Recently moved in - question about starting Gas/Elec bills

joshtbh

Hi,

I moved in at the start of November, and soon after I reiceved a letter from British Gas telling me they were the ones supplying my Gas & Elec currently. So I paid them what they asked for the first bill for the period between the previous owners moving out, and me to the end of my first month or so. This totalled £220. I thought it was expensive so I shopped around.

By the middle of Dec I'd initiated a transfer to co-operative energy, who seemed to be the cheapest for my area, and by 12 Jan I was a Co-op customer.

Now my 2nd bill came through for my 2nd month under British Gas, again in the region of £220. I just calculated my actual usage for a month under Co-op's prices,and it comes to £70. (300kWh of Elec, and 400kWh of Gas) (Co-op only charged me £55 so far, which to me seems an arbitrary figure until my second meter read) So I can't understand why it would be so much more from BG, I was put on the BG standard tarrif which is the most expensive, but the costs per unit don't seem to be head and shoulders more than Co-op.

I really can't work out why BG came in so much more, but I'm holding off paying that 2nd bill as it seems too high, can anyone shed any light on new movers and whether BG try to rip off in the winter or something please?

thanks in advance

EDIT: I've just checked and i'm not using 400kWh of Gas but actually 400 cubic metres of gas.....although that would surely make my £70 calculation even smaller!?

Nada666

400 metric meter units is about (x 11) 4,400 kWh - just under £200 (including tier 1/standing charge) at the very best prices. There is no way that the Co-op would only charge you £70 for using more than four thousand kWhs!

There will not be more than a five to fifteen percent difference in prices between the companies or tariffs - look again at meter readings, dates, starting readings, and check your units - as you added yourself, multiply meter units by 11 (or 11.21) to convert to kWhs.

macman

Are your BT bills actuals or estimates?
400 cu m of gas is approx 4,545kWh, or around £181, plus S/C's.

Nada666

... and don't forget your gas bill will drop by sixty to eighty percent and more once the central heating is off.

joshtbh

Thanks for the replies, however much I winced to hear them!!

I have put meter readings in on Co-op so I suppose they will start to increase my DD soon :-( roll on summer!!!! :rotfl:

Fire_Fox

Are you on the best tariff with BG or just on standard? Continue to read your own meters and monitor your own usage. Being frugal will make far more difference to your bills than switching ever will - consider insulation, not heating all rooms (electric underblanket on bed costs pennies to run), turning the heat down slightly or on fewer hours, shorter showers, laundry at lower temperatures, air drying washing outdoors instead of tumble dryer.

joshtbh

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Are you on the best tariff with BG or just on standard? Continue to read your own meters and monitor your own usage. Being frugal will make far more difference to your bills than switching ever will - consider insulation, not heating all rooms (electric underblanket on bed costs pennies to run), turning the heat down slightly or on fewer hours, shorter showers, laundry at lower temperatures, air drying washing outdoors instead of tumble dryer.

I was on the most expensive tariff, the standard one. I had a bad experience with them in the past which is the only reason I switched, like you I agree that there isn't much between each company's prices.

Thanks for the tips, when my first BG bill came in, I noticed that every single radiator had thermostatic valves, but they were all on full! so I knocked most rooms down to "icicle" and only the rooms I use near full. I'm also in the process of fine-tuning the programmer, so I'm not heating longer than I need, and the Hot Water is heated at the correct times etc. (I'm on a traditional boiler). Since the first BG bill, and with the above adjustments, my cubic gas usage still doesn't appear to have reduced :-/