eek, high gas bill!

KaratePigeon

We moved in to our new house on 21st December, (3 bed end terraced) and changed our gas supplier soon after but apparently it took a while to go through and we have a bill from npower from 21st December to 9th Feb. So for 7 weeks - and the bill is £200!

Surely this isn't right? We have young kids and someone is home all day so have the heating on quite often but we are sensible and try not to use it too much. We have a combi boiler, and no gas for cooking.

I have the bill but can't make much sense of it as they seem to be charging us varying amounts for the units.

We forgot to take a meter reading when we moved in (I know, bad). but I've just checked the reading now and it seems that we are actually using aobut 2.3 units a day - does that mean anything to anyone and is it excessive??

Am scared to have the heating on now, can't afford that

spiro

Given that you use about 4-6 times the amount of gas per day in the winter compared to the summer this is probably not too bad. Not having a move in reading means you cant dispute is very easily.

Are you renting? If so the letting agency should have noted the reading when you did the inventory.

KaratePigeon

Nah not renting, have a mortgage.
I suppose I am used to having a direct debit which is averaged over the whole year so maybe you are right - anyone else think it's too high?

I rang npower and they agreed it seemed high but said they couldn't do anything and hinted that it might have been the people who lived here before us giving a false reading when they left.

Antispam

You dont say how many units. Assuming you arent charged a lot of gas and use little then 7 weeks of gas for £200 isnt out of the ordinary its slightly on high side I used around in that period around £190

Antispam

You should always take own readings and also make sure you do this regularly so you wont get any nasty surprises. Utilities only have to read meters once in every 2 years although many dont

If you had just moved you could be on standard tariff too so wont be as cheap as online tariffs which are around 4-5% cheaper

KaratePigeon wrote: »

Nah not renting, have a mortgage.
I suppose I am used to having a direct debit which is averaged over the whole year so maybe you are right - anyone else think it's too high?

I rang npower and they agreed it seemed high but said they couldn't do anything and hinted that it might have been the people who lived here before us giving a false reading when they left.

jalexa

KaratePigeon wrote: »

We forgot to take a meter reading when we moved in (I know, bad). but I've just checked the reading now and it seems that we are actually using aobut 2.3 units a day - does that mean anything to anyone and is it excessive??

I'm assuming you have an Imperial meter (marked 100ft^3). If so multiply by 32 to get approximate kWhrs. Your consumption is not excessive for this time of year.

There are still things you need to make sure are sorted. Is the NPower 9 February closing reading the same as your new supplier opening reading (should be the reading you provided to the new supplier).

Some NPower "no standing charge" tariffs seasonally weight the number of (expensive) primary units charged. That can make a short winter period on a NPower "no standing charge" tariff more expensive than expected.

Also, and even more important, did you pass a closing reading to the supplier at the old house?

KaratePigeon

ok, thanks everyone, I guess it's about right then, I'm just shocked as before we moved (from a 2 bed-house house) we were only paying £100/month for combined gas and electric.

yep there is a kWh calculation on the bill which is roughly 32x the meter units. We didn't give a reading to our new supplier, it was several weeks before we asked to be changed over before it apparently happened - and they have a 'customer reading' on the bill, I assumed someone came to read it? (meter is outside the house). but yes we did remember to do a closing reading at our old address, even got some money back from them

CharlieBilly

Make sure you get a key for meter so you can do your own. Living in a 3 bedroom end terraced will assuming you want same level of comfort more energy, a end terraced may be colder than say mid terraced too. Also check for insulation in loft is up spec and possible cavity walls

macman

Then you have an imperial meter which measures in 100's cu ft. £4 a day is hardly excessive in winter with the heating on all day. Once the heating goes off, your consumption will plummet, as it will only be used for hot water.
But if you failed to take an opening reading, you can't verify it anyway, you have to reply on the outgoing occupier's closing readings.
What is your actual kWh usage for that period?-that is more important than the £'s billed.
2.3 imperial meter units is about 74kWh, or £2.59 at 3.5p per kWh.

KaratePigeon

thanks, yeah kWh used = 3679.

Sounds like it's not that unreasonable then, guess I will just have to pay it and have the heating on a lot less in future!

jalexa

KaratePigeon wrote: »

Sounds like it's not that unreasonable then, guess I will just have...to have the heating on a lot less in future!

It will come down as the weather warms. Or it should but that depends on the effectiveness of the controls. I assume there is a roomstat. What temperature do you have it set to? Do your radiators have TRVs fitted? What number are they set to?

You can save by either or both reducing the heating hours or the heating temperature. Try reducing the temperature gradually until you begin to feel too cool.