British Gas tell me I'm not paying enough ... but using a fraction of their forecast

LuSiVe

Bought a house in May, so for the first time I'm responsible for the gas and electric supply. Inherited British Gas so decided to stick with them until the first bill.

I'm paying £77 a month by direct debit for dual fuel - split 33 electric / 44 gas. It's just me in a 2 bedroom semi, so this seemed a bit high to me.

Just done the meter readings, and the online account says I'm not paying enough. But I'm £170 in credit ... and I've only paid them £240 so far!

Based on their forecast usage I'm only using a fraction of their prediction:

Gas
May 13 - Aug 13
Estimated £67.90 1405.92 kWh
Actual £29.29 276.30 kWh

Electric
May 13 - Aug 13
Estimated £68.84 482.13 kWh
Actual £30.67 250.00 kWh

If I check on switching sites, even putting in double what I've used to account for seasonal variations, I shouldn't be spending anywhere near £77 a month ... so what am I missing?

SwanJon

Remember that without your readings they are only guessing at what you are using.
It sounds like these are the first readings you have given them since you moved in, so they had very little to go on. (you did give them readings when you moved in?)
You can use this quarter to guess at your annual consumption, but this will probably be your lowest one.
Assuming you use gas for heating and hot water:
Electricity doesn't vary much, but you will use a bit more in the winter, so my guess is around 1,500kWh for the year.
Gas is a lot more variable and the weather has a lot more to play, so a summer quarter could be as little as a tenth of a winter one. It all comes down to the house, insulation etc.
Guess at around 8,000 kWh.

You could plug these figures into a comparison site to find a good tariff, but be aware they are guesses. Whichever supplier you choose, I'd give them readings on a monthly basis for at least a year until they have a better idea of your consumption.

warwicktiger

Also building up for increased heating costs in winter?

LuSiVe

I gave them meter readings when I moved in, and the bill has been calculated on yesterday's actual readings. But shouldn't they be charging me enough to cover their forecast usage?

Even putting 1,600kWh a year for the electricity and 8,000kWh for the gas into the Cheap Energy Club switch calculator indicates a current spend of £56/month for British Gas on the tariff I'm on, so surely at £77 a month I'm at the very least paying enough?

SwanJon

It does sound on the high side, but they'll be using more information than I have.
You don't need to change the DD now, but keep putting in the readings to see how this changes - it might be that you use more gas than I've guessed (the Ofgem average is 16,500 kWh)
If you swap suppliers, keep putting the readings in too.

CRISPIANNE3

This is another good reason for paying by variable dd. At least I have more control over my payment rather than spreading the cost evenly over the 12 months.

And no I am not paying over the odds.

LuSiVe

OK, by changing to 12,000 kWh/year for gas and 2400 kWh/year for electricity I get the switch calculator telling me roughly what I'm paying now, and advises a switch to M&S Energy.

I still think those are way too high but I guess better than way round ...

macman

LuSiVe wrote: »

OK, by changing to 12,000 kWh/year for gas and 2400 kWh/year for electricity I get the switch calculator telling me roughly what I'm paying now, and advises a switch to M&S Energy.

I still think those are way too high but I guess better than way round ...

No. Those figures are approx 66% of the UK average of gas 16,500kWh and electricity 3,300kWh.

StuC75

Winter usage will be a lot higher than what you are running at now... the Utilities want you to build up credit now so that it balances back to zero after higher usage in winter..

For reference - 3 bedroom house - 'mostly' just Me, and kids at weekends,, and paying 60 gas \ 36 elec.. my recent gas bills being £10 a month.. but a know in winter can easily go over £130 with heating (gas for hot water and heating)..

LuSiVe

macman wrote: »

No. Those figures are approx 66% of the UK average of gas 16,500kWh and electricity 3,300kWh.

Yeah I split the difference between low and medium user, but I still think I would use less than that!

closed

250kwh of electricity is incredibly low for 3 months, that's about 115w which a fridge freezer could use on it's own. Is that based on actual readings before and after?

gas use will go through the roof in winter.