Avro Energy reviews: Give your feedback

oldagetraveller1

"their bizarre practice of ignoring your meter readings unless you submit them on the precise date they're due (not a day before or a day after)"

It is bizarre, having just experienced this with my first bill. Billing date 12th Aug. I submitted meter readings on the 7th, before their e-mailed reminder. Submitted further readings on the 11th. Checked the statement today and they've used their estimated readings and added 10kWh of leccy and 0.4kWh of gas!

They must use a similar computer model to that of Imperial College.

mikeyorkie10

"their bizarre practice of ignoring your meter readings unless you submit them on the precise date they're due (not a day before or a day after)"
I'm in the same position, 1st statement, billing date 3rd August, submitted readings on the 1st and they added 28Kwh to my leccy to get and estimated reading for the 3rd?  

mikeyorkie10

Volume Conversion Factor - I also noted on my first bill that they have used a Volume Conversion Factor of 2.8300000 on my gas readings.  I have never seen this on a bill before.  Seems to me that this is used to convert meter readings in imperial cu ft to metric m3.  As I declared my meters as smart and readings in m3, I have queried this with them as it inflates my gas consumption!  I'm still awaiting their reply.  Anyone else had this?..... am I correct?

Talldave

mikeyorkie10 said:

Volume Conversion Factor - I also noted on my first bill that they have used a Volume Conversion Factor of 2.8300000 on my gas readings.  I have never seen this on a bill before.  Seems to me that this is used to convert meter readings in imperial cu ft to metric m3.  As I declared my meters as smart and readings in m3, I have queried this with them as it inflates my gas consumption!  I'm still awaiting their reply.  Anyone else had this?..... am I correct?

You're correct. For a metric meter the calculation is:
              m3 x 1.02264 x (calorific value) ÷ 3.6
Calorific value is 39.1 for me at the moment. 

Biggus_Dickus

Talldave said:

mikeyorkie10 said:

Volume Conversion Factor - I also noted on my first bill that they have used a Volume Conversion Factor of 2.8300000 on my gas readings.  I have never seen this on a bill before.  Seems to me that this is used to convert meter readings in imperial cu ft to metric m3.  As I declared my meters as smart and readings in m3, I have queried this with them as it inflates my gas consumption!  I'm still awaiting their reply.  Anyone else had this?..... am I correct?

You're correct. For a metric meter the calculation is:
              m3 x 1.02264 x (calorific value) ÷ 3.6
Calorific value is 39.1 for me at the moment. 

Indeed.  

The gas CV (calorific value) figure that the Energy companies use to calculate customer bills isn’t consistent and can change for various reasons, including the time of  year (i.e. ambient temperature) and the quality/composition of the gas itself.

On my Avro gas bills they were using a CV of 39.7 in Dec’19. By May’20 it was 39.6. My most recent bill Aug’20 shows the CV is down to 39.1

The small fluctuation in the CV figure does have a measurable effect on monthly gas bills, albeit marginal.

victor2

Biggus_Dickus said:

...

The small fluctuation in the CV figure does have a measurable effect on monthly gas bills, albeit marginal.

It is indeed marginal. IME any fluctuation will make a difference of a few pence on a monthly bill.

Some years back I compared the CV used by various (major) suppliers to an average of the daily figures published by National Grid. The suppliers were always lower by a tenth or two, so it was a few pence in the customer's favour.

Telegraph_Sam

At the risk of going off topic I queried this in a separate thread some time ago.  CV's don't feature and are not taken into account in search engine comparisons.  But depending on the supplier there is obviously a temptation to massage their CV when one considers the cumulative effect over all their customers.  Is there some regulatory limit to prevent this?

Consumerist

Telegraph_Sam said:

At the risk of going off topic I queried this in a separate thread some time ago.  CV's don't feature and are not taken into account in search engine comparisons.  But depending on the supplier there is obviously a temptation to massage their CV when one considers the cumulative effect over all their customers.  Is there some regulatory limit to prevent this?

Comparisons are on the basis of your kWh usage so your average CV will already have been factored in to your gas usage. In theory, if your CV is higher then you should use less volume for the same heat output.

Telegraph_Sam

And vice versa of course.  Seems to be a bit of a grey area if there is not a standard CV used by all suppliers. Allow for my built-in cynicism

Consumerist

Telegraph_Sam said:

. . . Allow for my built-in cynicism

Like the banks, the energy industry loves to complicate the hell out of life so that consumers understand as little as possible. Ask the industry to simplify and there would be all imaginable obstacles placed in the path to achieving it.

How's that for cynicism ?