Need help on switching gas supplier

Dorz

Hello, I am new to this forum and am needing some advice. I am wanting to see if there are any cheaper gas suppliers out there for our home. We are currently with Utility Warehouse and when ringing around yesterday I was told that because our annual consumption is very high (92,378 kWh), I would not be able to switch to another company on a domestic rate and would have to be a commercial rate. Obviously this is our house and not a business and I wanted to know if this was true?
If anybody has some advice out there I would be grateful.
Thank you:)

EPL

92,378 KWH a year ? do you live in a castle ?

When you say you were ringing around, who were you speaking too ?

Dorz

Ha - not quite, it's a farmhouse. I rang moneysupermarket and n-power.

dogshome

92,378 Kwh a year of gas is astounding.
It's a long shot, but check the front of your meter to see if it's marked m3, which is a METRIC meter, or ft3 which is an IMPERIAL meter.

Next look at a bill and divide the number of Kwh charged, by the meter units used -
If the answer is around11 you are being charged for a Metric meter
If it is around 31 you are being charged for an Imperial meter

It is possible that your supplier thinks you have an Imperial meter when in fact it is Metric, and if this has happened you are being charged for 181% more Kwh than you have used - So if the meters mark does not match the billing, get onto your supplier immediately as you are due a huge rebate

Mark you, even if this error has occured and it is corrected, you are still useing a huge 32,874 Kwh of gas a year, and the only way around this is to INSULATE, INSULATE and INSULATE

Dorz

Thanks for the info. Yes I have just checked and it is marked ft3 and the calculation equals 31.5 so seems to be correct for an imperial meter. Had my hopes up that they had got it wrong then!

notbritishgas

Dorz wrote: »

and when ringing around yesterday I was told that because our annual consumption is very high (92,378 kWh),:)

That figure is almost unbelievable, does it tie in with your annual cost, what do you pay a year?
On that consumption it would be between £3500 and £4000.

jalexa

Dorz wrote: »

Ha - not quite, it's a farmhouse.

Of course I agree with the insulate advice but I would say *probably* the biggest problem is too high a temperature for too long in too many rooms.

Review your system controls and fit TRVs.

Wywth

Dorz wrote: »

Hello, I am new to this forum and am needing some advice. I am wanting to see if there are any cheaper gas suppliers out there for our home. We are currently with Utility Warehouse and when ringing around yesterday I was told that because our annual consumption is very high (92,378 kWh), I would not be able to switch to another company on a domestic rate and would have to be a commercial rate. Obviously this is our house and not a business and I wanted to know if this was true?
If anybody has some advice out there I would be grateful.
Thank you:)

If you genuinely use that amount of gas, you could get a much better deal on individual, commercial tariff with a bit of bartering

dogshome

Hmmm - FARMHOUSE ?

It's a long shot, but sometime ago there was a thread regarding excessive Elec use at at a farmhouse that had been hived off from the farm and sold as a residential property, and it transpired that the meter was feeding a farm building still in use by it's owners

This wasn't a scam, but the farmhouse was old and as the farm developed over the years, power supplies were hooked-up to other farm buildings as required and the people who'd organised this were long gone

Other than crop-drying I can't think why Gas would be required in a farm building, but with your gas consumption it would be wise to get a check done on the all gas pipework
on your side of the meter to see what it is feeding.