Help...Gas usage overcharge

QrizB

It sounds like you're on top of it all, know what to look out for and are doing the right things. At the risk of teaching Granny to suck eggs, be sure to read your meter regularly and keep a track of your consumption so you can spot any changes!

theoretica

HCDP2021 said:

I do, however, still feel that our gas usage is very high. Searching the "average gas usage in kwh for a three bed house" through up and EDF web page which states ow use as 8000kwh per annum, average use as 12000 per annum and high use as 18,000 per annum. 

A low use house will include those that only use gas to heat the water and not for any heating at all and things like that which aren't anything like your property.

Xbigman

If your wife is running a cooking business its most likely the hot water to do the washing up thats jacking up the gas bill. Especially if you have a long pipe from the boiler to the tap. Letting the tap run to get hot water through means heating huge volumes of water a lot of which ends up sitting in the pipe cooling down once the tap is off.

I hope you don't have a water meter.

Darren

Reed_Richards

HCDP2021 said

Rest of house... built 1920's [I think] semi cottage, so solid construction, cavity walls, not certain if cavity insulated. roof insulated and floored, double glazed with exception of back door - which can be drafty, probably not the best insulated house but certainly not bad for an old cottage. Very exposed on top of a hill though! 

Your house sounds very nice but it may be a property that loses heat quite quickly so you might expect higher than average heating bills.  Maybe you said this and I missed it but have you been recording your meter reading regularly?  Do you know how much gas you use each month throughout the year?  Is some element of the proposed increase to your Direct Debit there to pay-off a deficit that has built up?

HCDP2021

Reed_Richards said:

HCDP2021 said

Rest of house... built 1920's [I think] semi cottage, so solid construction, cavity walls, not certain if cavity insulated. roof insulated and floored, double glazed with exception of back door - which can be drafty, probably not the best insulated house but certainly not bad for an old cottage. Very exposed on top of a hill though! 

Your house sounds very nice but it may be a property that loses heat quite quickly so you might expect higher than average heating bills.  Maybe you said this and I missed it but have you been recording your meter reading regularly?  Do you know how much gas you use each month throughout the year?  Is some element of the proposed increase to your Direct Debit there to pay-off a deficit that has built up?

HI, it might well be the case that we don't retain heat very well, but as we're not usually here for most of the day, and in bed for much of the night, we only use the heating for a couple of hours in the morning and 4-5 in the evening. it literally goes off in April and she hates putting it back on before November! 

We keep records of every reading... well, I'm useless but the wife does! 

June to July = 1800 cu ft

May - June = 2200 cu ft

April to May = 4900 cu ft

March to April = 7100 cu ft

Feb to March = 7700 cu ft

Jan to Feb = 8100 cu ft

two '00s' added as we now know the metre doesn't have decimal points!!! 

I suspect it may be that a deficit has been built up, but it's hard to get a straight answer! We just get the end bits without being told how they get there.. ie the calculations. 

HCDP2021

Xbigman said:

If your wife is running a cooking business its most likely the hot water to do the washing up thats jacking up the gas bill. Especially if you have a long pipe from the boiler to the tap. Letting the tap run to get hot water through means heating huge volumes of water a lot of which ends up sitting in the pipe cooling down once the tap is off.

I hope you don't have a water meter.

Darren

The bath is a fair way from the boiler and can take 30 seconds to get hot water through, longer if you're in a hurry! The sink where we wash up is only a few ft of pipes away, so not much concern there. 

She's been busier for the past 2-3 months than those before, for obvious reasons, but the past May and June have been just 2200 and 1800 cu ft respectively. Though it will burn for a good ten mins if the wife has left me a big pile of stuff to wash up!  Maybe that is where it's going. 

As for a water meter, thankfully the hot tub only needs changing once a month! 

Tallerdave

As high users of both fuels it would be worth you checking separate suppliers. 

niktheguru

With the risk of getting shot down by various other forum members, perhaps it would be useful for you to upgrade to smart meters. This way your gas meter would be upgraded to a metric one which will be easier to understand, give automatic readings, and you'll be able to assess using the IHD how much energy you are using when (in kwh or £ estimation) and your bills should be accurate.

welshmoneylover

what what is your CH thermostat set to? Can you drop it down a degree or two when you turn it on?

Reed_Richards

HCDP2021 said:

We keep records of every reading... well, I'm useless but the wife does! 

June to July = 1800 cu ft

May - June = 2200 cu ft

April to May = 4900 cu ft

March to April = 7100 cu ft

Feb to March = 7700 cu ft

Jan to Feb = 8100 cu ft

You are using a surprisingly large quantity of gas for hot water.  By comparison the amount you use for heating in the winter is relatively frugal.  Think what you could do to reduce your hot water consumption.  Read your meter last thing at night and first thing in the morning (without using any hot water in the interim) and check that the reading has not changed too much.  You'll need to record all the numbers that the meter will provide.