Bulb - underquotation

chrisw99

The OPs usage seems exceptionally low. 1500 for gas (I'm 22000+ these days), which would suggest electric rather than gas heating, but then the electric is 2200 which is also low (I'm 7600).

Logen

chrisl-1410 wrote: »

Thanks all,


We went on uswitch and gave an annual usage of 2100 kWh for electricity and 1500 kWh for gas when obtaining our quote.


The Bulb quote for the annual charge based on the above specified usage was £449.37 per annum.


As at our bill for the end of August (bill 7) we have used:-


Electricity 1246 kwh against the quoted 2100, so 59% of our cited annual usage.


Gas 606 kwh against the quoted 1500 kwh, so 40% of our cited annual usage.


To date, in 7 months (58% of the year) we have paid to Bulb £443.54. This is 98.7% of the annual charge bulb said it would be.


I do not have the individual unit prices at sign up to hand though obviously can source if required.


I accepted the quote on face value, assuming they had based their calculations on the clear figures i gave them. Perhaps this is my error and everyone else actually carries out their own calculations. In which case, I am happy to concede an error in approach here and wouldn't make the same again.


However, are we saying that no-one accepts the quote without doing the sums themselves? This seems unlikely to me.


It seems to me the actual Bulb quote should have been roughly £800 and not £449 and therefore the quotation is not representative of the actual charges.


Again, I appreciate it is variable and there have been 2 small increases this year but these were only small increases.


As it stands, I am just over halfway through the year having used just over half the energy I said I would and yet have already hit my annual amount hence the concern

Only 1500KwH for Gas?
Are you sure it's not 15000KwH?
Or perhaps 1500 units on your gas meter?

Raxiel

Logen wrote: »

Only 1500KwH for Gas?
Are you sure it's not 15000KwH?
Or perhaps 1500 units on your gas meter?

Good point, 1500m³ on a meter would be around 17000kWh of gas. On the high side, but not exceptionally so after the 'Beast from the East'!

chrisl-1410

Thank you all for your time.

I believe the usage figs are right - 2100 kwh for elec and 1500 kwh for gas. I would have to check the meter for the gas to see if it is unit or kwh but I believe it is kwh. These are what we used in the first year in the house and we are right on track to use the same again.

There is only myself and my gf and we try not to use a lot of energy. It is also a new build and we have had the cavity wall insulation upgraded so its an efficient house really.

Re elec -

For the bills in feb, mar, apr, may, jun, jul the elec unit cost was 11.82 and the daily charge was 23.39.

In aug the unit cost increased to 11.85 and the daily charge remained 23.39

Re gas

Feb, mar, apr the unit cost was 2.51 and the daily charge was 23.39

May jun and jul the unit cost increased to 2.61 and the daily charge remained 23.39

In august the unit cost increased to 2.76 and the daily charge remained at 23.39

The bulb quote was not massively lower than First Utility who we were with before so it wasn't as though their quote seems absurd

Hope the above is useful

Raxiel

chrisl-1410 wrote: »

Thank you all for your time.

I believe the usage figs are right - 2100 kwh for elec and 1500 kwh for gas. I would have to check the meter for the gas to see if it is unit or kwh but I believe it is kwh. These are what we used in the first year in the house and we are right on track to use the same again.

There is only myself and my gf and we try not to use a lot of energy. It is also a new build and we have had the cavity wall insulation upgraded so its an efficient house really.

Re elec -

For the bills in feb, mar, apr, may, jun, jul the elec unit cost was 11.82 and the daily charge was 23.39.

In aug the unit cost increased to 11.85 and the daily charge remained 23.39

Re gas

Feb, mar, apr the unit cost was 2.51 and the daily charge was 23.39

May jun and jul the unit cost increased to 2.61 and the daily charge remained 23.39

In august the unit cost increased to 2.76 and the daily charge remained at 23.39

The bulb quote was not massively lower than First Utility who we were with before so it wasn't as though their quote seems absurd

Hope the above is useful

Thanks for those figures, [STRIKE]do you also have the unit rate and standing charge for the gas?[/STRIKE] Edit, sorry I skim read, figuring it out now. I suspect the gas is where the discrepancy comes from.


Gas meters always measure by volume. Older ones in hundreds of cubic feet (HCF) and newer ones (as you'll have in a new build) in cubic metres (m³).
The quality of gas varies day by day, so 1m³ of gas can vary between 10.8kWh and 11.65kWh, it can only be billed retrospectively, once gas transporter measures the quality of the gas in different regions and provides the 'calorific value' (CV) for that day. Some digital meters may have a kWh figure on a second screen, but that is just an estimate using an average CV and is not used for billing.


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gas-meter-readings-and-bill-calculation


Even with modern insulation, 1500kWh is way to low for gas central heating in a UK home (maintained above 10°C).

chrisw99

I didn't think any meters actually displayed kWh, just units (either old style in imperial ft3 or the modern metric in m3).

https://switch.which.co.uk/energy-advice/how-to-read-your-gas-meter.html

Digital metric gas meters measure gas usage in cubic meters (m3) and usually show 'M' or 'M3'.

So your 1500 you thought was kWh, I'm fairly sure is 16,703kWh, which adds another £570 ish onto your gas bill from what was estimated.

Do you have gas central heating?

chrisl-1410

chrisw99 wrote: »

I didn't think any meters actually displayed kWh, just units (either old style in imperial ft3 or the modern metric in m3).

https://switch.which.co.uk/energy-advice/how-to-read-your-gas-meter.html

Digital metric gas meters measure gas usage in cubic meters (m3) and usually show 'M' or 'M3'.

So your 1500 you thought was kWh, I'm fairly sure is 16,703kWh, which adds another £570 ish onto your gas bill from what was estimated.

Do you have gas central heating?

We do. This very much seems to have potentially cracked it! i will check the meter but it looks a lot like moron error it seems

S0litaire

well those figures given are very close to my averages for Gas and Electricity (But I'm single in a 1 bed Gas heated flat!)

If you're in a 2-3 bed semi with a family then the gas units have defiantly been read wrong

Raxiel

Ok, for the figures given at opening (right or wrong), 2100 electric and 1500 gas, and a £30 dual fuel discount, I get a grand total of £376.22 or £31.35 a month. Even at the latest figures it only barely changes.

I have to increase the gas estimate to 8500 to get it close to the £550 original quote

chrisw99

Raxiel wrote: »

Ok, for the figures given at opening (right or wrong), 2100 electric and 1500 gas, and a £30 dual fuel discount, I get a grand total of £376.22 or £31.35 a month. Even at the latest figures it only barely changes.

I have to increase the gas estimate to 8500 to get it close to the £550 original quote

What area do you live? Interesting how Manchester and South Manchester come out at £487 and £488. Must vary quite a bit, why is that?