High bills - what happens if we find a fault

raddougall

Hi all. I have a bit of a problem with bills in our rental property.

We rent a house where we have had what I think are very high gas and electricity bills. In the winter we were £192 a month on gas (heating and hot water only) and £100 on electricity (everything else). I try to turn the heating down or off as much as possible and we’ve used wood fires a bit. Even now In the summer we are at £65 has a month which is basically just hot water for 3 people. 

The first question is, what do you all think to that usage for an average sized 4 bed house that is up to scratch with insulation, double glazing, etc. 

I think something’s up with the gas but have not been able to prove it. For example with everything off the meter doesn’t appear to run at all over a 2 hour test. 

The landlord and agents are saying that gas and electricity are our responsibility as we chose the supplier. To me that is up for debate as issues with key utilities must be theirs. Basically they are saying that they will only fix something inside the property but won’t get anyone round because I don’t know there is a problem. 

Only thing I can do is pay someone privately to come check it all. However given we have to move out in 2 months is there any point?

So to question 2... if an issue is found somewhere, can we retrospectively claim for may money back from the landlord or the utility company?

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately they're right; unless there is a fault with the property's infrastructure, you have to manage any issues with the utilities.

You need facts to make a case.  Did you read the meters when you moved in, and have you given monthly readings?  Forget DD amounts, think kWh and do the sums about how much your usage has cost and how much you have paid via DDs.  Check that the meter numbers are shown on the bill.  Why do you expect the meter to increase when the gas appliances are turned off?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits/#whatyoupay

When you move out, make sure to give the energy companies due notice, and take final readings, preferably with photographs.  Then take readings at the new property and register with whoever is already supplying it before switching.

MWT

... and do check your tariff...

If you want to post what your actual metered consumption is and what you are paying per kWh and standing charge we may be able to make some suggestions.

You have to forget what you are paying and focus on what you are using to really see if there is a problems...

Robin9

As Gerry says check the meter details  - its not unknown for meters to be changed but the records have not been updated. 

Give us your meter readings from when you moved in please - make a particular note of the letters A, E , C against the readings. You have been reading your meters haven't you - the old clock type meters and the modern digital can be difficult to read (watch out for the decimal point) ?  


PS Typical consumption Gas 10-12,000 Kwh; Electric 3,000 Kwh

raddougall

Thanks for all your posts @MWT and @Robin9

After I noted that the bills were high I did start looking at KWh to see what the usage was like. Yes I have been submitting readings to the utility companies and I have readings with photos from the day we moved in and the day we moved out. I also checked the serial numbers on the meters match what the utilities say they should be and that the readings were correct at the beginning and the end on my bills.

Also @MWT you asked why I expected to see the meter move when all the gas appliances were off... because I was expecting to pick up some kind of leak. Thats why I tried that out as a test... see if the meter moves even with the boiler off off.

I was with Bulb for the majority of the tenancy (save for 2 weeks at the beginning when the agent automatically put us on Spark without telling us). So my when I say my bills are high, I know that the company and the tariff where consistent with my last property. I know Bulb are not the cheapest, but my KWh seems very high. 

So heres the numbers;
4 bedroom detached house
Gas central heating and hot water only. Cooker, oven and everything else is electricity. 

Spark bill 30/11/19 - 29/12/19
319 KWh on electricity (estimated)

Spark bill 29/12/19 - 16/01/19
1184 KWh on electricity (actual read)

EDF bill 03/12/19 - 16/01/20
159 units translating to 5011 KWh

^ Now here for about 2 weeks at the beginning of December we had no boiler and it was right around freezing so were hammering electricity to keep us warm. That is another reason why I am surprised that the gas is so high when it's really only for 2 weeks usage.

First bill from bulb covering 17/01/20 to 16/02/20
162 gas units translating to 5118 KWh and 446 KWh on electricity.

Second bill from bulb 17/02/20 to 16/03/20
84 gas units translating to 2647 KWh and 283 KWh on electricity.

Third bill from bulb 17/03/20 to 16/04/20
100 gas units translating to 3160 KWh and 322 KWh on electricity.

Fourth bill from bulb 17/04/20 to 16/05/20
63 gas units translating to 1990 KWh and 861 KWh on electricity.

Fifth bill from bulb 17/05/20 to 16/06/20
25 gas units translating to 792 KWh and 405 KWh on electricity.

Sixth (final) bill from bulb 17/06/20 to 30/06/2020
3 gas units translating to 95 KWh and 546 KWh on electricity.

I know usage is higher in the winter obviously but on those 7 months we apparently used 18,813 KWh on Gas alone!

I know the electricity goes up in May because we finally repaired the hot tub and got that working so I'm relatively certain that the high reads there are to do with heating that up for the first time (2000l of water to 40 degrees) and then maintaining it there. 

When I queried this with Bulb and the agent they both seemed to think this was within normal parameters.

All thoughts welcome on that gas number though.

Robin9

Could you give us the meter readings please rather than the consumptions  - it's easy to misread modern meters. Watch out for the decimal point. Is your meter one of those with a little keypad where you press button 9.   Photo please of both meters.

Talldave

Gas all looks normal.  We used 50kWh last week just for hot water. In winter it's 1500kWh a week due to the heating. Anually, 43,000kWh. That's a 5 bed detached.  

Last time I was living in a 4 bed detached (1970s vintage) annual consumption was 22,000-26000kWh depending on the weather. 

MWT

... are all the Bulb bills based on actual meter readings or are some of them estimates?

Also do you have a photo of the gas meter?

Gerry1

Is the gas meter imperial or metric?

raddougall

@Robin9
Here are the photos of moving in and moving out for both gas and elec.

Robin9

2 possibilities with your gas
1) It's a 4 digit meter and the systems tend to expect 5 digits
2) It's an imperial meter ft3. Look at you bill does it say ft3 or m3 ?