British Gas, high jump in consumption

shinn7

Hello there, I'm hoping to get some help and advice.
I've recently had my gas bill for Apr - July and noticed that the price due was nearly double of what I was expecting. I decided to go back and compare the billing for Apr - July
over the last 2 years and noticed the price has indeed double for this year, and the gas consumption has shot up to 1155kwh from 233kwh last year. I compared every other 
billing period over the last 2 years and they have all been very comparable. This bill for Apr - July is based on an actual meter reading as well. I contacted British Gas and they
agreed there had been a large spike in consumption, but only offered me a contact number for energy saving tips. I'm not too savvy on these things and not sure what to do 
next, but I am absolutely certain I have not consumed around 5x the gas in this billing period. 

Petriix

Are you certain that the meter readings (for both the start and end of the period) are correct?
What's were they, and what is the reading today?
Do the readings on the bill show 'A' for Actual or 'E' for Estimate or 'C' for Customer?
Have you had the heating on since April? 

Gerry1

If it's a smart meter, the battery could be failing.  Look for a 'b' symbol on the display, especially when it's cold, and have a look at the Rogue Meters thread.

Switch everything off at the meter overnight and see whether the reading changes, and take daily readings from now on.

victor2

Do you have central heating and did you have it running during the billing period, but not over the same time in previous years?

I don't see how you could have had any gas heating running in April to July 2019 and only use 233kWh, but maybe you didn't have any running this year either? With the pandemic, you may have been home much more than in previous years and using more hot water and gas appliances, but that is a big jump if not caused by heating.

Robin9

Has the meter been changed in recent times ?
Please have a look at the meter and note the serial number; now look at the bill - are the numbers the same ?
Do you read the meter yourself ?
Is your meter one of those with a little key pad on it ?

233 kWh in 3 months seems quite low ?  Could you post your readings for the last couple of years including the letters A,C,E as above) ?

shinn7

Thank you for the replies.
I don't have a smart meter, it is just a standard gas meter. I also don't have any gas appliances, it's only used for central heating/hot water. 
Central heating is always off come early April, and that did not change this year, I also nearly always work from home, so the pandemic hasn't really caused an abnormal increase off usage for me. The billing doesn't show A, E or C, but I am always submitting readings. 

Robin9

Any chance of a photo of the meter and a copy of your bill (with the personal info blanked out) ?

victor2

How often do you submit readings? If monthly, you will be able to identify which month had higher usage.

Take weekly (or even daily) readings for a while, so you can see any sudden extra usage.

MWT

shinn7 said:

Central heating is always off come early April, and that did not change this year...

Do you really mean 'off' as in you turned off the central heating, or do you just leave the thermostat set and let the warm weather cause it to stop heating?

This year we had enough cold days in late April and May to cause our central heating to start up again and we ended up with a higher usage than you report just due to unseasonably cold weather...

Robin9

shinn7 - I think you are trying to make something out of a very low figure with another not quite so low figure.  233 kWh in 3 months and 1155.  It doesn't take much to use that difference.

We are a 2 OAP household - heating is off - and used 1700kWh in the last 3 months.  

Like everyone else you've been confined to barracks 24 hours a day - would you have been away on your holidays normally ?

Talldave

233kW for 3 months hot water doesn't sound feasible.