Gas Use 87,000 kWh per year

fergies_army

Hi all.

We have lived in our current 4 bed detached for 4 years. We only use gas for the boiler, all cooking is electric. For the past 3 years our gas consumption has been circa 16,000 kWh for the year.

For the last 12 months we have been with British Gas, they have been given regular meter readings and our energy use has shot up to 87,000kwh for the year! 

I've been keeping an eye on the meter during the nice weather whilst there has been no heating use and the readings are hardly increasing.

The boiler is 4 years old and service annually.

The meter is a EON smart meter that I take a manual reading from.


Any ideas? 

molerat

Where are you taking the reading from, the actual meter or the IHD toy thing in the house ?  I suspect you are incorrectly giving them the kWh reading, and not the correct cu m reading, which they are then multiplying by around 11.2 to get the billing reading.

fergies_army

molerat said:

Where are you taking the reading from, the actual meter or the IHD toy thing in the house ?  I suspect you are incorrectly giving them the kWh reading, and not the correct cu m reading, which they are then multiplying by around 11.2 to get the billing reading.

I'm taking the reading direct from the meter by pressing 9. I'm giving them the 4 digit vol m3 reading not the KWH reading.

Robin9

Check the serial number of the meter itself with that shown in your bill.   The meter seems to be a metric one recording in m3.  Does the bill show cu ft or m3

When reading the meter are you including any figures after the decimal point ? (You shouldn't)

A photo of the meter with the display after pressing 9 would help (you need to be quick)

[Deleted User]

fergies_army said:

molerat said:

Where are you taking the reading from, the actual meter or the IHD toy thing in the house ?  I suspect you are incorrectly giving them the kWh reading, and not the correct cu m reading, which they are then multiplying by around 11.2 to get the billing reading.

I'm taking the reading direct from the meter by pressing 9. I'm giving them the 4 digit vol m3 reading not the KWH reading.

Most metric gas meters have 5 digits.   

molerat

So now is the time to do some investigation.  Look at your last bill and divide the kWh charged by the number of units used.  With a metric meter the answer will be around 11, if the answer is around 31 you are being incorrectly billed in imperial.

Dig out all your old bills and look at the readings.  Did your new supplier use the correct opening reading - the same as the old supplier closing reading ?  Do the readings look consistent or is there a sudden jump ?  Are the readings used on your new supplier bills marked E, are they using your supplied readings ?

fergies_army

molerat said:

So now is the time to do some investigation.  Look at your last bill and divide the kWh charged by the number of units used.  With a metric meter the answer will be around 11, if the answer is around 31 you are being incorrectly billed in imperial.

Dig out all your old bills and look at the readings.  Did your new supplier use the correct opening reading - the same as the old supplier closing reading ?  Do the readings look consistent or is there a sudden jump ?  Are the readings used on your new supplier bills marked E, are they using your supplied readings ?

This .... Last bill was 68875.27 Kwh divided by 2169 units = 31.75!!

Ill try the joys of phoning British Gas now.  Many thanks.

stewie_griffin

What is the current reading and what was the reading you took when you joined BG?

Robin9

fergies_army said:

molerat said:

So now is the time to do some investigation.  Look at your last bill and divide the kWh charged by the number of units used.  With a metric meter the answer will be around 11, if the answer is around 31 you are being incorrectly billed in imperial.

Dig out all your old bills and look at the readings.  Did your new supplier use the correct opening reading - the same as the old supplier closing reading ?  Do the readings look consistent or is there a sudden jump ?  Are the readings used on your new supplier bills marked E, are they using your supplied readings ?

This .... Last bill was 68875.27 Kwh divided by 2169 units = 31.75!!

Ill try the joys of phoning British Gas now.  Many thanks.

Before you ring BG  you need to be sure of what you are saying. Give us those readings please -  a copy of the final bill from your previous supplier and those from BG showing the meter readings (blank out the personal info) together with a photo of the reading on the meter.

Meter faults are possible but more common are reading errors .

fergies_army

stewie_griffin said:

What is the current reading and what was the reading you took when you joined BG?

Current = 3329
Opening = 1071

Robin9

Have you done this which I asked for earlier

Check the serial number of the meter itself with that shown in your bill.   The meter seems to be a metric one recording in m3.  Does the bill show cu ft or m3