Gas Bills

CarlHank

So i live with my wife in a 3 bed semi and we are conscious of the energy prices. For the last month we have turned the heating down to 18C but leave it on all the time, is this efficient? Our calculated gas bill for the last month was £265 where our parents' (who have the heating on 23C all the time) was much less. Is it possible that we are being charged for gas we are not using or maybe the old meter is out of sync? 
We are aware that the prices are high but the calculator has put us in the high usage band and we are no way near that? Please any assistance would be great

GingerTim

What tariff are your parents on and how does that compare to yours?

Robin9

What is your actual annual consumption in kWh -  and  your parents .?  What tariff are you on -  and your parents ?


You do read your meter every month -  don't you ?   Was last months bill based on actual readings ?

CarlHank

We used to be on a fixed rate until last month and now our bill has tripled! We have now decided to post in our meter readings every month so we pay for what we use, i just don't believe that we could have used that amount of gas ! I am truly shocked, our parents for what its worth are still on a fixed tariff for another month, my dad is in for a shock!

Robin9

CarlHank said:

We used to be on a fixed rate until last month and now our bill has tripled! We have now decided to post in our meter readings every month so we pay for what we use, i just don't believe that we could have used that amount of gas ! I am truly shocked, our parents for what its worth are still on a fixed tariff for another month, my dad is in for a shock!

It's not the amount of gas that has tripled but what you are paying for it. Your old fix may have been 3p or less, you are now paying 9p.

PS turn that stat down -   and off at night.

MWT

Robin9 said:

It's not the amount of gas that has tripled but what you are paying for it. Your old fix may have been 3p or less, you are now paying 9p.

Exactly right... My father-in-law is on a 3p/kWh gas fix until May this year, but he has been building up a balance on his account in anticipation of the change, so he has a cushion for the increases he will feel over the next winter.

macman

So you didn't think there was any connection between the ending of your cheap fix, and the tripling of your bill now you are on SVT under the EPG? 
Bear in mind that you've got right through the winter on the cheap fix, and still had the full benefit of the £400 EBSS discount on top, so it's not  really bad news.
It's not at all efficient to leave the CH on all night, and completely unnecessary Either program it to go off completely, or set it back to around 15C at most.