Gas Utility Charges

joeshmo

I was brought up to think gas was cheaper than electricity and since i bought my house and everyone nowadays mentions rising utility costs, i have never thought 'why is my bill so expensive' and looked into it and instead ive just accepted it as being so.
Well because i considered the gas so expensive, i changed the usage in my house. A simple question really guys, looking at one of my 3 month bills, is it normal for 84 units metric meter reading to cost around 58 pounds total on a bill for gas? It probably is. It is just that i have cut right back to the extent of not really heating the house but using the gas only for hot water (worcester boiler) and it made me think what the gas bills must be like for everyone else.
Back in 2009 and earlier i was paying 40 pounds a month for gas alone which made me cut back and look for options so i am not a skinflint wrt this but its the fact i am hardly using it and still paying a reasonable amount.

molerat

With standing charges probably about right, over 3 months that consumption would cost me a total of £49. It costs 23p a day just to have a gas pipe.

dogshome

£58 for 84 units through a Metric meter is about right - However the key question is which particular 3 months did the bill cover ?

The rule of thumb is that 80% of your Annual gas costs will be incurred in the Winter months, so if this bill covers a Winter period your economy measures are really paying off

macman

Gas is much cheaper than electricity. About 4p per kWh compared to 12p per kWh. So switching heating/hot water to electricity will vastly increase your bills.
What matters is your actual usage, not what your DD is set at.

Wywth

joeshmo wrote: »

I was brought up to think gas was cheaper than electricity and since i bought my house and everyone nowadays mentions rising utility costs, i have never thought 'why is my bill so expensive' and looked into it and instead ive just accepted it as being so.
Well because i considered the gas so expensive, i changed the usage in my house. A simple question really guys, looking at one of my 3 month bills, is it normal for 84 units metric meter reading to cost around 58 pounds total on a bill for gas? It probably is. It is just that i have cut right back to the extent of not really heating the house but using the gas only for hot water (worcester boiler) and it made me think what the gas bills must be like for everyone else.
Back in 2009 and earlier i was paying 40 pounds a month for gas alone which made me cut back and look for options so i am not a skinflint wrt this but its the fact i am hardly using it and still paying a reasonable amount.

It would have cost less than £48 with Ebico

Why not consult a comparison site and find the best deal for you?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

joeshmo

ok ,thanks for your answers guys.
ok, looking at another bill, 53 units is £63-25 over 6 months from March to October last year. i am 100 percent certain central heating if used was for not more than 3 days of 8 hours total if at all so over that 6 months and maybe gas fire of 10 hours total, so gas was mainly used for hot water i am guessing. (my bill states 53units (asterix and asterix states which equals 599kwh with a calorific value of 39.8).

i have just looked at my gas meter and it shows 89 units over the last 3.5 months, which is strangely similar to my previously quoted amount from the past bill and i have used the gas fire in the lounge a little bit thinking well that cant be whats costing all the money. bill does seem more expensive whenever i use the gas fire even for such small amounts.
now i think i have figured it out. to quote my 'Worcester Bosch Group 24i/28i Junior Boiler User Instructions & Customer Care Guide', "The Worcester ijunior models are combined domestic hot water and central heating appliances.They consist of a gas fired boiler having a varying output of between 7.5kw and 23.5kw(24i junior) or 8.0 and 27.5kw(28i junior),and .................The appliance can operate in one of two modes. Hot water only or hot water and central heating." on the next page (pg4) under the heading 'hot water and central heating mode', "a demand for hot water at a tap or shower will overide the central heating function for the period of the domestic hot water demand." Now i have guestimated it takes 8 minutes to fill a bath and i have always kept the dial fully clockwise not realising because installer didnt fully explain which would have ingrained it and well i forgot.. (when i got it i looked at manual on installation after he left and i realised but after a winter of it stopping and me repeatedly pressing the red triangle and resetting fully to the right it kind of educated me to leave it turned to the right. and in winter it kept stopping and not lighting. manual indicates starting fully right and stopping fully left(which i assume is for maintenance purposes).) edit:: the boiler light working light automatically comes on when i turn on the hot water and switches off when i turn
it off just for information sake

taking the 8 minutes into account and assuming the hot water override is NOT working, it adds up to approximately that cost. seems too convenient a solution to me but the figures approximate to one another-i have been having expensive baths.
i think i have always assumed life is or should be simplicity, kind of like plug and play. i am assuming my gas fire even though it has a local lighter is hooked up to the main combiboiler/network somehow because the bill seems higher whenever i have used the gas fire and it has been for a short period maybe a week of 4 or 5 days heating for 2 hours then i will think better of it and stop until maybe months later when i do the same again and has only been when extremely cold and heating a single room for a short period doesnt add up to the figures..

my gas fire(which came with the house) info on front behind removable grill is 'Ashleigh High-Tech, Appliance cat I2H EN437, Energy Input 6.2kW,Setting Pressure 18.4mbar, Inlet Pressure 20mbar,Injector Stereo77, Pilot Rate 210w. there is no output statement.
i have worked out that my portable ecocadiz radiator is approx 30p per hour on the dual side quick heat setting and they say gas is cheaper than electricity. the figures just dont equate when i look at the measures and cutbacks i have made in comparison to my bill.
i wish there was someone in life you could just ask.

lol a tad confused with it all.

billing periods: supplied as i give readings and 6 monthly if not

joeshmo

Hmm well still interested to hear what you guys think. Could that stated in last post be a reason?