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Calorific Value - Observation
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merchcon55
Posts: 305 Forumite


Would it be considered normal for the Calorific Value - which is a VARIABLE FIGURE used to calculate KWH of gas - to increase from Dec-Feb period to March period?
I have had 4 bills from Octopus, the latest of which covered 1 March - 1 April 2022.
It was interesting to note that as soon as I gave my gas and electric reading on 2 April, the electricity charges were immediately generated. The gas charges on the other hand had a message: A charge of £78.22 hasn't yet been applied. This transaction will be reviewed before being finalised.
Using a calorific value of 39.8 (which had been used on previous 2 bills) made the £78.22 figure correct within a few pence.
A day later the invoice was produced with a final total of £79.18. I noted that on the bill the calorific value used was 40.1 - which increased the KWH used by 24 @ 4p per KWH.
I'm curious to know if this is normal (slight rise in calorific value for March) OR is it a sneaky way of Octopus to increase all bills a few KWH?
I have had 4 bills from Octopus, the latest of which covered 1 March - 1 April 2022.
It was interesting to note that as soon as I gave my gas and electric reading on 2 April, the electricity charges were immediately generated. The gas charges on the other hand had a message: A charge of £78.22 hasn't yet been applied. This transaction will be reviewed before being finalised.
Using a calorific value of 39.8 (which had been used on previous 2 bills) made the £78.22 figure correct within a few pence.
A day later the invoice was produced with a final total of £79.18. I noted that on the bill the calorific value used was 40.1 - which increased the KWH used by 24 @ 4p per KWH.
I'm curious to know if this is normal (slight rise in calorific value for March) OR is it a sneaky way of Octopus to increase all bills a few KWH?
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Comments
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Using a calorific value of 31.8 (which had been used on previous 2 bills)Surely a mistakeI suppose they could bend the figures a little but would be in trouble if caught out. They should use the average over the period. For me the average for Mar was 39.8 with only the first week being above 40. Dec to Jan were also averaging 39.8. You can check it yourself https://mip-prd-web.azurewebsites.net/DataItemExplorer/Index
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merchcon55 said:I'm curious to know if this is normal (slight rise in calorific value for March) OR is it a sneaky way of Octopus to increase all bills a few KWH?Nothing sneaky going on, the calorific values are published information, but I am surprised at your earlier much lower figure.They have to use the published figures, averaged for the exact period of your bill (truncated to one decimal place) which is why there is sometimes a slight delay while they wait for the numbers to be released.
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molerat said:Using a calorific value of 31.8 (which had been used on previous 2 bills)Surely a mistakeI suppose they could bend the figures a little but would be in trouble if caught out. They should use the average over the period. For me the average for Mar was 39.8 with only the first week being above 40. Dec to Jan were also averaging 39.8. You can check it yourself https://mip-prd-web.azurewebsites.net/DataItemExplorer/Index
CVs used for billing are the average CV value for the billing period truncated to one decimal point. For example, if the average was 39.55 then 39.5 would be used for billing. The reason why your gas charges are stalled is because they will be checking CVs. Trust me, Octopus does not fiddle with the figures (based on 4 years as a customer and checking from time-to-time)0 -
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I always use 40.1 when calculation my gas bill, I have never known the CV on the gas bill be higher than 40.1 or lower than 38.6Someone please tell me what money is0
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I wonder how much water vapour people are being sold along with their gas ?
Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..0 -
C_Mababejive said:I wonder how much water vapour people are being sold along with their gas ?
N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!0 -
Anyone have any idea why the CV values vary from region to region? And from month to month? The days of CV being 40.0 seem a distant memory sine my first bill in November 2021. My bills from Eon Next (Northern region) have been 40.0 (nov bill), 40.3 (Dec) 40.3 (Jan) 40.5 (feb) 40.6 (mar) 40.6 (apr). I know it makes little difference but I'd be interested to know if others have experienced rising CV values this winter.0
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DerwentMailman said:Anyone have any idea why the CV values vary from region to region? And from month to month? The days of CV being 40.0 seem a distant memory sine my first bill in November 2021. My bills from Eon Next (Northern region) have been 40.0 (nov bill), 40.3 (Dec) 40.3 (Jan) 40.5 (feb) 40.6 (mar) 40.6 (apr). I know it makes little difference but I'd be interested to know if others have experienced rising CV values this winter.Why does the calorific value of gas change?The reason the Conversion Factor changes is that the energy content of your gas (sometimes referred to as its calorific value) varies depending on: Where it is sourced from. The physical composition of the gas. Local temperature and pressure.0
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[Deleted User] said:The reason the Conversion Factor changes is that the energy content of your gas (sometimes referred to as its calorific value) varies depending on: Where it is sourced from. The physical composition of the gas. Local temperature and pressure.Surely the physical composition would already cover where it is sourced from?I'm dubious about local pressure too, as there is a regulator before the gas meter (maybe they are cheating us by compensating for the mains pressure when we meter it at a lower one) .Temperature is the big factor, as we measure gas by volume (but pay for it in kWh), and colder gas is more dense, hence more gas (= more kWh) in a given volume.
I want to go back to The Olden Days, when every single thing that I can think of was better.....
(except air quality and Medical Science)
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