Huge, Massive Gas Meter Reading Help ???

mute_posting

climbatron wrote: »

Going back to the OP...

Trevor, I am in a similar situation - I have a huge bill and am trying to fathom where all my gas has gone. You mentioned that you are using 800+ units per quarter. Have you compared your usage to friends with a similar size house? I have been told (unreliably?) that average usage will be around 3 units / day, whereas I am using around 13 / day. At 800 units in a quarter you are using around 6 units / day which would be around double average.

Do any of the more knowledgeable members know if 3 unit / day is a realistic figure for winter use?

Hi climbatron, I think OP replied somewhere in the middle of the thread that he now thinks that the reading covers 6 months (which is similer to his previous years usage)

Basically, BG "read" the meter in Jan and said only 69 units had been used in the previous 1/4 and again in April to say 800 units had been used since Jan.

What OP found is that the Jan reading may have been a little "inaccurate" as 800(ish) units per 6 months (as he has used) is resaonalble compared to previous years. The problem is BG may have deliberately under0read the meter in Jan knowing that the price was about to rise - thus OP had been billed nearly 800 at the new price instead of about 400 (which he would if the BG meter reading was correct)

HTH

MP

climbatron

Yeah, I think I misread the post, I thought he was saying that he had done 6 months worth of units in 3 months.

400 units per qtr works out near enough to 3 a day which matches what I'd been told.

mute_posting

Originally he thought he had used them in 3 months, but when he went back a few years , it became clearer that the "actual" reading from a BG (or their agents) meter reader was surprisingly low.

Butterfliesarepretty

I intend to get my boiler serviced soon. Mine is a seven year old vaillant combi-boiler and I have a timer next to it. The thermostat is on the boiler, a little dial that I can turn up and down for heating and for the water temp. The timer is next to i and I always have it set to come on and off automatically. 6am till 8am, then 5.15pm till 10.30pm each day. When I am in the house at weekends and during the day I turn it on and off to suit me during the day. the radiators in the lounge and kitchen are doubles and are looking rusty round the edges, so may change them to new double ones. The system needs a complete flush, no radiators are blocked but there is a lot of knocking noises. The plumbing is not particularly clever, some pipes in walls, some are not. Also all the radiators are on opposite walls to the windows, is this right??
Mine is a two bed terraced. One bedroom has a single when it should be a double and my daughters room has one that is too long and it gets too warm. Should I replace the radiators that are naff, and put thermostats on them?

My gas bills are always good in terms of usage, I pay £35 a month to scottish power for both gas and electric, it goes up and down like last year I decided to pay £49 a month to be in front for my bills and I am still in credit.

mute_posting

shawtj2 wrote: »

Also all the radiators are on opposite walls to the windows, is this right??
Mine is a two bed terraced. One bedroom has a single when it should be a double and my daughters room has one that is too long and it gets too warm. Should I replace the radiators that are naff, and put thermostats on them?

I think there are different schools of thought to radiator placement, one (the most common AFAIK) says put them by windows because that is where the most heat loss will be (also it means not taking up another bit of wall space thet could otherwise be used for furniture)

As to replacing and fitting TRV's I'd say deffinitely go for TRV's if you are replacing the valves

HTH

MP

smartie1976

mute_posting wrote: »

The problem is BG may have deliberately under0read the meter in Jan knowing that the price was about to rise - thus OP had been billed nearly 800 at the new price instead of about 400 (which he would if the BG meter reading was correct)

HTH

MP

I think you're on extremely dodgy ground suggesting that.

The general staff only find out the prices are going up on the same day the press do. And as meter readers are contracted to other companies it's even less likely they'd know - practically impossible. Anyone knowing dates for price increases signs confidentiality clauses, so your suggestion is highly improbable.

A misread is more likely to be the cause, due to figures being transposed upon input either by the meter reader) or by the agent if the automated data upload fails.

Strawberry1_3

gillian46 wrote: »

Hi Strawberry1,

I personally would never leave my heating on constantly unless I worked from home or was ill. I don't think it's a good idea to have a hot house while you are asleep. This will definately make your heating bills larger unless your house is very very well insulated (triple glazing, hugh cavity wall insulation and tons of loft insulation), and if it was that well insulated I think the house would be like a greenhouse. Best to have it on in the morning before leaving for work then switch it off while at work and time it to come on just before you return. My heating generally goes off at about 9:30 or 10:00 before I go to bed. I don't think that you will get provider to admit the advice they gave you.

Hope this helps

Thanks Gillian 46 for your feedback...

Strawberry1_3

mute_posting wrote: »

Your friends were swayed by the urban myth, think of it using this analogy...

If you could leave your kettle just "simmering" all day and then boosted it a bit to boil it when you wanted a cuppa, do you think that would be cheaper than just boiling the water you needed, when you needed it? Probably not

As for your supplier, I'm afriad they are in the business of selling energy, the more they sell the more profits they make.

I hear your point ... ;-)

rcooke

shawtj2 wrote: »

The system needs a complete flush, no radiators are blocked but there is a lot of knocking noises.

The knocking noise when the heating system comes on is just the pipes expanding as they heat up. The way to solve it is to place cotton wool between the pipes and their supports.

Ianh82

maybe to late, but i had this problem to. my bill was usually about £110 a quart and my bill came in for £350 on actual meeting readings.

i checked my meter readings and they had mis read the figures and my bill was actually £135 for the winter months.

always check the meter readings even if they say actual.

just my 2 pence worth