British Gas New Meter in Jan 2023 and bills increasing ever since

Ectophile

activist3 said:

In fact the usage has gone down since a relationship break up which mean one less adult in the house.

One adult produces about 100W of heat.  More seriously, having only one person in the house wouldn't make that much difference.

BarelySentientAI

activist3 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

activist3 said:

MeteredOut said:

BarelySentientAI said:

activist3 said:

Ok here come the readings!! 

3 Dec 2022 - 30 Apr 2023
10885.89kWh at 6.141p per kWh £668.50
0130 - we read your meter
0479 - estimated meter reading 349 gas units at 38.8 calorific value

1 May 2023 - 4 May 2023
124.76kWh at 9.969p per kWh £12.44
0479 estimated meter reading at tariff change
0483 estimated meter reading 4 gas units at 38.8 calorific value

5 May 2023 - 30 Jun 2023
1029.32kWh at 8.421p per kWh £86.68
0483 - estimated meter reading at tariff change
0516 - you gave us your meter reading 33 gas units at 38.8 calorific value

1 Jul 2023 - 10 Nov 2023
5112.45kWh at 8.421p per kWh £430.52
0516 - you gave us your meter reading
0677 - you gave us your meter reading 161 gas units at 39.5 calorific value 

11 Nov 2023 - 24 Apr 2024
9744.30kWh at 8.421p per kWh £1662.67
0677 - you gave us your meter reading
1310 - last read on old billing system 633 gas units at 38.8 calorific value 

So ignoring the readings that aren't actually readings:

Actual reading 3 Dec 2022              0130
Customer reading 30 Jun 2023       0516
Customer reading 10 Nov 2023      0677
"Closing" reading 24 Apr 2024        1310
Customer reading 2 Jul 2024          1391

Maybe I'm missing something, but plugging those numbers into a spreadsheet shows a not-unbelievable average number of units used per day

					From	To	Reading	Days	Usage	Avg/day
Actual reading 3 Dec 2022              0130						03/12/2022	130
Customer reading 30 Jun 2023       0516					03/12/2022	30/06/2023	516	209	386	1.85
Customer reading 10 Nov 2023      0677					30/06/2023	10/11/2023	677	133	161	1.21
"Closing" reading 24 Apr 2024        1310					10/11/2023	24/04/2024	1310	166	633	3.81
Customer reading 2 Jul 2024          1391					24/04/2024	02/07/2024	1391	69	81	1.17

The winter 23/24 winter usage might look higher that the winter/early summer 22/23 usage, but that could be explained by how the homeowner was using their energy and also that 22/23 figures contains usage through to end of June which will lower the average.

With a new meter installed in Jan 2023, we'd need meters prior to Dec 2022 to tell whether there was an increase after the new meter was installed.

I really appreciate this analysis.  The homeowner is saying nothing has changed.  In fact the usage has gone down since a relationship break up which mean one less adult in the house.  It just doesnt make sense why the two winter readings have doubled.  The latest reading has the lowest average because she is so scared of doing anything with the gas.  

The latest usage is pretty close to the previous "summer" usage.  24 April to 2 July and 30 June to 10 November are similar in terms of statistics (something like 16%/17% of annual usage on a typical curve).  Not evidence of behaviour change.

The first winter represents (typically) about 73% of the year - so about 528 annually.
The second winter represents about 70% of the year           - so about 900 annually.

That looks like a difference.  But given that both are after fitting the new meter, it seems unlikely that the meter made the difference.

Thank you.  If its not the meter.  And the behaviour hasnt changed.  What are your best guess as to the reason for the jump?

Weather?  Was winter 2022/23 less severe than winter 2023/24 in that location?

No change of behaviour could mean "leaving the heating set the same" - which would mean more used if it was colder.

wrf12345

That is odd then because one unit on my newish smart meter always comes out at around 11kwh on the bill, which money wise is in line with what I was paying on the older meter so there is probably some unit confusion (ie I wrote down the wrong unit). Typical of the industry, though, to have the meter reading one way and the bill another.

tim_p

Are you sure these readings are right? New meter in Jan23 yet reading in Dec 22 was 0130 - had it gone round the clock?

Anyway, sticking to new meter we get a reading of 0516 in Jun 23 and 1391 in Jul 24. Multiply the use 875 x 11.2 and we get just about 10000 kWh so where are the figures in post 1 coming from?
Similarly, if meter was new in Jan23 then it used 516 between Jan and Jun 23 (assumes 00000 when new) so about 5800kWh in that period

Robin9

activist3 said:

Thank you for that.  I will get her to do that.  From her bills her usage has gone like this 
.....................
Dec 2022-June 2023    12039kwh

A lot of numbers floating around but very fes actual meter reads.

You say the meter was changed in Jan 23 but you have not given any details of that change.

The meter will have a sticker on it showing the old meter reading and the new (which is usually zero). What is today's reading ?

Reed_Richards

Year	Direct debit: England & Wales (pounds)
2017	561
2018	580
2019	592
2020	558
2021	547
2022	1088
2023	1271

This table (from government statistics) shows the average amount in pounds paid for the same quantity of gas (13600 kWh per year paid by direct debit).  Domestic gas prices almost doubled in 2022 and increased still further in 2023.  Could it be that the OP's friend is not using more gas, just paying a lot more to use the same amount of gas?   

MeteredOut

Reed_Richards said:

Year	Direct debit: England & Wales (pounds)
2017	561
2018	580
2019	592
2020	558
2021	547
2022	1088
2023	1271

This table (from government statistics) shows the average amount in pounds paid for the same quantity of gas (13600 kWh per year paid by direct debit).  Domestic gas prices almost doubled in 2022 and increased still further in 2023.  Could it be that the OP's friend is not using more gas, just paying a lot more to use the same amount of gas?   

We don't know. We still haven't been provided any pre-smart meter install actual readings.

Reed_Richards

Indeed.  All we know is that they are complaining that their gas bills have gone up, as everybody else's have.  And they are associating this with the installation of a smart meter at somewhere around the time that there was a big increase in gas prices.