Using nearly 6 times as much gas as last year?

emmielou

My gas bill shows that we are apparently using nearly 6 times as much gas as we did last year but the heating/hot water is on about the same.

I have contacted the gas company but I wondered if anyone had any ideas how this could be occuring whilst I wait for Npower to actually come back to me? I this goes on, i'll go bankrupt!!

Could the boiler have something wrong with it? I'm guessing we don't have a gas leak as we haven't blown up yet!

The electric usage is the same as last year.

bryanb

Actual readings or estimated?

Fire_Fox

Is the bill based on actual or estimated readings, have you double and triple checked these? Are the units (cubic feet or metres) same on the meter as the bill? When was your boiler last serviced?

If the bill is correct then you probably have a leak or a faulty meter.

victor2

Haven't had your meter changed from imperial to metric, but are still being billed as if it's imperial by any chance? That would account for usage being about 3 times what it really is.
This winter has been considerably colder than the previous one, so that could account for some of the higher usage.
Good point about estimated and actual readings as well.

emmielou

These are actual readings and I don't think the meter has been changed - The house is only about 10 years old.

I first noticed the high readings of around 4 times about a month ago so did an actual reading last month and followed it up with another this month and it is now nearly 6 times. My dual fuel bill has doubled as a result - I have never had such high bills.

Whose responsibility would it be if there is a problem with the meter? Presumably its not an internal leak as we would have smelt it in the house.

Crumbs. Could this be dangerous?

Fire_Fox

emmielou wrote: »

These are actual readings and I don't think the meter has been changed - The house is only about 10 years old.

I first noticed the high readings of around 4 times about a month ago so did an actual reading last month and followed it up with another this month and it is now nearly 6 times. My dual fuel bill has doubled as a result - I have never had such high bills.

Whose responsibility would it be if there is a problem with the meter? Presumably its not an internal leak as we would have smelt it in the house.

Crumbs. Could this be dangerous?

Don't think, meters must be replaced within ten years IIRC and some suppliers are moving over to smart meters. I had a new one last year and this block is nine years since conversion. Double and triple check everything in this thread regardless of how unlikely it seems. Think Sherlock!

Gas leak is dangerous, faulty meter needs testing and replacing by the supplier could be just a wonky mechanism. Free replacement if faulty, you pay if not. Please DO NOT presume anything, work through the easy-to-check stuff logically then move onto that which requires bringing in the professionals.

victor2

Quick way to check for a leak (which you would almost certainly smell, even if it was leaking to the outside) is to make sure all gas appliances are turned off, then read your meter and after an hour read it again. There should not be even a fraction of a unit of usage recorded.
To check what your boiler is using, switch the central heating on (with a cold house) and record what it uses over the first hour. Post your boiler type and your readings (state if a metric or imperial meter) and someone will be able to tell you if that's reasonable, particularly if you're looking for a 6 fold discrepancy.

Wywth

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Don't think, meters must be replaced within ten years IIRC ...

I think it was only ten years for the battery operated ones (because that was as long as the battery would last), and most of these have now been replaced with more traditional meters without batteries. These, I believe, last about 20 years before being replaced.

victor2

The installation date on my gas meter is 1998, so 10 years has well passed. Suppose I'll get one of those new fangled metric ones next time...;)

macman

Post your actual comparative kWh figures and dates across the 2 years.
If your gas usage has really increased 600%, then your DD would have gone up more than 200%.
Do you have debt on the account? Have your verified the billing against actual meter readings?

emmielou

I switched everything off last night for an hour and the meter didn't move.

Switched the heating on for an hour at 20c - the reading went from 12491 to 12492.

Its a Potterton Suprima.

Any other suggestions what could be causing the high reading/usage?