Gas Bill HUGE! Help!!!

dogshome

OK - You have a good result and that bill for £550 should be reduced to around £202

You are lucky in that the Imperial v Metric billing problem has been picked up within 3 months of your occupancy, but spare a thought for the previous tenant who was paying 181% more for their gas for the entire period of their occupation - Get onto the Letting Agents and ask them to advise the previous tenant of the problem, as they are owed a great deal more money by the supplier

laurlou

dogshome wrote: »

OK - You have a good result and that bill for £550 should be reduced to around £202

You are lucky in that the Imperial v Metric billing problem has been picked up within 3 months of your occupancy, but spare a thought for the previous tenant who was paying 181% more for their gas for the entire period of their occupation - Get onto the Letting Agents and ask them to advise the previous tenant of the problem, as they are owed a great deal more money by the supplier

Thank you...I think its because Im switching supplier they have come to realise maybe..not sure.

My neighbour knows the previous tenants so Ill get her to pass on the message my letting agents are terrible!

laurlou

paulmapp8306 wrote: »

Glad it worked out for you - though the new cost is still a little expensive.

Juts done my own calculations, and from 6th March until today - so 42 days, my gas bill will be £138.39. Works out at around £3.30 per day - so for the extra 6 days your bill is from would equate to £158.16. Im in a similar house, and I guess there not that far appart.

Thats the cost of stupidly high energy prices and a really cold March.

gosh gas is expensive! im hoping by switching i get some cheaper bills. Ive always been on Economy 7 electric only in the past and i am in such shock at how much energy costs!!

Fire_Fox

Report all problems to the landlord in writing, keep a copy to protect yourself in case they try to deduct anything from your damage deposit. If no action is taken involve Environmental Health at the local council in anything that is a major repairing issue or elfin safety hazard.

macman

laurlou wrote: »

gosh gas is expensive! im hoping by switching i get some cheaper bills. Ive always been on Economy 7 electric only in the past and i am in such shock at how much energy costs!!

Incorrect, gas is cheaper per kWh than all-electric heating of any kind-even E7.
And about a third of the cost of single rate electric heating.

Dunroamin

Do you cook and heat your water by gas as well as heat the house?

paulmapp8306

macman wrote: »

Incorrect, gas is cheaper per kWh than all-electric heating of any kind-even E7.
And about a third of the cost of single rate electric heating.

Kind of. Gas is cheaper than electric per KW, but you use more KW of Gas than electric to achieve a task (ie heating or cooking). Generally Gas does work out cheaper - but not that much and it does depend on your appliances.

For instance, cooking on Gas in generally cheaper than on electric - unless you have an induction hob which is actually cheaper to run than gas. The same goes for showering. Electric showers generally cost more than heating up water by gas for the average shower - however, if you use the whole tank having a nice long shower it can be more expensive than the same time under an electric shower.

Im on the cheapest tariff I could find in August last year, and its still one of the cheapest 3 available. I have cavity wall and loft insulation to the latest standards, new double glazing with energy saving glass, all my kitchen appliances are new A+++ rated appliances, and I have solar panels on the roof. The only thing I can now do is replace the boiler which is 20 years old (and will probably be done in the summer) though the cost of the replacement outweighs the savings in running the boilers. Despite all this, and managing my electric useage (that is putting on washing machines when the panels are generating enough spare electric etc). Despite this, my combined bill for the last 42 days is £220. OK we had heating on pretty much from 6am to 9pm over march due to the weather (were in all day), though it was only set to 19 deg - and there were some electric heaters used overnight on 3-4 occasions due to having a new kitchen fitted and needing to dry the plaster out - but even taking that into account, the bill would still have been around £150 per month.

pauletruth

mabe the green deal would be an option for replacing the boiler.

paulmapp8306

Nope. Its terrible in truth. You have to use their "authorised installers" which are the big guns. While the cost is offset, and you can pay from the savings you make - the cost of the replacement is silly money.

British Gas came and gave a quote at £3200, where as my independent can fit the same boiler and give better after care for £1700.

Given as Ill have the money in August (from a lump sum I have coming in that will also pay for a bathroom update) its stupid to look at the green deal.

Having looked at the details, it doesnt pay to change your boiler - even if its an old G rated inefficient one. The only time the green deal would make any sense is if you boiler was broken and you dont have the funds available to pay for a replacement outright.


Im also VERY doubtful of the savings you can make with the energy efficiency measures. If you add up the savings I "can expect to make" from changing the boiler, adding the roof insulation and wall insulation (both dont last summer), changing the windows (just done), having solar panels (Feb this year) and getting new appliances (last month) then Id be saving 110% on my energy bills. That would mean them paying me to use the energy.

macman

paulmapp8306 wrote: »

Kind of. Gas is cheaper than electric per KW, but you use more KW of Gas than electric to achieve a task (ie heating or cooking). Generally Gas does work out cheaper - but not that much and it does depend on your appliances.

For instance, cooking on Gas in generally cheaper than on electric - unless you have an induction hob which is actually cheaper to run than gas. The same goes for showering. Electric showers generally cost more than heating up water by gas for the average shower - however, if you use the whole tank having a nice long shower it can be more expensive than the same time under an electric shower.

Im on the cheapest tariff I could find in August last year, and its still one of the cheapest 3 available. I have cavity wall and loft insulation to the latest standards, new double glazing with energy saving glass, all my kitchen appliances are new A+++ rated appliances, and I have solar panels on the roof. The only thing I can now do is replace the boiler which is 20 years old (and will probably be done in the summer) though the cost of the replacement outweighs the savings in running the boilers. Despite all this, and managing my electric useage (that is putting on washing machines when the panels are generating enough spare electric etc). Despite this, my combined bill for the last 42 days is £220. OK we had heating on pretty much from 6am to 9pm over march due to the weather (were in all day), though it was only set to 19 deg - and there were some electric heaters used overnight on 3-4 occasions due to having a new kitchen fitted and needing to dry the plaster out - but even taking that into account, the bill would still have been around £150 per month.

Yes, electric heating is 100% efficient, but that doesn't begin to wipe out the huge cost differential between gas and electricity. So 'not that much' is incorrect.
An electric shower doesn't generally cost more, it always costs more, unless you take your showers during the E7 cheap rate hours, when it will be comparatively cheap. Your argument about wasted stored hot water does not apply to the many properties which use combi boilers. And even in those that have stored hot water, the heat lost serves to warm the house, so is not directly wasted. A well-lagged tank has minimal heat loss during the day.