187% increase in gas usage

jojo0703

hi,

I have received my annual energy statement and for the last year my gas use has gone up 187%. I now have big arrears on my account (EON).

I have arranged a payment pan and I was already on their cheapest tarrif.

I am at a loss to see how my useage has increased by such a massive amount. The readings are all correct btw, as already checked these.

I use gas only for heating/water and have a 7 year old boiler (it has been troublesome, but I have had a lot of repairs to it this year and it is serviced)

Any ideas?

I am struggling for money as it is so this is a big worry.

I have a 4 bed house, live on my own with two children (one is disabled so I need to have heat on for him when he is home) I work from home but hardly ever have the heating on in the day (I have a small fan heater under my desk if too cold)

Thanks!

System

Large utility bills can be a shock. In most cases, it is down to the fact that previous bills were estimated rather than based on actual readings. Before you start worrying about a faulty boiler or gas meter, you need to provide some further information on actual usage over the last 12 months. Only then can posters give you a meaningful response.

jojo0703

Thanks,

My useage for year Mar14 - Mar 15 was 21,208 for the year 13-14 it was 7511

Both were read readings (I work from home and seem to get people round to read meters all the time :-) )

Cardew

As indicated in post#2 I would also suspect that the consumption of 7511kWh for 2013/14 is incorrect and based on estimated/incorrect meter readings. - particularly the March 2014 reading


Your 2013/14 consumption is about 50% of the UK average, and you are in a 4 bed house, work from home and with a child requiring additional warmth.

System

jojo0703 wrote: »

Thanks,

My useage for year Mar14 - Mar 15 was 21,208 for the year 13-14 it was 7511

Both were read readings (I work from home and seem to get people round to read meters all the time :-) )

Clearly something is awry here. Are the above usage figures based on actual meter readings for each of the 2 years? Add them together and divide by 2 and you get an average of 14359kWhs. This usage compares favourably to the average domestic gas consumption in the latest Govt report:

Average unadjusted gas consumption per customer in 2013 was 15,462kWh; this adjusts to 14,829 kWh once a temperature factor has been applied to the data, which takes into consideration that 2013 was slightly colder than average, specifically in the early months of the year.

Meters only have to be read once every 2 years (once every 5 years if it is British Gas). You need to look back to your old gas bill and check when either the meters were actually read by a meter reader (usually annotated A) or by yourself (usually annotated C). I still think that this is a catch up bill.

sam.4000

Remember that last year was really mild compared to this year. My gas usage is far more this year than last as it is colder.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi jojo0703 and welcome to the Forums.

That is a big increase. I understand bills are now based on accurate meter readings but, as Cardew and Hengus say, going back a couple of years were there some estimates thrown into the mix? 7511 kWh for the type of property described does seem a tad low. It may be previous under-estimated bills have now been brought up to date and this is giving a bit of a false impression. Going forward, I'd take readings regularly so you can build up a picture of daily, weekly, monthly usage. Will help identify any potential problems.

Sounds like you've already done a lot of things to help ease the situation. Payment plan, bills to accurate readings and tariff check will all help. Thought I'd give a few suggestions that I hope will add to what you've already done.

Are you eligible for Warm Home Discount? This is a Government led initiative to help reduce energy bills. For 2014/15, eligible customers received £140 to go towards their energy bills. The 2014/15 scheme is closed but you can register your interest for 2015/16 through our website now. Doesn't help much in the short term, I know, but might be of use later on.

Have you thought about the Energy Company Obligation (ECO)? This is another Government led scheme. It aims to cut usage by providing help with energy saving measures like loft and cavity wall insulation. Depending on the circumstances, help might also be available for faulty boilers. There's more information on our website. Whilst looking at our website, I'd check out the Saving Energy section too. There's lots of ideas there to help save money by saving energy.

Not sure what area you're in but help may be available through certain water companies. Several UK water companies support trust funds which can be used to cover essential bills such as energy. Worth asking the question.

Hope this is of interest jojo.

Malc

zeupater

jojo0703 wrote: »

Thanks,

My useage for year Mar14 - Mar 15 was 21,208 for the year 13-14 it was 7511

Both were read readings (I work from home and seem to get people round to read meters all the time :-) )

Hi

Probably also a good idea to check whether the opening balance reading (March 13) and the ones immediately before were estimated .... if they were overestimated the total for year 13-14 would correct the position at the next actual reading and therefore show the annual usage for that year as being artificially low ....

HTH
Z

lstar337

Ignore the above (CharlieHill96) SPAM post.

Op, I think you have some good advice to go on above. The 7500kWh does seem low, but it's hard to say without knowing how well insulated your property is.

As an example, my 3 bed house is new and well insulated. I have only used 5000kWh to heat and hot water my house this year, and that is keeping it at 21c during the day. So it is possible to have low usage if you have a well insulated property or use very little heating.

I think you need to start reading daily and posting it back here for somebody to comment upon. It could be that your usage is high because of a gas escape. If you take a daily read and post it here somebody will have an idea about what is going on.

jojo0703

Thanks all for your replies.

I checked my old bills and they were all listed as being read rather than estimated, I presume that somewhere they have been misread or mistyped?.

I will turn off my boiler and see if I am still using any gas and will also have a go at looking at my daily consumption (although I have now switched the heating off to try and save money).

My home was insulated (cavity and loft) by the local authority a few years ago, so should be as good as it can.

As to the EON man that mentioned the Warm homes grant, they do not list their criteria, and I did once apply and got turned down, so presume I don't qualify? I receive working and child tax credits (am on a very low income) and have a disabled child at home, so thought I might, but obviously not.

Thanks again. This big bill is a real worry for me but will look to see if I can save elsewhere while I pay it off.

Jo

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

jojo0703 wrote: »

Thanks all for your replies.

I checked my old bills and they were all listed as being read rather than estimated, I presume that somewhere they have been misread or mistyped?.

I will turn off my boiler and see if I am still using any gas and will also have a go at looking at my daily consumption (although I have now switched the heating off to try and save money).

My home was insulated (cavity and loft) by the local authority a few years ago, so should be as good as it can.

As to the EON man that mentioned the Warm homes grant, they do not list their criteria, and I did once apply and got turned down, so presume I don't qualify? I receive working and child tax credits (am on a very low income) and have a disabled child at home, so thought I might, but obviously not.

Thanks again. This big bill is a real worry for me but will look to see if I can save elsewhere while I pay it off.

Jo

Hi Jo

The conditions needed to receive Warm Home Discount tend to change each year so it's best to ask just in case. There's a form on our website where you can register an interest. Once the 2015/16 scheme opens later this year, we'll look at your application and let you know one way or the other.

I totally understand about the worry large bills can cause and how every little bit can make a difference. If you were to qualify this time, could be a help.

Malc