Help working out has gas usage

biged670

Hi all, I recently moved into a new property and when leaving my old property got handed a very hefty gas bill through not staying on top of my readings.

This has lead me to be super cautious with my readings now. I've downloaded an app called 'meter readings' but I'm struggling to get to grips with it. I'm trying to work out how much gas I have used since being in my new property (16 days) can anybody help me calculate the cost?

My tariff is as follows...

Unit rate - 4.222p per kWh
Standing charge - 27.39p per day
Annual discount - £5.25

Meter reading on day 1 - 05357
Meter reading today - 05407

As I said above I've tried using the 'meter reading' app but it says my usage is £1.97 so I know that isn't right. Can anybody help?

Cheers

phoenix_w

Plenty of sites online that will give you a rough estimate based on your meter reading, but importantly you'll need to find out if your meter reads in cubic meters or thousands of cubic feet.

biged670

As I said I've got the app but I am sure I am doing some wrong.

It's cubic meters

System

You need to select D, M etc at the bottom of the screen. A quick calculation shows that you have used about £28 worth of gas which equates to about £1.76 per day. If you click on readings, you can add up the 16 days.

Just to take that a little further, on READINGS, you can select D, W, M and the reading tells you what you used on the day, the previous week or previous month from the date you are looking at.

biged670

Hengus wrote: »

You need to select D, M etc at the bottom of the screen. A quick calculation shows that you have used about £28 worth of gas which equates to about £1.76 per day. If you click on readings, you can add up the 16 days.

Just to take that a little further, on READINGS, you can select D, W, M and the reading tells you what you used on the day, the previous week or previous month from the date you are looking at.

Thanks for your reply. Can you let me know how you got to £28?

System

Convert c3m to kWhs by multiplying by 11.2.

KWhs x unit price

Standing charge x 16 days

Sum

You didn't say whether the standing charge and unit prices included VAT so I have ignored it and the discount as some standing charges now include the discount.

Without checking, I think that the actual c3m to kWhs works out as units x 1.0224 x 39 divided by 3.6. This comes to 553.6 kWhs - or, my way, 50 c3ms * 11.2 = 560.

biged670

Hengus wrote: »

Convert c3m to kWhs by multiplying by 11.2.

KWhs x unit price

Standing charge x 16 days

Sum

You didn't say whether the standing charge and unit prices included VAT so I have ignored it and the discount as some standing charges now include the discount.

Without checking, I think that the actual c3m to kWhs works out as units x 1.0224 x 39 divided by 3.6. This comes to 553.6 kWhs - or, my way, 50 c3ms * 11.2 = 560.

Thanks thats brilliant... the tariff says everything is inclusive of VAT. Am I right in thinking the 'fixed or time based rates' section is the standing charge, and the 'tax' is 5%?

System

VAT on energy is 5%. The 'fixed' refers to the type of contract that you are on. Both the standing charge and the unit price are 'fixed' for the period of your contract. The amount that you pay will though vary with the amount of energy that you actually use. Which supplier, and tariff, are you with?

biged670

I'm with Scottish Power on the standard tariff paying by quarterly bills. I'm switching to ovo so just on that tariff as a temp measure until the switch.

How do i facotr in the standing charge on the meter readings app?

System

Go to the page which has the heading Meters. You should see the accounts that you have set up. Click on the 'i' icon on the right. It will come up with an entry page. Enter the standing charge under the 'Fixed or Time Based Rates': I have entered £0.21903/day for my standing charge.

Under 'Per Unit Rates' go to 'Rate' and enter the unit price per kWh: my entry is £0.03102/kWh.

Under 'Discount' enter your annual discount: my entry is £15/year.

Under 'Tax %' enter 5%

biged670

Hengus wrote: »

Go to the page which has the heading Meters. You should see the accounts that you have set up. Click on the 'i' icon on the right. It will come up with an entry page. Enter the standing charge under the 'Fixed or Time Based Rates': I have entered £0.21903/day for my standing charge.

Under 'Per Unit Rates' go to 'Rate' and enter the unit price per kWh: my entry is £0.03102/kWh.

Under 'Discount' enter your annual discount: my entry is £15/year.

Under 'Tax %' enter 5%

That's exactly how I've done it... thanks very much for your help