Help! just had a bill from Calor for £550

Lum

I'm on a metered estate with a Calor gas meter. Have lived here for six months now. Calor have been sending me bills for approximately £110 a month. I've just now had one for £547.83!

This one includes meter readings, it says

Reading 01/10/12 to 15/01/13
Current: 0006536E Previous: 0006256M
Total LPG used =
280 Metric Cubic Metres X 3.85000

1,078.00 LT

It's 47ppl + 5% VAT = £531.99 and a standing charge of £15.84 bringing me up to £547.83

I've just gone out and read the meter and the actual value on it is 6850M^3 which in theory means I've gone through another £500 worth in the last 3 weeks.

It's a 4 bedroom bungalow so I never expected it to be super cheap to heat but even so something isn't right here, can anyone give me an idea what's going on? What do the E and the M mean on a Calor meter reading?

Edit to add: When we moved in in July the reading was 6144M^3 so taking those figures at face value:

15/06/2012 - 6144M^3 (Read by me)
01/10/2012 - 6256M (Claimed by Calor)
15/01/2013 - 6536E (Claimed by Calor)
08/02/2013 - 6850M^3 (Read by me)

By my own calculation, since we've moved in, we've used 706M^3 of gas in 8 months, that's 2718 litres or 339.76 litres a month which should be costing me £159/month, admittedly more than the £110 or so a month they've been charging me but doesn't explain the £547 bill.

spiro

At a guess M equals Meter Reading (actual), E equals Estimate.

Ignore how much you have used in the last 3 weeks because the start reading is an estimate.

macman

It was very cold in January, if you hadn't noticed. And LPG is about the most expensive way of heating a property there is.

Silent_Dancer

Sounds genuine given the weather.

To reduce your bill your options are:

1. Insulation
2. Install better heating controls and reduce temperature.
3. Use alternative fuel for heating. Oil is cheapest in terms of unit and installation cost. Low running costs can be achieved with heat pumps but the installation is at least 3 times the cost of an oil system.

ilikecookies

Folks around my way report they get through about £100 of LPG per week in the coldest months so unfortunately your figures could be correct

Lum

Tried to get loft insulation when they were doing the free installs, but they refused to do it because the existing insulation is a mess.
Already added a thermostat.
Can't switch to oil as it's a rented property and a listed building.

This is not good.. We only moved here because the place is wheelchair accessible. Didn't realise it would cost this much to stay warm in the winter! Looks like we've spent another £500 on top of what Calor are asking for too!

welshmoneylover

Get a multi fuel stove installed

macman

The cost of paying for your own loft insulation will be vastly outweighed by the saving in energy if it's inadequate. At your current rate of fuel burn, yoiu'd get it back in a couple of months.
I can't believe that you are complaining about LPG bills if you knowingly have a poorly insulated loft.
Since it's rented, won't your LL contribute?

Lum

Well the survey was only done a few weeks ago, where they basically refused to do the work, despite me actually requesting it back at the start of November. I also had no idea quite how much LPG would cost, this being my first winter in a LPG heated property.

The LL won't do a damn thing. They wont even fix the gate entry system, or decide what they want me to do with their washing machine that failed shortly after we moved in. If it wasn't for the whole wheelchair access thing we'd be long gone from this bungalow.

macman

I'd do it yourself if you are thinking of staying.

Lum

Yes I'm pretty much going to have to. Not going to be an easy job, and not sure how to deal with the amount of cables and water pipes that run through there.