Shell Energy monthly DD increase

Robin9

@pickachu   Can we go back in time please ?   Have you been in this property and with Shell for some time.  ?    Was your DD  quite high and then get reduced to £45 ?

EDIT Going back in time with say gas at 2.5p and elec at 15p 

22000 KWh of gas was £550 and 3000 KWh of elec £450. Add standing charges and VAT that's well over £1000 say £80/90 a month. So where did the £45 come from ?

jbuchanangb

What is even more scary is that Shell are billing for a gas meter in cubic metres, when @pikachu has a meter in cubic feet. When they correct that error the gas charges will multiply by 2.83. Which they will back date to whenever they started being the gas supplier.

TheMilkmansDad

jbuchanangb said:

What is even more scary is that Shell are billing for a gas meter in cubic metres, when @pikachu has a meter in cubic feet. When they correct that error the gas charges will multiply by 2.83. Which they will back date to whenever they started being the gas supplier.

I thought the calculation on the bill showed the conversion and has been applied correctly?

pochase

TheMilkmansDad said:

jbuchanangb said:

What is even more scary is that Shell are billing for a gas meter in cubic metres, when @pikachu has a meter in cubic feet. When they correct that error the gas charges will multiply by 2.83. Which they will back date to whenever they started being the gas supplier.

I thought the calculation on the bill showed the conversion and has been applied correctly?

Yes it has been applied correctly. In the line where the units are calculated there is a conversion to m3. The next line it calculates m3 to KWh

pikachu

LADYXXMACBETH said:

As someone who stays at home all day or at least kept the heating on for the cat. I can honestly say if you don't go out a lot the gas bill really does add up. 
It also depends on the type of house you have. My house is freezing. We've just had that hot spell. I was sitting under a blanket on the hottest day of the year. The sun doesn't get into my house at all. The sun rises on one window side and sets on the other side. Ith a house blocking my sun the rest of the day. 
In Oct Nov Dec I used 6500 units of gas. That was with the heating on a thermostat set at 19c
The cost to heat a house all day is incredibly expensive. 
Someone else may have a 4 bedroomed house but if they're in work all day and only put the heating on a few hours a night that's different from someone having to heat it all day. If you have large patio doors that get the sun you're getting free energy. If it's modern and has good insulation then it's holding the heat in. Unfortunately old 1930s houses are damp and cold.
Ive now turned my heating to 14c and I wear a coat inside. The house is becoming damp and mouldy, but what can I do? 
I'm not much help but just thought I'd mention that circumstances contribute to how much gas you use. 

The house is a 2 bed mid-terrace and over 100 years old
It does get incredibly cold and we get damp if we don't put the heating on when it's cold 
Lots of gaps to the outside and it can be freezing sometimes
I rarely went out for around 17 months until going back to work

It's on automatic to come on between 6am - 11am and 4pm - 12am 7 days a week
Most of the time, that has been OK 
There have been very cold days where I have had to have it on longer but only a few hours longer

When it starts to get warmer around March, I turn it off completely and only turn it back on if I'm cold 
For the last 3 - 4 weeks, it has not been on at all

I cannot bear being cold and particularly having cold feet

pikachu

Robin9 said:

@pochase raises a  serious question. Your March - June consumption is very high -   why ?     When did you shut the heating down for the Summer months - do you use a focal point gas fire or run your hot water very hot ?

Electric is quite typical but that alone is more than your £45 DD

Are you billed monthly ?

Heating was turned off completely about 3 - 4 weeks ago
From around mid March, it has only been on when needed which hasn't been often as we've had quite a few warm days
When it is on, it's on a thermostat at 22c and timed to come on between 6am - 11am and 4pm - 12pm if it's below 22c

I'd like to get Hive or Nest at some point so I have a little more control

No gas fire - only gas central heating and water and a gas oven 
A shower a day at most for the 2 of us
Water is at 55c
The oven gets used only a few days a week for no more than an hour at a time as the combination microwave is used more for cooking 
No gas fires 

I am billed monthly 

Robin9

An old house -  has it double glazing and doors, roof insulation ? . It's mid terrace so it gets some benefit from neighbours, also not wide so not a lot of solid walls.

pikachu

Robin9 said:

@pickachu   Can we go back in time please ?   Have you been in this property and with Shell for some time.  ?    Was your DD  quite high and then get reduced to £45 ?

EDIT Going back in time with say gas at 2.5p and elec at 15p 

22000 KWh of gas was £550 and 3000 KWh of elec £450. Add standing charges and VAT that's well over £1000 say £80/90 a month. So where did the £45 come from ?

I have been in the house since 2000 and was originally with EDF for electricy and NPower for gas
I had similar with NPower that was quite often in credit so I moved to First Utility on a fixed deal for dual fuel
Then Shell Energy took over First Utility and I was moved onto one of their fixed tariffs
I renewed on a fixed tariff deal a couple of times when coming to the end of the deal
They then stopped offering me any deals some time ago and I was moved onto standard variable tariff 

The monthly DD has been adjusted according up and down over the years

Shell adjusted the monthly DD from £163pm on 5th July 2021 down to £45pm on 5th August 2021 and that has been where has stayed until the asked me to increase to £281pm in from April 2022

pikachu

Robin9 said:

An old house -  has it double glazing and doors, roof insulation ? . It's mid terrace so it gets some benefit from neighbours, also not wide so not a lot of solid walls.

The extension has double glazing for windows and doors but the rest of the house, the glazed units are gone and there is not much roof insulation
We're intending to do a loft conversion if we ever get the money  
Otherwise we're going to need to replace that part of the roof as it is leaking
Front door panel - 1 of the panes is smashed in the double glazed unit so it has a double layer of cling film taped on to stop the wind tunnel it creates 

Doors closed most of the time within the house
Rads turned off in the front room and 2nd bedroom as they are rarely used

Alnat1

Are you heating the house while you're out at work or is there someone home all day?

How is your water heated and for how long?

Do you have thick curtains and close them at dusk in winter?

Could you invest in warmer clothes, thermal socks and boot type slippers and turn the thermostat down a bit? (most on here set at 18C)