Ridiculous gas bill - advice?!

cluuuuur

First time posting on this board!

We've just received a really, really high gas bill from npower. The readings are done with our own meter readings, so must be right - but we have been charged over £1000 for 9 months, which to me is screaming that there is something not right in the house. We've not had the boiler serviced before (first house we've owned, and the thought never occured) and looking at the bits and bobs that the old owners left behind it may not have been serviced since it was installed in 2003!

Obviously, I need to find a way to save some money on heating. We work full time, so the heating is only on for at the most 5 hours a day. We run one bath a day, wash up once a day, and cook for a max of half an hour, which is why I think there must be something wrong.

My first inclination is to sign up for one of the British Gas Homecare things - for £11 a month they will give an annual inspection, breakdown cover for boiler, heating and hot water, and repair with an excess of £50. Spoken to a representitive, who said that they would carry out the inspection within the first 28 days. Would this locate the fault? Am I going about this the right way - or is there something else I should be doing to help myself?

Any advice greatly appreciated - thanks!

chrissie55

Query the bill - they cd be mistaken. Also talk to the gas regulator (Ofgas?)Powergen asked £416- of us for 11 weeks, but on query, turned out they owed us £400! Best of luck.

maxfactor_3

Sounds about right to me.We live in a 3 bed council house.
Radiators only in 2 bedrooms,kitchen, up and down halls,none in toilet but one in bathroom.Put it on a few hours in evening and morning.
No other gas appliances just heating.
£900 for 9 months sounds about right but you could still ring and say you dont feel its right just the same.
Possibly they could send someone out for free to check it.

Cardew

The first thing to check the bill to see how many kWh you have used in the 9 months.

For a bill of £900 it will be approx 36,000kWh

Then check if you have an Imperial or Metric gas meter.

It is possible that you have a Metric meter(where one gas unit is equal to approx 11kWh) but are be charged for an Imperial meter(where one unit is equal to approx 31kWh)

SwanJon

The boiler service is probably a sensible idea to be safe, and the Homecare package is up to you (everyone feels differently about this).
The boiler is about 5 years old, so it should still be running ok, and you would need to get £132 saving out of your gas bill to break even. (but if something went wrong you may save money in the long run - each to their own).

First steps - how hot do you heat? Can you turn it down a bit? Do you heat rooms you don't need? How well are you insulated? Do you close doors to keep the heat in the rooms you want warm? There a plenty of energy saving tips around from the obvious to the unlikely so have a look and pick the ones you would find easiest to do. Keep an eye on your readings you'll probably find you use more at weekends - I'd assume you heat for longer then.