Question about Meter Readings for Newbies

sofsofsof

Hi we have just moved into our first house and i am intrigued by the way meter readings work and pricing; for example our Gas meter has gone up "4" so example 10000 - 10004 what does this mean for us cost wise? is this a lot of Gas for summer? what is the low, average, high usage amounts per month? and bearing in mind we have had no heating on - is this the charge for the boiler when it is doing hot water?
Sorry i know i sound INCREDIBLY dumb but we have never done this before so
Can i also ask what the low, average, high usage is roughly per month for Electricity also? (kw increase on the meter)

Thanks like i said please bare with me :D:rotfl:

Dobbibill

In order to work out how much '4' costs you then you need to know what tariff you are on - how much per kwh and how much your daily standing charge is.

As above for Electric.

The amount you should be using will depend on what appliances you have running off Electric and Gas.

As a side note, make sure you have provided the suppliers with meter readings when you moved in and continue to on a regular basis for accurate bills.

dogshome

No quick answer as there are Two types of meter in service:

The older type is an IMPERIAL meter which is marked ft3
Each unit recorded on this meter delivers *close to 35.5 chargeable KWh The newer type is a METRIC meter which is marked m3 and each meter unit delivers *close to 11.2 chargeable KWh

*Close to is because the figure will vary on every bill as the quality of the gas is taken into account

notbritishgas

sofsofsof wrote: »

Hi we have just moved into our first house and i am intrigued by the way meter readings work and pricing; for example our Gas meter has gone up "4" so example 10000 - 10004 what does this mean for us cost wise? is this a lot of Gas for summer? what is the low, average, high usage amounts per month? and bearing in mind we have had no heating on - is this the charge for the boiler when it is doing hot water?
Sorry i know i sound INCREDIBLY dumb but we have never done this before so
Can i also ask what the low, average, high usage is roughly per month for Electricity also? (kw increase on the meter)

Thanks like i said please bare with me :D:rotfl:

Well, Gas meters measure in volume but he costs are measured in Kwh.
So you need to convert the 4 (more on this later) into Kwh.

To complicate matters it depends on the type of meter fitted, either the older imperial which measures in cubic feet or the modern metric which measures in cubic metres.
I am going to guess that your meter is metric, in that case ech cubic metre is approximately 11.2 Kwh so your 4 is approx 45kwh so about £1.40.
If by chance you are imperial then the kwh would be approx 120.

Edit: Doh so slow in typing.

Robin9

Just a reminder that there is a difference between the readings on a gas meter and those on an electricity meter.

Your bills in both cases are based on kWh, standing charges and VAT.
#
For electric the reading on the meter is in kWh already; for gas it is in m3.

When reading your meters it is important that you include any leading 0's but ignore any numbers after the decimal poin. Your suppliers website will give full details.

Read your meters at least monthly; when you get your bills read them and see if any big credits or debits are being built up.

Enjoy your new home.

House_Martin

Simple answer. You have a Metric gas meter. 4 metric units multiplied by 11.2 will turn it into kwh (kilo watt hours ) so.approx 44 multiplied by your tariff ( which may be around 3p ish ) so you have spent approx £1.32 for your 4 metric gas units used. That figure is not exact but multiplying the units used by 11 is near enough for me.
All suppliers bill in kwhs for both gas and electric. They convert your gas units but do not need to with the electric because 1 unit = 1kwh
This is why all of us on here are looking to get the lowest tariff along with the lowest daily standing charge.
If you spot a good deal, or collective coming up , please let me know.
Low users go for low standing charges where possible because the standing charges can cost more than the energy used. High users go for the lowest tariff.
Its a good idea not to stay on any suppliers Standard tariff, they are the most expensive even though 60 % in the UK are on this pricy tariff.
Go for a yearly fixed deal and change it every year, or less if there are no exit fees for the deal. Collect cashback for new deals from some comparison websites if possible from such as the Cheap Energy Club. So a cashback of say £30 can take a big chunk out of your yearly standing charge cost. ( thats how I see a cashback )

victor2

sofsofsof wrote: »

Hi we have just moved into our first house and i am intrigued by the way meter readings work and pricing; for example our Gas meter has gone up "4" so example 10000 - 10004 what does this mean for us cost wise? is this a lot of Gas for summer? what is the low, average, high usage amounts per month? and bearing in mind we have had no heating on - is this the charge for the boiler when it is doing hot water?
Sorry i know i sound INCREDIBLY dumb but we have never done this before so
Can i also ask what the low, average, high usage is roughly per month for Electricity also? (kw increase on the meter)

Thanks like i said please bare with me :D:rotfl:

Some good responses above and it does look like you have a metric gas meter, but do check it.
Without us knowing what you are using gas for, we can only guess at whether or not your usage is reasonable. 4 metric unit equates to about 45kWh, If you use gas for hot water, heating (in the colder months) and maybe some cooking, then I would suggest you have a shower running off the hot water supply, and that is accounting for a significant amount of the usage.
How old is the house and how old is the boiler?
Do you have a separate hot water tank and what are the boiler timings?
How is the shower powered and how many showers per day are taken?
There will be other questions as well...

If you want to see how much electricity and gas you are using then read your meters at about the same time every day for, say, a few weeks. Electricity usage (especially if you use energy efficient lights) tends to be fairly constant throughout the year, where gas usage obviously jumps up a huge amount once winter arrives and you switch central heating on.

Typical domestic consumption (as published by OFGEM here) is considered to be 12,000kWh of gas and 3,100kWh of electricity for a medium user per annum.
However, I don't think I know anybody who is a "typical" user, but at least it gives you an idea what to expect.

MeterMan

Its about £2