British Gas Bill £480 FOR 3 MONTHS GAS!!

mkeane16

Just recieved gas bill yest for period 5th jan - 7th april, and it was for £480!!! after picking myself up off floor- and then checking on the meter reading as of yest (and seeing that correct), i finally called BG to check, they told me that reading for last bill was estimated - and it was well under (£167) so this bill reflects the correct amount of gas used for that period... i asked could i have meter checked and was told that fee of £90, and that reading was right anyhow..... since moving into rented ppty 2 1/2 years ago, i have always had high gas bills, been chasing landlord for 2 years to get gas cert as thought that boiler bit dodgy, and when independant gas guy came out in october, my pressure coming in was too low, the BG guys did some work and when my guy came out again, the pressure was still very low (dangerously low apparantly), after 4 months of chasing etc, BG guys came out again in Feb and moved my meter outside so directly off main pipe - and the pressure is now good, had gas cert off independant gas man and thought that now all should be ok and i can finally get to pay a decent amount for my gas (previously paying £98.00 per month on payment card - amt set up by BG), so to get a bill for £480 has knocked me for 6.... may i just add, i had payed £210 in monthly payments and bal left from previous bill £130ish..... but i still owe £357..... the letter that came with the bill stated that "are you leaving your hot taps on thru the night" - which i thought was a silly statement, do they mean leaving the hot water part of the boiler on? is this why i am using sooooo much gas... i only have heating on 6.30am-9.30am and 6.30pm-10.30pm.... i have sheets and sheets of paper where i was writing down the amount of gas used every day just to check and even turned the heating thermostat part of boiler down and was still using the same amount of units.... my boiler is a FEROLLI (apparantly meant to be good).... i cant keep paying over £100 a month for gas (BG still put my payments to £98.00 thru summer months to get ready for winter).... has anyone had similer prob or maybe have same boiler or even any tips on how to get it down????? PLEASE!:eek:

mkeane16

oh, by the way, had a 'cold call' guy from Swalec, knock at my door couple days ago, givin me all the talk about that they are cheaper...... unsure wot to do..

mute_posting

Hi OP

it really helps if you use the enter key every couple of sentences - makes it much easier to read!

I assume they asked about the hot taps because (if it is a combi boiler) drawing water through the hot tap will fire the boiler up to heat said water thus using more gas.

MP

penrhyn

How much gas are you using per month?
The last quarter being the winter one will be the highest.
Turning the heating thermostat down on the boiler will have no effect on your gas usage as it will take longer for the radiators to heat your rooms, in fact it might use more gas.
You need to turn down your room stat,and/or TRVs to save energy.

jennifernil

We have a large 5 bed house and pay £63 per month for heating (cooking is by electricity), so £756 per year, yours sounds high

mkeane16

Thanks all...
have 3 bed house, no thermostat control other than on actual boiler, as stated £98 per month throughtout year, used heating little more thru winter but i knew that bill was gona be high - so i really had to watch my useage...
landlord put thermo controls on couple of rads, numberd 1-5, but when i turned to 3 - no heat, when i turned to 4 - using same amount of gas (reading off meter), so i left at 5.... i know that the norm is that bills high after winter but my bills are normally £300+ every quarter.....

espresso

mkeane16 wrote: »

as stated £98 per month throughtout year............

That is how much you are paying, not how much your are using! The only figure that is of any use is how many kWh you are actually consuming.

minimoneysaver

I too am in a 3 bed house with a combi boiler. Just had my bill for the winter months for 147 pounds. I am pretty pleased with that. I have my heating on from 6am til 7.30am and from 5pm to 10.30pm.

Usually have the thermostat at about 22 degrees as I have a toddler in the house. I don't have cavity wall or much insulation in the loft. It is a terraced, so I guess I get heat from both sides too. All but two windows are double glazed. I do have thermostatic rads and all but one are turned up.

Just switched to e on and they want £40 a month for gas and electric combined.

espresso

minimoneysaver wrote: »

Just switched to e on and they want £40 a month for gas and electric combined.

How much were you previously paying? £480 per annum for both gas and electricity is way below the average!

mkeane16

im sure my bill said 1106 kw? but im in work so cant be sure....
im in a terraced as well, with all double glazed windows. i turned down boiler thermo (to low), but after wot the other guy said earlier (about it costing more poss as rads have to work harder to heat room), i am no better off really...
all i know is that i have to pay a whooping great bill and not sure where im gona find cash....

mkeane16

gas is / was £98 per month = £1176 year
elec (pay by payment card) £35 per month (sometimes pay £40 to be a little in credit when bill comes) = £420 Year