Is my energy consumption wrong??

raglansp

Hi there,

I have always been a little wary of my energy consumption being high but i am starting to think that there is something wrong.

For the full year 2017 my consumption is:

Electricity - 3500 kWh
Gas - 29,500 kWh

Although the electricity seems high, I am not as concerned as the Gas - where everywhere i look it says the average UK consumption is 12,000 (with high being 17,000).

Can anyone shed some light as to whether this is defintely not right/normal?

I live in a 4 bed, 2 bath, detached house in Hertfordshire, there are 2 adults and a 4 year old in the house.

Thanks for your help.

SP

spadoosh

Its definitely very high, wrong, i couldnt say.

What type of boiler are you using? Whats your rough usage figures? Ie is it 3 x full baths a day, 24/7 heating, everywhere being heated?

Then things about your property that will bump up costs. So draughty, poor quality windows, poorly insulated.

Gas it should be pretty easy to see where the money is going, youll probably only use it for heating and cooking, so check your cooker/hob and boiler. Then try and figure out how each is being used.

dogshome

Check the type of meter you have against the bills

If your meter is marked m3, it is a Metric meter that delivers close to 11.2 Kwh for each meter unit
Look at a bill and divide the number of Kwh charged by the meter units used, if the answer is around 31.5, you are being billed as though you have an Imperial meter, and have been over charged by 183%

Carrot007

raglansp wrote: »

Electricity - 3500 kWh

Although the electricity seems high

??? Sounds low for your house to me. Mine is double that in a 3 bed semi.

As for gas, seems reasonable, the average house is a 3 bed semi so yours is bound to be higher.

All depends on what you use the gas for. How much "stuff" do you heat?

matelodave

The leccy is about right but the gas looks high,

As has been suggested, check whether your meter is metric or imperial and then make sure that the bills are correctly calculating for the meter that you've got.

Wrong billing between metric and imperial meters is more common than you think - that may be an explanation for very high gas bill and is easy to check.

If that's not the case then start reading the meter a bit more often yourself (say once a week, or even daily for a while) and see how adjusting thermostats, heating times, hot water usage etc affect your consumption. You'll be surprised how much you could save by using the heating a bit more efficiently and being a bit more frugal with the hot water.

If you dont measure it or monitor it to see where it all goes then you cant control it. It's too late when the bill comes in because you've already used it.

raglansp

spadoosh wrote: »

Its definitely very high, wrong, i couldnt say.

What type of boiler are you using? Whats your rough usage figures? Ie is it 3 x full baths a day, 24/7 heating, everywhere being heated?

Then things about your property that will bump up costs. So draughty, poor quality windows, poorly insulated.

Gas it should be pretty easy to see where the money is going, youll probably only use it for heating and cooking, so check your cooker/hob and boiler. Then try and figure out how each is being used.

Thanks spadoosh.

Im using a Valliant boiler which is serviced every year. It would be 3 showers per day (5 mins each). Heating for early spring/late autumn on around 6am-9am + 4pm-10pm, cold months would be around 12hours per day and warmer months would be off. When on its around 22-23C.

Its relatively efficient - fully double glazed, insualted walls, padded loft etc.

It seems very high to me.

raglansp

dogshome wrote: »

Check the type of meter you have against the bills

If your meter is marked m3, it is a Metric meter that delivers close to 11.2 Kwh for each meter unit
Look at a bill and divide the number of Kwh charged by the meter units used, if the answer is around 31.5, you are being billed as though you have an Imperial meter, and have been over charged by 183%

Hi dogshome.

My meter has ft3 on it

Robin9

Are your bills based on Estimated readings ?

Read your meter NOW and post that reading and the latest from.your bill.

raglansp

matelodave wrote: »

The leccy is about right but the gas looks high,

As has been suggested, check whether your meter is metric or imperial and then make sure that the bills are correctly calculating for the meter that you've got.

Wrong billing between metric and imperial meters is more common than you think - that may be an explanation for very high gas bill and is easy to check.

If that's not the case then start reading the meter a bit more often yourself (say once a week, or even daily for a while) and see how adjusting thermostats, heating times, hot water usage etc affect your consumption. You'll be surprised how much you could save by using the heating a bit more efficiently and being a bit more frugal with the hot water.

If you dont measure it or monitor it to see where it all goes then you cant control it. It's too late when the bill comes in because you've already used it.

Thanks matelodave.

Ill do the quick check of the bills now and see if it could be the wrong conversion as suggested. Will post back asap.

raglansp

Robin9 wrote: »

Are your bills based on Estimated readings ?

Read your meter NOW and post that reading and the latest from.your bill.

No, i submit meter readins every month. The last submission was 1st december and the values ive given are from the annual statement i just received (although they did estimate the final period from 13th december to 31st december).

raglansp

matelodave wrote: »

The leccy is about right but the gas looks high,

As has been suggested, check whether your meter is metric or imperial and then make sure that the bills are correctly calculating for the meter that you've got.

Wrong billing between metric and imperial meters is more common than you think - that may be an explanation for very high gas bill and is easy to check.

If that's not the case then start reading the meter a bit more often yourself (say once a week, or even daily for a while) and see how adjusting thermostats, heating times, hot water usage etc affect your consumption. You'll be surprised how much you could save by using the heating a bit more efficiently and being a bit more frugal with the hot water.

If you dont measure it or monitor it to see where it all goes then you cant control it. It's too late when the bill comes in because you've already used it.

Gas Meter reading for January 15th 2017 - 2187
Reading today - 3211

In that period its approx. 29,500kWh

Does that look normal?

Is this is all fine then could there be some issue with the meter or the boiler (last serviced in february) or a gas leak or something???

My gas usage has been this high for a couple of years now.

Thanks