problems with the gas pre payment metre

fairy.fly

I've had to top up several times recently but the available credit keeps going down although i'm not using anything other than the pilot light on the boiler.

this morning the metre reading said 1589.365m3 at 11am
it said 1589.402m3 at 12.30pm
1589.418m3 at 2pm

my total credit has gone down by 10p in just 3-4 hrs is this mornal ?
am i using alot of gas in 3 hrs its 0.053m3 do prepayments work in real time and is the usage accurate.

looking on the net it says boiler pilot should use upto 20 pounds per year which is reasonable

the above are just numbers to me i have no idea what each means so if someone could explain i'd be grateful

HappyMJ

You are not using much gas. Is that a pilot light only? If so, then it's about right.

fairy.fly

Yes that's only the pilot light could you callculate what 0.053 in three hrs would be if it's 8p per unit for gas I'm being charged I can work out the rest I'm haing a running battle with my supplier and this calculation would help me

notbritishgas

fairy.fly wrote: »

Yes that's only the pilot light could you callculate what 0.053 in three hrs would be if it's 8p per unit for gas I'm being charged I can work out the rest I'm haing a running battle with my supplier and this calculation would help me

0.053 M3 = approx 0.5936 kwh so just over 4p at 8p per kwh, but that is ahigh rate, is that the tier 1 rate, the tier 2 should be nearer to 4p per kwh.

fairy.fly

Yes it's tier one 8p then it goes down to 4p after so many therms i think its 2600 etc I'd go into more detail but I wouldn't be surprised if someone is observing these fourums or maybe I'm a little too paranoid lol I have a specific complaint which my supplier is ignoring. So with that calculation the pilot will cost me 25p per day? That's quite an expensive pilot light lol but they are charging me far more than that and they are saying its my usage but if my usage is only the above then obviously it's something else that's causing the dip in my credit available.

notbritishgas

Yes with gas CH you are bound to use all of the tier ! units anyway so any costing normally for a credit meter should use the Tier 2 rate. So for the 3 hours you have used just over 2p worth so in 24 hours just over 16p.

Just to add, I do not know how a prepay meter allocates the Tier 1 units, there will be 2680 per year which works out at 7.34 per day so it could just be possible that the first 7.34 per day are charged at the high rate so your 0.05936kwh could all come off your credit at 8p per kwh. That assumes that prior to your 3 hour test you had not used any gas that morning.

HappyMJ

It depends on how the prepayment meter charges. It might charge in 0.1 cubic metre intervals which could be your 10p.

fairy.fly

I'm probably going to blow my cover if my supplier is viewing lol but its utlity warehouse prepayment metre they have just agreed to replace the metre as its still using the credit I'm buying to pay off a previous tennants debt. They have agreed to refund my previous tops up but they will send me a letter regarding this and how much and say the refund will be automatic to the new metre. Looking at the UW tariff page I'm not sure when the tier 2 4p starts.

HappyMJ

fairy.fly wrote: »

I'm probably going to blow my cover if my supplier is viewing lol but its utlity warehouse prepayment metre they have just agreed to replace the metre as its still using the credit I'm buying to pay off a previous tennants debt. They have agreed to refund my previous tops up but they will send me a letter regarding this and how much and say the refund will be automatic to the new metre. Looking at the UW tariff page I'm not sure when the tier 2 4p starts.

UW....prepayment meter charges on UW are high. They don't want them as customers so you should switch away to a cheaper tariff. If you are a low user then Ebico charges a flat rate of 4.573p/kWh for all units. https://www.ebico.org.uk/products-and-prices/our-gas-prices However, you need to get onto a comparison website to check.

fairy.fly

I've already contacted ebico last week and signed up got the welcome email today it does say it could be between 4-6 weeks before the switch is concluded I'm hoping it's quicker than that. Thanks

HappyMJ

fairy.fly wrote: »

I've already contacted ebico last week and signed up got the welcome email today it does say it could be between 4-6 weeks before the switch is concluded I'm hoping it's quicker than that. Thanks

When you say UW are replacing the meter do you actually mean UW are giving you a new key for the meter so the key no longer collects debt?

Keep an eye on your usage and always keep an eye on the tariffs available. There may sometimes be cheaper offers with other suppliers.