help with gas usage? few different questions! help pls!

snowfairy84

Can anyone offer me some advice please?

I have just moved into a small 3 bed terrace which has a prepay eon gas meter - i get charged a standing charge of 27p per day and 4.25p per 'normal unit' - can anyone advise what a normal unit is? is it how much gas you use per hour?

The reason I ask is some days when I have the heating on intermittently through out the day - say couple of hours in the morning then the afternoon and into early evening I can use up to £8.00 in one day ? does this seem correct? I have a very efficient new boiler as the guy who owns the house has a heating firm so i have best one installed - I make sure the setting is on low temp wise not much above the summer setting tbf.

Items I have on gas are - hot water for shower, bath, sinks etc, radiators, gas oven.

Does anyone no if my washing machine would run off gas or the electric?

Can anyone offer any tips as to where I might be going wrong - comparing unit prices with other companies it doesn't seem I am paying an extortionate amount per unit so where am I going wrong?

Thanks everyone!

macman

A meter unit of gas is either a cu m or 100 cu ft, depending on whether you have a metric or imperial meter (its marked on it). These are simply units of volume; for billing purposes the volume is converted to energy in kWh units.
The amount of gas you use per hour is variable, a kWh is a fixed amount of energy. So you need to say which type of meter you have, and how many meter units you are using to get your calculation of £8.
Did you register for a account and obtain your own key or card? If not then you may be paying off the debt of the previous occupier.
A cold fill washing machine (all new machines) heats it's own water, so no gas. An older washing machine will be hot and cold fill, so uses the hot water supply. So if it's fed by a cold supply only, no gas is used.
It doesn't matter if the temp you have set is the same as the summer, what matters is the ambient temp that it's heating the house from, which is obviously much lower in winter. That is what determines your gas usage.

Wywth

snowfairy84 wrote: »

Can anyone offer me some advice please?

I have just moved into a small 3 bed terrace which has a prepay eon gas meter - i get charged a standing charge of 27p per day and 4.25p per 'normal unit' - can anyone advise what a normal unit is? is it how much gas you use per hour?

The reason I ask is some days when I have the heating on intermittently through out the day - say couple of hours in the morning then the afternoon and into early evening I can use up to £8.00 in one day ? does this seem correct? I have a very efficient new boiler as the guy who owns the house has a heating firm so i have best one installed - I make sure the setting is on low temp wise not much above the summer setting tbf.

Items I have on gas are - hot water for shower, bath, sinks etc, radiators, gas oven.

Does anyone no if my washing machine would run off gas or the electric?

Can anyone offer any tips as to where I might be going wrong - comparing unit prices with other companies it doesn't seem I am paying an extortionate amount per unit so where am I going wrong?

Thanks everyone!

A gas unit is a kWh.

Your washing machine will run on electricity. Unless the washing machine is a dual fill one (hot & cold water), then it will have no affect on your gas consumption.
Most modern washing machines are cold fill only.

Use a comparison site to find the best supplier/prepayment tariff for you.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi snowfairy

Just a bit of info about your gas meter.

As macman says, the meter will be either metric or imperial. To convert the meter units shown into kWh, there's a quick calculation you can do.

For metric meters, multiply the number of meter units by 11.2. For imperial meters, multiply by 31.5. This will give you an approximate figure of how many kWh are involved.

For an accurate conversion, there's a calculation you can use that's listed on the bills and our website.

Macman also makes a good point about making sure you're using your own top up card. If not, have a chat with our prepayment guys. They'll make sure the account is set up properly and send you a new card.

Another thing to be aware of with prepayment meters is the Emergency Credit. If you use this, the standing charge and any debt that may be on the meter will be suspended until the next time you top up.

Once the meter is topped up, it will reclaim the amount of gas used whilst in Emergency plus the standing charge/debt previously suspended.

This can look like usage has suddenly spiked. Not saying this applies to you, just something to be aware of.

We've an Energy Efficiency team who might be able to help reduce your usage a bit. Tell them about the property and your appliances, they'll be happy to advise of any ways you might be able to save.

Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful ideas to help you cut back.

Check out our website, too. Particularly, the 'Interactive House' and 'Energy Menu.' More good tips here.

Hope this is of some use snowfairy. Give me a shout if you need any more info as will be happy to help.

Malc

snowfairy84

thanks for the help i will work out whether i am using imperial or metric - i have set up my own account - there is no debt on the account and no emergency credit being used.

thanks

Wywth

So does the 4.25p per 'normal unit' relate to kWh as I said, or something else??? :huh::

If Eon can supply 1 cubic metre of gas, let alone 100 cubic feet of gas, for just 4.25p, let me know exactly where to sign up. I'll even willingly pay the 5% vat on top if necessary :cool: