Checking gas usage

AmanteDItalia

2013yearofthehouse, I have been here about 8 years. When I spoke to BG, to discuss initial monthly payments, they suggested a sum based on the previous occupants' bills. I then got a letter to say I was more than £8000 in arrears! I really can't explain it.

2013yearofthehouse

Do you turn the Aga and/or CH off in the summer? Because even the Jul-Sep usage is huge. Could be something to do with the hot water, but don't see how you could be using that much.

Nada666

But what are your meter readings? If it is a 'new' meter then it is probably a metric meter. (The fact that you mention the other is an imperial meter also suggests this.)

Make sure the new meter is being calculated as a metric meter (if it is.) That is, is one meter unit being converted to 11 or 32 kWhs?

(As to the comparison sites - with your usage you can just put in 20,000 kWh and the results will be in order - the usage will swamp the standing charge.)

AmanteDItalia

I can't turn off the Aga as it's my only cooker. I do turn off the CH. Most of the time I live here alone, so it can't be hot water.

2013yearofthehouse

AmanteDItalia wrote: »

2013yearofthehouse, I have been here about 8 years. When I spoke to BG, to discuss initial monthly payments, they suggested a sum based on the previous occupants' bills. I then got a letter to say I was more than £8000 in arrears! I really can't explain it.

How much were you paying monthly? How long until you were £8000 in arrears and are they definitely yours, not the previous occupants? Do you have similar meter readings for the previous 8 years as the ones you posted for this last year? Not asking you to post them, just whether usage has been consistent.

AmanteDItalia

Nada666, how can I check the conversion?

Nada666

For a metric meter, one meter unit is about 11.2 kWh. For an imperial meter, the meter unit is about 32 kWh. (That long sum they include on the bill - multiply it out and it comes to one of those).

Instead of looking at the combined sums per quarter look at the readings for each meter separately - is your newer meter a metric meter? If so, make sure its reading is only being multiplied by 11.2 to convert it to kWhs.

AmanteDItalia

Yes, 2013yoth (if I can be so informal ), my bills have always been huge. I started out paying whatever it was that the last owners paid and the arrears letter came after a couple of years, so I had to up my payments to include the shortfall (now done, thank goodness). I now pay £358 pcm, but I see I am getting into arrears again.

2013yearofthehouse

AmanteDItalia wrote: »

Yes, 2013yoth (if I can be so informal ), my bills have always been huge. I started out paying whatever it was that the last owners paid and the arrears letter came after a couple of years, so I had to up my payments to include the shortfall (now done, thank goodness). I now pay £358 pcm, but I see I am getting into arrears again.

Well, I suppose it is possible that the previous owners built up arrears while using the same monthly payments, but assuming they weren't and were therefore using less gas than you, then I'd still reckon there's something very amiss with your supposed usage. Either it's a conversion issue (which you can check using Nada's info) or you need a meter check. As another poster suggested you can still use comparison websites inputing usage within their allowed parameters. Personally, I'd be inclined to prioritise sorting out why you're being billed for so much or indeed why you may actually be using that much, if that happens to be the case, before initiating any switch, as that could prove to be far more money saving in the long run.

AmanteDItalia

Between 15/4 and today (16 days), my metric meter has gone up by 411 units. I realise that it's only a few days, but as an exercise:

At 11.2 kWh per unit, that works out as 4603.2 kWh.

Dividing by 16 and multiplying by 90 (for a quarterly period) gives 25893 kWh for April-June this year. Last year it was 16099 kWh for the same quarter.

My bills are online and I don't get to see the calculations.