Insane gas bill in new house

Ypnos

Hi everyone


Moved into a new house in Sep 2018. Oct 2018 switched from default supplier (SSE) to Eon.


First bill from SSE on bog standard tariff was 91 for 6 weeks (combined). My current tarrif is EON Go Online 1 Year v18, which came up as best option on uswitch.



So, the house is an old (1875) 4 bedroom mid terrace, family of 4, everyone out during the day. The boiler is a Biasi combi, about 8 years old and it is the only gas appliance in the house.


I am paying Eon £70 a month without fail and since October and yet I am £500 in debt! Considering the last house we lived in had a bill of £68 monthly and we spent most of the time in credit, I have to wonder what on earth is going on! Is my boiler uneconomical? Is there a type of fault that could make it burn more gas? It had a service in October by British Gas Homecare. I tested the meter itself and the reading doesn't move an inch when the boiler is off.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated!



Thanks

Benight

Ypnos wrote: »

Hi everyone


Moved into a new house in Sep 2018. Oct 2018 switched from default supplier (SSE) to Eon.


First bill from SSE on bog standard tariff was 91 for 6 weeks (combined). My current tarrif is EON Go Online 1 Year v18, which came up as best option on uswitch.



So, the house is an old (1875) 4 bedroom mid terrace, family of 4, everyone out during the day. The boiler is a Biasi combi, about 8 years old and it is the only gas appliance in the house.


I am paying Eon £70 a month without fail and since October and yet I am £500 in debt! Considering the last house we lived in had a bill of £68 monthly and we spent most of the time in credit, I have to wonder what on earth is going on! Is my boiler uneconomical? Is there a type of fault that could make it burn more gas? It had a service in October by British Gas Homecare. I tested the meter itself and the reading doesn't move an inch when the boiler is off.


Anybadvixe would be greatly appreciated!



Thanks

Have you been giving regular monthly meter readings?
If so, has your supplier being using them?

Blackpool_Saver

Old, 4 bedrooms, does it have insulation? Double glazing?
And, is that with a recent set of meter readings?

Robin9

Is your bill based on ACTUAL or ESTIMATED readings ?

Please give us the readings when you switched to Eon and some from today and whether the meter is metric or imperial and members can do some sums.

dogshome

This is an old house occupied by 4 people, and even though terraced it will have solid brick walls front & back and maybe insufficient loft insulation and modern glazing



Even ignoring the above, £70 a month for Gas & Electric seems a bit on the low side




However if the £500 debt is all on the Gas, it represents roughly 14,000 Kwh over and above what the Direct Debit was paying for, so there is a small possibilty that the suppliers are chargeing for the wrong type of meter


Look at the meter, it will be marked either m3 if it's a Metric meter, or ft3
if it is an Imperial meter
If the meter is m3, look at the bill and divide the Kwh charged by the meter units used - The answer should be appx 11.2 - If it is appx 31.5 you are being overcharged for the meter type - Get onto Eon immediately

Robin9

Could we have the Electric readings as well please ?

Yellow_mango

I make that approximately £150pm for the 6months from October to March. Sounds entirely possible / reasonable for an old 4 bedroom house tbh.

Check your meter readings as others have said, otherwise look at ways to insulate your house : reduce your energy usage.

potts8

The other thing to check are what controls do you have on your heating/hot water.
TRVs on rads, thermostat on HW tank, heating thermostat etc?


We burnt through a crazy amount of oil when we first moved into our current property due to it not having a thermostat on the HW tank.

dunstonh

I am paying Eon £70 a month without fail and since October and yet I am £500 in debt!

£70 seems low and you started during the cold months of the year. So, built up no averaging over summer when you use barely any energy.

So, it sounds about right.

Raxiel

We're on the same tariff, and while it is a good one, we're paying about £80 a month for a 3 bed house that is relatively well insulated and efficient and with the benefit of a summer credit.


I agree with others that it seems right. You have bill shock right now but it should come down (quite a bit) in the summer and settle on a more realistic average by the autumn.


Edit: You should have got a summer credit refund from SSE when you switched which should offset these higher bills.

bugslett

dunstonh wrote: »

£70 seems low and you started during the cold months of the year. So, built up no averaging over summer when you use barely any energy.

So, it sounds about right.

I live in a three bed semi on my own admittedly, I have been with British Gas on a dual fuel thingy for donkeys years and I pay <£55.00 a month.

I am a bit stingy with gas and elec, I don't waste it, but then again I don't sit shivering either.

OP is there anything you could do with the agreement of the members of the household to cut usage?