Confused kWh calculations.... Help me please

SettingIn

Hello, I am a bit confused, well very very confused. Maths is not my strong point. If calculations are your thing and in particular KwH'r, please please could you keep me right.

I have today received an extraordinary gas and electric bill. I have been living in my house for nearly a year, only too aware that it is poorly insulated and probably haemorrhaging energy. I have joined MSE's energy finder and tried to insert my gas and electric usage but I doubt I've calculated it correctly. Could someone keep me right.

Meter reading when we moved into the property 8/3/2013
Gas: 8788
Electric: 20786

Meter readings as of 22/1/2014
Gas: 10214
Electric: 24348

With Scottish Hydro for both. The gas bill explains how to convert to kWH by X the units by 33.90 and multiplying that by 1.022640 and dividing the answer by 3.6
The electric bill doesn't provide an explanation. The figures I entered into the MSE energy finder were: Gas:16122 & electric 3652

From move in date I have paid both by DD Gas @ £40 & Electric @ £30 per month, heating usually switched off from June to late August but may put it on intermittently if needed.

Hydro now want to increase my DD payment for Gas to £104 & Electric to £74 per month. The bills I received today for both were £350.72 Gas & £239.68 Electric.

Obviously want to see if there's a better deal out there and all calculators ask for kWh readings for a more accurate calculation. Trouble is I'm doubting if I'm working it out correctly. Please help.

amtrakuk

Hi there and welcome.

I am ALWAYS sceptic about the DD rates your set when you start with a new energy supplier. If you live in a house like mine - not overly well insulated but have double glazing but solid uninsulated walls etc. About 4 or 5 years ago I used ot have both gas an electric the DD for gas was set to £85 and the electric £40. When I went to a new provider they said they could beat that and set my new gas to £50 and electric £25. I knew this wouldn't be enough and asked them to set the DD to what I was paying before moving and even then I ended up slightly in debt.

I can't remember gas but electric is always measured in kWh or Units. Each digit on your meter is one unit or kW. So from March 2013 and Jan 14 (From your figures above) you used 3562 kW (or Units). You bill should say how much per kW (or Unit).

Example 15p per kW (or Unit) (with no standing charge) would mean £0.15 x 3562 = £534.30 for that 10 month period. So a DD of £55 would have been appropriate.

IF you go into debt with your energy they increase your DDs to over pay - therefore pay back the debt in time. It seems that the bill you received £350 and £239 is the balance of your account - a bit like a credit card statement. With the increased DD rate you will be over paying therefore reducing the balance owing.

amtrakuk

As energy providers don't have a history of your individual usage they can only play a game of pin the tail of the donkey and totally guess what your usage will be. That is why the initial DDs are set very optimistically.

SettingIn

Thank you for your replies, wasn't aware that the electric was in kWh, that's useful.

Amtrakuk - thank you, yes I understand the energy company will increase my dd to recoup the outstanding amount, I was more wondering if I paid my bills in full now & looked at another provider for a better deal moving forward. The 108 increase in dd per month will throw my budgeting right off and I keep reading about the need to switch energy suppliers and get a fixed rate.

When I've punched my figures into the mse energy deal finder it says I could save £100 odd pounds a year and my dd's would be in the region of £110. But it mentions a 2% green levy which is due to be applied in feb? Do you know more about that? Do I take it that if I didn't fix into a new deal that I'm likely to receive an additional 2% increase. thanks

matelodave

Your figures are very close to the national averages of 3500kwh for electricity and 16500kwh for gas so you should have been paying close to the national average of about £1200- £1400 a year = £100-116 a month. Not knowing your actual tariffs I'd guess that you annual bill (March 2013 to March 2014) will work out to be about £1430 so you should have been paying about £120 a month to cover it. You will also have to pay off your under payment of about £600 = £50 a month so your direct debit should increase to at least £170 a year to pay off the arrears as well as your ongoing consumption.

Your options are to pay off the arrears in a lump sum and see if you can get a better deal or try to reduce you consumption to pay off the arrears a bit quicker and then go for a better deal as it does look as though your bill is a bit higher than average for your consumption

SettingIn

Hi matelodave, thank you for replying, makes it much more clear for me in my head.

I think I will pay the bills in full now and switch, if anything it would keep my monthly budgets in order. Thanks again.