Scared and worried, not sure what to do (Scottish Power fixed term ending)

Ultrasonic

So the meter uses cubic metres. What does your bill say?

Ultrasonic

Actually, to be 100% sure on the meter you may need to press a button to see what is displayed. @MWT or @Verdigris may be better to advise.

MWT

Fortunately, there are no SMETS2 meters using Imperial units so yes, the meter is m3, it is just the detail from the bill that we need to confirm.

bRi6r4

Ultrasonic said:

So the meter uses cubic metres. What does your bill say?

The bill doesn't expressly say, however the following is obvious on the bill:

To convert gas units to KWh we use the following calculation
gas units used       X      calorific value 39.3    X      volume correction 1.02264      divided by 3.6    = gas units used in KWh

That is all that can be seen other that the bill period Sep 2021 to Dec 2021 where it says
Gas units used 644 = 7189.5 KWh

No unit is shown.

Benny2020

That is metric, about 11.2 kwh to a unit.

bRi6r4

Thank you all for your help so far.

I don't know what to say really, I thought we always used our energy sparingly and had quite an efficient home. I simply cannot see how we can use in excess of 30,000KWh annually. 

I will try the other methods suggested, switching the supply off, going back through bills etc. 

One thing for sure is we simply do not have the means to pay almost £700 per month (like so many others).

Benny2020

See how much gas you use in an hour on your central heating, i know mine uses 0.5 units an hour and my gas fire 0.22 units a hour.

MWT

bRi6r4 said:

I will try the other methods suggested, switching the supply off, going back through bills etc. 

One thing for sure is we simply do not have the means to pay almost £700 per month (like so many others).

Do check that the meter readings used on the bills are actual readings from your smart meter, there should be a note next to them indicating if it is an estimate or an actual reading...

If you can the n go back to the bill from December last year and see if that was for a similar amount and using the meter reading check the total number of units used from the closing meter reading at Dec '20 to the closing reading at Dec '21.

Just using your Dec '21 bill as a guide, if it is accurate I'd estimate your annual use at around 25,000 units, which although lower than the estimate you already have, it is still a very high number.

Can you tell us a little about how you have your heating set?

For example, if you leave it running 24/7 over winter with the thermostat set to 22C for example then your estimated gas use is probably about right...

Ultrasonic

MWT said:

Just using your Dec '21 bill as a guide, if it is accurate I'd estimate your annual use at around 25,000 units, 

Wouldn't that be assuming as much gas was used in summer as in the winter months the bill data was for?

Benny2020

Do you heat water once a day or just leave it on? Do you use gas to heat the water?