Am I being taken for a ride by British Gas?

klallen1991

Hi everyone, total newbie here so please don't bite lol!

I was recently talking to friends about energy costs, and my gfs were appalled to discover I've paying nearly £550 pm for gas + electric (70% gas / 30% electric) for almost two years.

For context, this is double the estimated energy cost of a 5 bed, 4-5 person household according to our energy supplier's (British Gas) website. We, however, are a 2x adult, 2x children household (aged 2 and 3 - so technically half a person lol).

Whilst our house isn't 'small' and is an older property, we only have 2 bedrooms and a box room, 2 reception rooms (one with no radiator), 1 TV, 1 laptop and no gaming consoles/dvd players/devices etc. We have only 7 working radiators in the home.

Our main use of energy is washing and drying (parents of young kids, IYKYK!) but besides this, we are extremely conservative - lights off other than room we are in, we don't shower daily (I know gross, but this is what it's come to!), run everything on eco settings etc, use our log burner where possible and have had our loft insulated. Heating is FULLY OFF April to October every year - radiators ice cold. Last winter we were even setting time limits on our showers!  :-(

I've ran our last 12 months' energy usage through the MSE energy price calculator and other independent websites and it suggests we are paying almost triple what we should be?!!? Yet our energy accounts (both gas & electric) are only c.2.5 months in credit; a surplus that I fear will be completely depleted by the end of winter. Last year our GAS bill alone (excluding electricity) for November - March was almost £2k!!! When I saw it I had a medical panic attack and was in tears for days thereafter.

I've rang British Gas about this previously and they've pretty much told me 'it is what it is' (in more words, of course), but I'm struggling to believe this within the context of our situation above. My parents live in a Victorian 4 bed property with 5 reception rooms and pay just over half of what we pay?

Does this seem wrong to anyone? Does it sound like we have been overcharged, or maybe we have an issue with our central heating system? Any advice I'd be so so grateful!

We are a young family, both working full time with both girls in nursery costing us a fortune. We have a very limited standard of living (about £100 left at the end of the month for 'us') and if we could find out a way to reduce our energy bills, our quality of life would be improved significantly.

Thank you in advance!

Clive_Woody

What unit prices are you paying for gas and electricity? When did you last switch supplier? Do you know your annual usage for gas and electric?

MultiFuelBurner

What is your actual energy usage in kWh for electricity and gas ideally readings 12 months apart and not estimates.

tifo

I'm not surprised, i pay around double the price cap. I don't know why, my gas usage is 7,000 kW per year and electricity 5,800 kW per year. Just for electricity I pay £1,800 a year and gas is about £1,200 (last 12 months). Of course i understand unit prices have been higher than now. It's a new build 4 bed house, well insulated.

NorfolkCanary

klallen1991 said:

Hi everyone, total newbie here so please don't bite lol!

I was recently talking to friends about energy costs, and my gfs were appalled to discover I've paying nearly £550 pm for gas + electric (70% gas / 30% electric) for almost two years.

For context, this is double the estimated energy cost of a 5 bed, 4-5 person household according to our energy supplier's (British Gas) website. We, however, are a 2x adult, 2x children household (aged 2 and 3 - so technically half a person lol).

Whilst our house isn't 'small' and is an older property, we only have 2 bedrooms and a box room, 2 reception rooms (one with no radiator), 1 TV, 1 laptop and no gaming consoles/dvd players/devices etc. We have only 7 working radiators in the home.

Our main use of energy is washing and drying (parents of young kids, IYKYK!) but besides this, we are extremely conservative - lights off other than room we are in, we don't shower daily (I know gross, but this is what it's come to!), run everything on eco settings etc, use our log burner where possible and have had our loft insulated. Heating is FULLY OFF April to October every year - radiators ice cold. Last winter we were even setting time limits on our showers!  :-(

Thank you in advance!

You can't really compare energy cost from friend's houses to your house.
For example, do they have the same energy provider and tariff? Do they match the boiler/thermostat settings? Is the house built the same? Do you and/or they provide monthly readings to the energy provider?
As stated above you need to know your yearly usage in kWh.

In terms of savings, lights (unless halogen bulbs) don't use lots of energy, same applies to TVs (unless plasma).
Main energy usage is typically from space heating and water heating, cooking etc..
Do you have an immersion heater? Is it left on?
Any fish tanks, with pump, UV, filters?
What's the hot water and heating temperature set to on the boiler?
Any US style Fridge freezers?
What type of shower have you got?

Robin9

One thing to take great care about for the Gas.  Have a look at your meter  and look for the letters m3 or ft3.  While you're there read the meter.   Now have alook at your bill - is that described as m3 of ft3 ?

Also on your bill what is the letter against the meter reading - A C E S or our read/your read.  If you don't already read your meters every month and give them to your supplier. Keep a spreadsheet.

dunstonh

I was recently talking to friends about energy costs, and my gfs were appalled to discover I've paying nearly £550 pm for gas + electric (70% gas / 30% electric) for almost two years.

What you pay monthly by direct debit and what you actually use are two different things.

For context, this is double the estimated energy cost of a 5 bed, 4-5 person household according to our energy supplier's (British Gas) website. We, however, are a 2x adult, 2x children household (aged 2 and 3 - so technically half a person lol).

Take no notice of those.  They are a very poor way to see what your usage could be.  e.g.   A large 4 bedroom house can be bigger than a small 5 bedroom house.  You have two receptions.  A 4 bedroom house could have four.    An 1800s house will have different energy profiles to a 2000s house.   Someone with the thermostat at 19.5c will use almost half, in respect of heating, to someone set at 21.5c

Our main use of energy is washing and drying (parents of young kids, IYKYK!)

Washing and drying is some of the heaviest use (dishwasher too if you dont use the eco programme).

I've ran our last 12 months' energy usage through the MSE energy price calculator and other independent websites and it suggests we are paying almost triple what we should be?!!

Did you put your actual unit count use in the calculator or did you input the monetary amount?
You haven't mentioned your usage once in your thread.  Just the direct debit amount.

 Last year our GAS bill alone (excluding electricity) for November - March was almost £2k!!

You use 80-90% of your annual heating energy during that period.  Just 10-20% in the remainder of the year.

You haven't mentioned your thermastat settings.  Again, 21.5c could be using double 19.5c.

When I saw it I had a medical panic attack and was in tears for days thereafter.

The figure doesn't sound unexpected or unreasonable though.

My parents live in a Victorian 4 bed property with 5 reception rooms and pay just over half of what we pay?

Do they run the washing machine, tumble etc as frequently as you?
Do they run the thermostat at the same level as you?

Does this seem wrong to anyone? Does it sound like we have been overcharged, or maybe we have an issue with our central heating system? Any advice I'd be so so grateful!

Impossible to answer without knowing the units used.   Monthly direct debit amounts tell us nothing.

QrizB

klallen1991 said:

Hi everyone, total newbie here so please don't bite lol!

Welcome to the forum.

klallen1991 said:

I was recently talking to friends about energy costs, and my gfs were appalled to discover I've paying nearly £550 pm for gas + electric (70% gas / 30% electric) for almost two years.

As everybody else has said, the monthly payment is not a great way to compare.

How much energy, gas and electricity, do you use in a year? If you don't have meter readings to hand, somewhere near the top of your bill there should be an "estimated annual consumption" figure. What is this figure?

And which tariff are you on? How many pence per kWh?