keep some on my account for the winter, and my first payment doesnt start till march, so I don't want to get into a lot of debit, can I put a little credit on my account even though I pay by direct debit? Or does it not work like that? Don't want my monthly payments to go up because i'm missing a payment this month! Thanks!

Hi sophiamaria87,

Thanks for coming back to me.

Yes, you can make extra payments even though you pay by Direct Debit.

You can do it online, or give us a ring it's up to you.

If you do need any more help from me, just ask, it's no problem.

Helena