Bizarre massive increase in supposed gas/electric usage

suzyq2909

Hi any suggestions as to what may be the reason for this please. I log my gas and elec readings & calculate usage every month so I have data going back for about 3 years. My average monthly usage was 167 units (elec) and 49 units (gas) in a 1920s 4-bed bungalow. In winter GCH was on pretty much constantly heating the whole house. it had a combo boiler & usual appliances you’d expect.

I’ve just moved to a slightly smaller 1970s bungalow & my last 2 energy bills have been frightening. According to the “smart” meters I’m now using an average of 227 units (elec) and 171 (gas). My GCH is only on for 6 hours pd heating only the rooms I use - eg spare bedrooms, utility room have radiator thermostats which are turned right down. same standard appliances as in my last house. 

Any suggestions as to why this massive increase in usage? I asked eon to send someone to check the meters but they want £150 which I may or may not get back! 

Thank you

Thrugelmir

What's the property's EPC rating in comparison to your old one. 

victor2

suzyq2909 said:

Hi any suggestions as to what may be the reason for this please. I log my gas and elec readings & calculate usage every month so I have data going back for about 3 years. My average monthly usage was 167 units (elec) and 49 units (gas) in a 1920s 4-bed bungalow. In winter GCH was on pretty much constantly heating the whole house. it had a combo boiler & usual appliances you’d expect.

I’ve just moved to a slightly smaller 1970s bungalow & my last 2 energy bills have been frightening. According to the “smart” meters I’m now using an average of 227 units (elec) and 171 (gas). My GCH is only on for 6 hours pd heating only the rooms I use - eg spare bedrooms, utility room have radiator thermostats which are turned right down. same standard appliances as in my last house. 

Any suggestions as to why this massive increase in usage? I asked eon to send someone to check the meters but they want £150 which I may or may not get back! 

Thank you

Think in kWh, rather than units, as that is what you are billed for. With electricity it's easy, as 1 meter unit = 1 kWH, but gas varies depending on your meter type. Older imperial meters meaure hundreds of cubic feet, where more recent metric ones measure cubic metres. It will say on the meter what it reads, and your bills will indicate the formula used to convert the readings to kWh. Roughly speaking, a metric meter reports figures 3 times that of an imperial one. Doesn't explain all your difference, but could explain some of it.

THe rest will be down to looking at what you are running, both electric and gas. Take meter readings daily for a few weeks, and see when you use the most.

Robin9

By gas units do you mean m3 (ie as shown on the meter) In that case thats 2000kWh in a winter month so perhaps 15,000 kWh in a year - that's quite typical.

Electricity at 227 kWh is 3000 kWh is very typical.

Was the gas meter in the old one recording in ft3 by any chance ?

QrizB

Was your old gas meter imperial (cubic feet)? Your new meter will be metric (cubic metres) which would go a long way towards explaining how 49 turns into 171.

suzyq2909

Thanks for all the suggestions. The EPC rating in my new house is C,  the old house was E. I see what you’re saying regarding metric vs imperial. I have no way of checking now unfortunately, but I seem to recall the meter wasn’t particularly old. And even after converting my gas usage should be much lower as My heating has gone from say 20 hours to 6 hours heating less rooms. 

However the electricity usage seems to have increased significantly and I have the same number & type of appliances as before.

I know prices have increased dramatically so expect bills to increase but that doesn’t explain so called increased usage.  I know I’ll probably just have to accept it but just wanted to check if anyone had experienced odd readings with smart meters which skewed usage reports.thanks again to all

Sea_Shell

Does your new house have an electric emersion hot water tank? If so, have you made sure it's switched off?

Farway

suzyq2909 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. The EPC rating in my new house is C,  the old house was E. I see what you’re saying regarding metric vs imperial. I have no way of checking now unfortunately, but I seem to recall the meter wasn’t particularly old. And even after converting my gas usage should be much lower as My heating has gone from say 20 hours to 6 hours heating less rooms. 

However the electricity usage seems to have increased significantly and I have the same number & type of appliances as before.

I know prices have increased dramatically so expect bills to increase but that doesn’t explain so called increased usage.  I know I’ll probably just have to accept it but just wanted to check if anyone had experienced odd readings with smart meters which skewed usage reports.thanks again to all

New house and higher use has often turend out to bean unknown item left on, usaul suspect is immersion heater you are not aware of, some small hearter in the garage or loft maybe or even a towel rail

It could come down to hunt the culprit byy switching every thing off at the wall & checking if meter is still registering any use

victor2

suzyq2909 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. The EPC rating in my new house is C,  the old house was E. I see what you’re saying regarding metric vs imperial. I have no way of checking now unfortunately, but I seem to recall the meter wasn’t particularly old. ...

If you have access to any gas bills for your old property, you can figure it out from there. It may just state it, but if the kWh is around 30 times the units, it's imperial. If 11 times, it's metric.

suzyq2909

No immersion heater, hot water tank, garage or towel rails. Trying to dig out old bills but it was all done online and the account is now closed so all I have are the meter readings. 

Thanks all

MWT

suzyq2909 said:

No immersion heater, hot water tank, garage or towel rails. Trying to dig out old bills but it was all done online and the account is now closed so all I have are the meter readings. 

Thanks all

How many digits on the meter readings?

Metric meters are usually 5 digits, older Imperial meters are 4 digits.