Gas per kwh?

mrsmac59

I am very confused.Ive just been informed from a family member that I ve been calculating the cost of my gas consumption all wrong.Despite my age I've never had anything to do with gas always just been on electric only since leaving home at 20 many many years ago.To the point now, how is the cost worked out ? I thought it was the same as electricity you read meter and multiplied by units used added daily standing charged and bingo you got total.  Noooo it's not, I've been told omg!! To the best of my knowledge I'm on the standard variable.
I would ask supplier but to say useless is an insult to others I'm still waiting for account set up from moving in on 1st Dec,despite numerous calls That's deffo another post to create)
Please can anyone  help I'm trying very hard to budget its not helping  finding this out.

BooJewels

Gas is sold to you measured by volume - most newer metric meters are in cubic metres - m³ (older ones might be in hundreds of cubic feet).  But you are billed for the energy value provided by the gas supplied - kilowatt hours - kWh.

The energy value of the gas supplied can vary too - some gas is richer and provides more energy as it burns - this is another variable added to the calculation, which is the Calorific Value - CV.  So this little extra variation means that any formula we use here to initially calculate the price of your gas is only ever a rounded amount - as it does vary a little.

As a very rough generalisation - gas is charged at around 10.3p per kWh and at the moment, with current Calorific Values on my own bills there are around 11.2kWh per m³ of gas.  This means that every whole number that goes around on your meter (i.e. 1m³) will cost you £1.15 (11.2 x 10.3p) - plus your standing charge per day.

matelodave

Here's a calculator which helps you do the sums - https://www.gasbillcalculator.com/ Just put in your readings and whatever you are paying for gas (it's around 10.3p/kwh at the moment).

You gas bill will show how the volume of gas is converted to kwh, using a conversion factor, calorific value etc but the calculator above or even BooJewels estimate of 11.2kwh pe cu.m is near enough.

BooJewels

matelodave said:

You gas bill will show how the volume of gas is converted to kwh, using a conversion factor, calorific value etc but the calculator above or even BooJewels estimate of 11.2kwh pe cu.m is near enough.

I only noticed fairly recently that British Gas no longer include the conversion formula on their bills - so had a look back and they haven't done so for some time - which can only be serving to confuse people even further in current times.

My current bill says something like:  168 gas units at 40.2 calorific value £188.66  - it doesn't even mention m³ any more.

Cirrus1

mrsmac59 - not asking who you are with,  but if Octopus is your supplier, then an app called Octo-Aid is absolutely brilliant. Bright is another very good app. Both allow you to see daily cost, monthly cost and other metrics easily.

ariarnia

just to make sure its clear. 

electric meters measure in kwh so you time by the rate on your tarrifs and you get what you will pay for use

if your meter says m3 then you times by 11.2 then your unit rate
if your meter says ft3 then you times by 32 then your unit rate

that wont give you the exact cost but it'll be within a few pence and should be good enough for budgeting or sanity checking the bill. 

FreeBear

BooJewels said: Gas is sold to you measured by volume - most newer metric meters are in cubic metres - m³ (older ones might be in hundreds of cubic feet).  But you are billed for the energy value provided by the gas supplied - kilowatt hours - kWh.

It is prudent to check your bills to see what units (metric or imperial) your supplier is using. Then have a look at your meter to see if it is metric or imperial - If you have a metric meter, and your supplier is billing you for (100s) cubic feet, you are paying 2.83 times what you should be.

Gerry1

matelodave said:

Here's a calculator which helps you do the sums - https://www.gasbillcalculator.com/ Just put in your readings and whatever you are paying for gas (it's around 10.3p/kwh at the moment).

@matelodave That's the world's worst calculator !

It gives you a wrong result (a demo showing a cost of £84.64) if you don't have cookies enabled.

It insists on three decimal places for the kWh price and five decimal places for the standing charge.

It asks for the standing charge in pence but treats the entry as pounds.

The maximum kWh rate that can be entered is 9.999p/kWh, so no use with today's prices.

Not even Symbio could have made such a mess of things.