Help! excessive electricity and gas consumption

oscarpaterson

i am wondering if anyone could please help us.

Our electricity and gas bills are currently £300 PCM.

We have a 4 bed detached house - two adults, a toddler and a preschooler.

estimated use of gas is 23419 kWh

estimated annual use of electricity is 4436.6 kWh

We have recently installed a new boiler as the old one was 30 years old.

I have been on comparing websites and it seems we are on the best tariff possible its just our consumption.

I have ordered a smart meter.

Is this normal use for a family of our size ? is there anything we can do to reduce our consumption?

does anyone have any advice please?

Robin9

Electricity is fairly typical; gas isn't and suggests a m3 / ft3 mix up

Look at your meter - 1) is it marked as m3 or ft3 ; 2) what is the serial number ?

Look at your bill - 1) does that show as m3 or ft3 ; 2) does the serial number match that on the meter ?


PS You use the word estimated - do you have actual consumptions or are your readings all estimated ?

PPS Is this the same house as you wrote about in 2011 ?

oscarpaterson

Hello Robin thank you so much.

We have moved house to a larger/slightly older house a couple of years ago and the cost of electricity and gas has just gone up and up!

I have just looked at the bill and it says M3 so does the meter.

Apologies i take readings on a semi regular basis but this is our yearly estimated usage on the basis of my readings and is what is on the bottom of our recent bills.

victor2

Estimated annual usage is high, but not outrageous. Doesn't suggest a mix up with imperial/metric gas meters to me. What is excessive is £300 pcm for that usage! Are you paying to catch up as the result of low estimated readings after an actual one?
What is your actual annual usage for the last 12 months? From that calculate your annual cost on your current tariff for that usage, and see what the monthly equivalent cost is.

What sort of tariff are you on? Put your annual usage into a comparison site (or two) and see which suppliers they suggest, along with what the monthly cost would be.

oscarpaterson

The serial number is also correct.

I know that the immersion heater has been switched on by mistake a few times and we all have a shower each day but i don't know how we have used that amount. We do have a dishwasher and a washing machine which are both on once a day.

Robin9

Have you the opening reading when you moved in ? (I assume when you moved in your read the meter and gave it to the supplier and shortly afterwards you swopped supplier - didn't you ?) Please read the meter today.

matelodave

What is your ACTUAL annual consumption rater than a yearly estimated consumption from the bottom of the bill.

Every time I've had a"estimate" it's been higher than my actual.

The only way to get control of your bills is by monitoring your consumption. You dont really need smart meters, just read your meters on a regular basis, (once a week is good) and note the readings down on a spreadsheet. You'll then be able to equate consumption with what is being used.

Waiting for a random, monthly or quarterly or estimated bill wont help you understand what is going on or help you manage your consumption

Robin9

oscarpaterson wrote: »

I have been on comparing websites and it seems we are on the best tariff possible its just our consumption.

Really - I've just put your figures into the CEC and that comes up with £160 a month.

Why is yours £300 ?

zagfles

That estimated annual usage, which looks perfectly normal for a 4 bed detached, should cost around £120 PCM, not £300!!

So you need to work out why you're paying £300. Catching up after low estimated readings?

molerat

Agree with others. Consumption is high but not astronomical. But it should not cost anything like that. My daughter uses 27000 / 7000, her DD is £150 and she is always in credit at billing time.


Energy co estimated annual consumption figures are an absolute work of fiction and bear no resemblance to reality. You need to take control by submitting monthly meter reads and understand the cost and how much and where you are using energy.

nigelbb

There is something wrong with your tariff. Our monthly bill is less than yours while our annual consumption is well over double what you use(Electricity 10,000kWh Gas 60,000kWh). Which tariff are you on & what is the price per kWh?