Big jump in gas usage

onetimeatponycamp

My gas bills suddenly went up a few months ago. I thought I would switch supplier so logged on to look at the usage, and I noticed that it wasn't so much that the price that had gone up, but that apparently my usage had increased - a LOT :eek:

The thing is, I haven't been using anymore gas than before - I live alone in a 1 bed flat and have a combi boiler and an electric cooker. In summer my only gas usage is a max of 2 showers a day and a very small amount of washing up (I don't really cook!). In winter I would have the heating on for maybe 2-4 hours a night and 1 hour in the morning.

For Oct 2010 - Sep 2011 my usage was 1394.1
For Oct 2011 to date it is already 7666.15

Now even if my usage has gone up in this last year, I don't see how it's possible that I would use SO much more gas?! Also, at this rate, by the end of this year I will have used 13760 which surely seems too high for 1 person who is hardly ever in their 1 bed flat without a gas cooker?!

I have contacted British Gas and they have said that I can book a meter accuracy test, but if the meter is found to be accurate then they will charge me for the test.

I was just wondering, before I do this, whether there is anything else I should look into? Is it possible there is a leak or that someone else is using my gas? Thanks!

Terrylw1

What readings is this based on, estimated or actual? Does your meter match to the bill so they are both Imperial or Metric? Have they applied the calculation in kwh correctly on the bill?

Check each bill/read to see where it occurred and see if anything odd is on there.

Billing errors are very common as opposed to faulty meters, so check all this first.

lemontart

In the past few months due to the weather we have all stayed in more and used more gas and electricity than usual for this time of year to that may well reflect in a increase in bills

dogshome

Hi onetime....... The meter unit numbers you list on your post don't make any sense, are you absolutely sure that the meter has not been mis-read ?

Your Oct 10 - Sept 11 total of 1394.1 meter units converts to appx. 15,362 Kwh for chargeing - £620 a Year ? - which is quite high for a 1 Bed flat, but just about feasable if the flat has poor insulation and is in a cold area of the country

Your Oct 11 - July 12 total of 7666.15 converts to appx. 85,860 chargeable Kwh - £3,434 for 10 months !

Check, check and re-check those meter readings
Then if you are certain of your figures, put them in WRITING to BG and opt for the meter test as you either have a failed meter or a serious gas leak