Working out my gas bill - help! Im really worried!

johanne

Hi,

I have just took a meter reading and to my horror it was 05704... i say to my horror and thats because my last reading on November 10th was 04705. So that means ive used 999 units in 3 months :eek: :eek: :eek:

Working on my last bill and the stuff ive read on here about how to work it out (and using the current price of gas on bg website) i work my next bill which is due soon to be this:

Previous reading: 04705
New reading: 05704
Gas Units used: 999
Converted to kilowatt hours: 10989 kilowatt hours
10989 kwh x 4.3 pence = £472.57 :eek: :eek: :eek:

Does this look right...??? I really think it is... which is VERY scary as thats over a months wages to me and im only currently £122 in credit with them and due to go on maternity leave at the end of the month so cant afford to find the extra £350! Even spread over the next few months by them upping my DD.

Possetjohn

johanne wrote: »

Hi,

I have just took a meter reading and to my horror it was 05704... i say to my horror and thats because my last reading on November 10th was 04705. So that means ive used 999 units in 3 months :eek: :eek: :eek:

Working on my last bill and the stuff ive read on here about how to work it out (and using the current price of gas on bg website) i work my next bill which is due soon to be this:

Previous reading: 04705
New reading: 05704
Gas Units used: 999
Converted to kilowatt hours: 10989 kilowatt hours
10989 kwh x 4.3 pence = £472.57 :eek: :eek: :eek:

Does this look right...??? I really think it is... which is VERY scary as thats over a months wages to me and im only currently £122 in credit with them and due to go on maternity leave at the end of the month so cant afford to find the extra £350! Even spread over the next few months by them upping my DD.

Hi Joanne,

I understand your worry but try not to panic yet.

I assume from the conversion you used to kWhr your meter measures in Cubic meters?

This link gives you details on how to calculate
http://www.gas-guide.org.uk/meters.html

Are you paying 4.3p for every kWh? That seems a bit high, normally you pay that kind of price for the first 4572 kWh in every year, then a lower price for the ones above that. Check on your old bills or info from BG for your tariff. Probably around 2.2 to 2.7p per kWh?

I have used about 850 cubic meters of gas (old meter measures in hundreds of cubic feet) in the same time period. Old house, solid walls, poor insulation and old boiler. Gas used for heating (CH & Gas fire), hot water and the hob (not Oven). If your house and heating system is more modern and better insulated, I would have thought that consumption is high.

Planning to change the boiler to a modern condensing one and improve the insulation this year.

Hope all goes well and come back if you have more questions

Lavendyr

That's a huge bill for 3 months! We spend ~£30 per month on gas and we have an old-style boiler rather than a condensing one - the house is not that well insulated either. Is there any way you could possibly have genuinely used this amount? Have you had the gas/hot water on 24/7 or something?

wishiwasarichgirl

was your prevoius reading in November an actual reading or an estimate, cos that is a lot of gas for 2months!!

Cardew

The bad news is that from November 10th until today is Two months not Three!

The good news, as said above, is you only pay the first 1,143kWh per quarter at the high tier 1 rate of 4.3p/kwh and pro rata for 2 months that will be approx 765 units @ 4.3p.

I don't know what tariff you are on but you shouldn't be paying more than BG's standard tariff at 2.28p/kWh

So you are currently looking at a bill of around £260 or so. Before BG's discounts DD & Dual fuel.

With BG click 4 it would be cheaper.

Still high consumption - but better than you thought.

johanne

your right i have worked that out wrong - pregnancy brain and blind panic i think!!! There is a second tier in the pricing.. !!

Meter measures in cubic meters yeah.

Prices below according to BG website :

(including VAT @ 5%) price per KWH is

TIER 1 - 4.344
TIER 2 - 2.141
TIER 3 - 2.141

For credit customers TIER 1 applies to the first 1143. TIER 2 rates apply from 1144-73,268 kwh per quarter and all subsequent consumption is charged at Tier 3.

Gas customers paying by monthly DD (which i do) will receive a discount off their quaterly consumption charges of 10.3% up to a maximum of £15.08 (including VAT) per quarter

So as BG used KWH calculation last time at (kwhs = units used x 11.24) i now make my calculations to be


999 used x 11.24 = 11228.76 KWHs

11228.76 - 1143 = 10085.76

So

1143 @ £0.04344 = 49.65
10085.76 @ £0.02141 = £215.93

TOTAL BILL BEFORE DISCOUNT: £265.58

10.3% OF THIS IS £27.35 so max discount of £15.08 applies

So therefore TOTAL FINAL BILL: £250.50


Does that look more right calculations wise?


Oh and its an old semi which although has new central heating system and combi boiler installed 12 months ago is still under refurb so there are bad draughts, its not fully carpetted and doesnt have wallpaper so the solid walls are cold! lol Dont have curtains up yet just blinds and they are HUGE windows so cold gets in there too ......so i have hammered the central heating a bit too much and i dont have a tumble dryer so have been hammering the (very old 1970s) gas fire to get my work clothes dry in all the wet weather and because i only have a small wardrobe of maternity clothes at the min so have to wash and dry clothes 2-3 times a week - plus been doing my OH washing and drying as his washing machine broke and he cant afford to replace it at the min.

So i knew id have used it quite a bit! I just wasnt expecting such a high bill as last quarter i only used 86 units and my bill was about £40...!!!!

So its a big difference!! Really didnt think id use more than 10 times more gas this quarter but obviously have so will have to head back over to my usual oldstyle board and look up the "preparing for winter" thread i think and make the house more energy efficient!

i make it 999 units in 9 weeks so 111 units a week.. which is damn scary!! Specially as i have a baby on the way and will have reusable nappies and lots of changes of clothes to dry - wondering if a tumble dryer may work out more economical in the long run now?! Eek!

Cardew

Actually your bill will be slightly lower as the tier 1 price on 1,143kWh(which you have used in your calculation) is for a quarter so for 9 weeks it is pro-rata so about 790kWh at 4.344p not 1,143kWh.(see post #5)

Old gas fires really do use huge amounts of gas so that is probably a major reason for the increased consumption. Easy to check - just turn off all central heating and run your gas fire for an hour, checking the meter accurately(read the decimal places) before and after the hour.

A tumble dryer with re-usable nappies would be mandatory IMO.

andrea6352

Last year for this winter quarter we were paying npower approx £70 per month. We switched to British Gas and had a new boiler installed although our old boiler was working fine but British Gas told us that by putting in a new boiler we could reduce our bills by up to £600 per annum. We also had new loft insulation installed under the Warm Front scheme for people on benefits. We only use gas for heating, water, and cooking. We only have the heating on for 3 hrs in the morning and 3 hrs in the evening and we set the thermostat at 17 degrees. We have double glazing. There are only two of us in the house and we live in a small 2 1/2 bedroomed house.

This quarter our gas bill was over £130 per month - nearly double what we were paying before. What could have happened? We are on Disability Living Allowance and Carers Allowance and cannot really afford to pay this enormous increase. We just do not know what to do! Can you offer any advice or help?


Andrea Salmon