Exceptionally high monthly gas payments!!

SnowQueen

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone is experiencing the same as us and if there is any mechanism in place for a fuel supplier to come and check the house and it's gas / electric supply out?

We live in a semi which has had brand new double glazing throughout and as far as I know already had cavity wall insulation. We're currently with BG on a dual fuel online tariff and switched the heating off several months ago.

I've just submitted our meter readings and got a current bill amount coming in at £430. We are paying £143 per month for gas as it is which we feel is steep considering as mentioned above the central heating hasn't been on for months, the house is empty during the day therefore the only time the boiler springs into life at the moment is either when we shower or have a ring burning on the cooker top which is once a day.

Does anyone else feel this is a bit steep or are currently experiencing the same? Or is this about normal.

Interestingly enough I've done some shopping about this morning to see if any other providers can beat BG. Several have come in and one of the best (if it is to be believed) say they can provide dual fuel £150 / year less than BG however they are in partnership with said supplier!!

How does that work??

If anyone has any suggestions would be gratefully received as coming to the end of my tether with high utility bills!! :mad:

Thanks

Cardew

SnowQueen wrote: »

Hi all







Interestingly enough I've done some shopping about this morning to see if any other providers can beat BG. Several have come in and one of the best (if it is to be believed) say they can provide dual fuel £150 / year less than BG however they are in partnership with said supplier!!

How does that work??

How does that work? - Simple! the call centre staff are on commission and will quote as low as it takes to get your custom.

The level of your Direct Debit is no indication of the overall cost.

You need to give your annual consumption for gas and electricity in kWh.

The average consumption is 16,500kWh gas and 3,300kWh electricity, and thus around £1,300 a year.

However there are many factors that can affect consumption. Insulation, boiler efficiency, temperature of rooms, in all day or out at work etc etc

LeafGreen

Sounds far too high to me!
Can you post your meter reading figures for 2 most recent times, including dates?
I am assuming you have double checked that there are no obvious errors in the readings that you have taken (extra digits etc).

dogshome

As Cardew has posted, what you spend isn't the correct measure by which to judge your Gas/Elec bills - It's the amount of Kwh you use a Day/Month/Year that you need to keep a check on -If you entered your £'s spent on the Switch sites and not the Kwh you use in a year, you won't have got accurate answers

However
On the assumption that the £430 bill you have had is for the last 3 months, and that it does not include a catch-up reading where a previous bill has been issued on an Estimated reading that was too low, this bill is for around 9400 Kwh, which is a LOT for 3 months
Also
You say your monthly D/Debit value is £143, once again assuming that the D/D is not set high to claw back previous debt, your annual spend is £1,716 which roughly equates to a consumption of 37,250 Kwh, which is a HUGE amount for a 3 bed semi

With 2 very different types of Gas Meter in service, there can be an increasingly rare but still existant screw-up in Gas Billing - Newer METRIC meters are marked m3, whilst older IMPERIAL metres are marked ft 3

Check to see which your is, then on the bill divide the Kwh charged by the number of meter units used - If the answer is appx 11 you are being chargedfor a Metric meter
If the answer is appx 31 you are being charged for an Imperial meter
If the answer doesn't match the meters marking, get onto BG immediately

SnowQueen

Hi

Thanks for your replies. Need to look at the meter and try and fathom it all out. Will hopefully get to the bottom of it eventually.

Cheers