Help! Incredible Electricity Bill from British Gas

Beth7820

Hi,

Thanks very much for the reply.

Being a 2-bed flat, I only have 6 radiators, one of which is permanently switched off. The others are controlled by a thermostat so even when the heating is on they go off when they reach the set temperature (about 21 degrees). I think that heating the water is responsible for a lot of the usage.

As you said, all I can do is be glad that it's nearly summer and think about moving before next winter if the landlord won't resolve the boiler problem.

Thanks again.

Yolina

21 degrees might explain the bill would you consider turning it down to 18 or 19 and wearing an extra layer instead? It would save you quite a bit.

Edit: about the hot water and since you mention a separate tank, how long do you have that on for every day? I find that just for me, and with my vintage 20+ year old gas boiler, 30 minutes a day give me enough hot water (just!) - obviously you'd need to adjust that depending on how many people live there but worth a bit of trial and error.

penrhyn

How do you control your heating system, is there a timer and a room thermostat?

BTW If you are on an economy 7 tarrif you will be paying a premium rate for you day units.
For example in the east midlands ebico charge 14.5p/ kwh on a single rate. However day rate E7 tarrif units cost 17.7p/kwh.

Beth7820

sacsquacco wrote: »

Hi Beth7820 , could you post the meter details such as meter make and how the readings are showing on the meter, eg 1 =read,2=read and total reading.any blinking readings or curser will point to which reading is in progress for the time of the day. eco 7 night rate is usually around 12.30 am to 7.30 am. One of British Gases favourite tricks is not only to transpose a digit but whole readings night and day mixed. I have seen and photographed many peoples transposed bills in the past.I believe they have a department called the transposition debt. I have seen many examples of people getting away with extremely low electric bills due to transposed night and day then Brit Gas suddenly get it right and then in comes the whopping bill to catch up

Hi,

That's really interesting, never heard of that before. I have been through the readings with British Gas, so I'm fairly sure it's not this, but I'll definitely take another look. Thank you!

Beth7820

penrhyn wrote: »

How do you control your heating system, is there a timer and a room thermostat?

BTW If you are on an economy 7 tarrif you will be paying a premium rate for you day units.
For example in the east midlands ebico charge 14.5p/ kwh on a single rate. However day rate E7 tarrif units cost 17.7p/kwh.

Yes, there's a timer and thermostats on the radiators, but I don't have the heating on very much anyway as we're out such a lot. I'm actually typing this at my cousin's house, won't be home before 8pm (just leaving), which is about usual.

I think I am on the wrong tariff, so definitely need to get that sorted.

Thanks.

victor2

From what was said earlier, it sounds like you have an economy 7 meter, but are not on an economy 7 tariff, so the separate readings for day and night use will be added together and all charged at one rate. If you are on a standard tariff, there are certainly cheaper ones available and BG should be able to offer you one. You obviously don't have any annual usage figures, but can just use approximations for the comparison sites to get an idea what is available.

Aki123

Yolina wrote: »

21 degrees might explain the bill would you consider turning it down to 18 or 19 and wearing an extra layer instead? It would save you quite a bit.

Edit: about the hot water and since you mention a separate tank, how long do you have that on for every day? I find that just for me, and with my vintage 20+ year old gas boiler, 30 minutes a day give me enough hot water (just!) - obviously you'd need to adjust that depending on how many people live there but worth a bit of trial and error.

Hi Yolina

Original poster here again. Cousin has just had to dash off, but I'll make sure she sees this. I'm not sure how often she has the boiler on, will need to get her to check. Cheers for the suggestions.

Aki123

victor2 wrote: »

From what was said earlier, it sounds like you have an economy 7 meter, but are not on an economy 7 tariff, so the separate readings for day and night use will be added together and all charged at one rate. If you are on a standard tariff, there are certainly cheaper ones available and BG should be able to offer you one. You obviously don't have any annual usage figures, but can just use approximations for the comparison sites to get an idea what is available.

Thanks Victor2, cousin has had to dash off now. I think you're right and she'll have to get the tariff changed as a priority.

Many thanks for all your help.

jalexa

Beth7820 wrote: »

I think I am on the wrong tariff, so definitely need to get that sorted.

Maybe but the big costs are a result of heating to 21deg with electric heating.

There is info about Amptec online so I understand the principle but not the exact timer and thermostat features on your particular installation.

Terrylw1

Hi Beth,

You mentioned that the night rate didn't move...was this after using appliances in the night hours? If so, it seems your landlord has rewired the property and connected everything o the day rate circuit so the meter will function as day only. This will cause your supplier headaches as it will look like a faulty meter to them so expect calls and visits from engineers to investigate it. If the heating system is non e7 the meter should changed but you would one a 1 rate customer, however if your night is not moving now you will never get a cheap night rate as its driven by the night rate readings advancing.

The test Bgas asked you to do is a good way to prove that your heating is the problem. Its down to what that uses so I think you need to see what kwh is uses. That's the first step to see if its working the way it should be. If it ism the landlord has made a bad commercial decision and you need some legal advice which might mean the cab. If the system is set up correct but uses way too much, perhaps its faults and compensation time.