Extremely High Gas Bill! Can This Be Correct?!?!? Help!!!

freegenie

Hi there,

I am more than concerned about the gas bill we've just received.

There is a standing charge of 14.24 pence per day (x 75 days is £10.68) which is fine and liveable for nearly a quarter, BUT -- the scary part is in the usage!


We had a new meter put in on the 30th of Jan. so it appears to have taken it from there. The meter reading they gave is 00000 for that date.

The meter reading we submitted on the 21st of April is 01024.

When they convert this usage into kWh's... it turns out to be 5299.1 units...

It says we've used 5299.1 units in just 75 days! That is, on average, 70 units PER DAY! I've read elsewhere average usage is all of about 14 units per day (national average) so I am sooooo confused! Units are 7.9225p per unit...

We have a 2 bedroom cottage. The central heating comes on for 0630am and off for 0730am. The heating comes on at 6pm at night and off at 10pm at night. The cooking is gas, the water is gas, and we only have a bath (no shower) which we each use once every two days (meaning on average 7 baths used total between the two of us in a week). We are also both at WORK all day hence don't cook etc. during the day and heating is off then.

I know it was a winter quarter, but when you add up the usage it works out to be a staggering £419.82

I think this is INSANE for 2 working people in a 2 bedroom cottage who are never home. And it's not even for a whole QUARTER! It's for 75 days!! :mad:

Our other concern is that the Gas Board said the boiler etc. in this property is needing CONDEMNED (this is a rental) and hence we are wondering - can a CRAPPY BOILER mean your usage is extreme like this??

I have been both physically sick and cried at a result of this bill coming in. Appreciate your help... If I can give any more info, please ask.

Oh and FYI we are on the ISLE OF MAN so there is a MONOPOLY with supplier, Manx Gas is the only authority over here. Plus when I first expressed concern about the Gas, the man from the Gas board who was out watched the meter and said "Nah, that's about normal..." I think it's FAR from normal. We don't know anyone over here to compare gas bills with either.. :huh:

Scary thing is, no way can we afford to pay it. Nor continue to even use gas now... We're worried this will wreck our credit rating for life, and the £250 bond we paid doesn't even nearly touch the bill

Em

freegenie

I'd like to add that the NEW meter reads 01024 and is in m3...

So where they say "UNIT" does that mean a kWh is a unit or an m3 is a unit?? I'm so scared!

mute_posting

Could be a case of them converting from imperial to KWh instead of metric (which I assume your new meter is - does it say m3 at end of reading?)

This page may help...
http://www.ukenergy.co.uk/pages/gas-kwh.html

And old boiler may well only be 50-60% efficient (compared to 80-90 for a new one) but it will always have been this in-efficeint.

HTH

MP

freegenie

My meter does say M3...

The bill has some thing on it saying "Gas consumed is converted into Kilowatt House as follows: Imperial to metric factor 1.0000000 times volume conversion 1.000000 times calorific value 18.6302 divided by kilowatt conversion factor (3.6) equals units in kilowatt hours used"

So its 01024 X 18.6302 / 3.6

Which equals 5299.1

SHOULD they be doing these conversions like this if already in M3??

And it's an actual not estimate. I gave them readings on 21st April. The new meter was fitted on the 31st Jan (hence the reading of 00000)...

Thanks. Sorry this confuses me so much!

mute_posting

freegenie wrote: »

My meter does say M3...

The bill has some thing on it saying "Gas consumed is converted into Kilowatt House as follows: Imperial to metric factor 1.0000000 times volume conversion 1.000000 times calorific value 18.6302 divided by kilowatt conversion factor (3.6) equals units in kilowatt hours used"

So its 01024 X 18.6302 / 3.6

Which equals 5299.1

SHOULD they be doing these conversions like this if already in M3??

And it's an actual not estimate. I gave them readings on 21st April. The new meter was fitted on the 31st Jan (hence the reading of 00000)...

Thanks. Sorry this confuses me so much!

Well multiplying any number by 1 (as they have) makes no difference to the original number, therefore I think they have taken into account the metric meter (else one of those 1.00000 would be 2.83[ish] for conversion from 100's of cubic feet to cubic metres - the second is another correction factor but is usually 1.02[ish] so wouldn't make a HUGE difference in the scheme of things)

MP

freegenie

Yeah, I thought it had been done in metric because of that point.

So what on EARTH could be making us use 70units a day???

Sgt_Oddball

Hi freegenie,

sorry to hear about your situation.

Can you confirm that the initial meter reading was in fact '0000'? I may be wrong but you shouldn't assume the initial reading was zero. I have heard that sometimes the meter will have a label attached by the installer which gives the intial (or 'zero') reading of the meter. This 'zero' may not in fact be zero.

Can you check?

mech_2

It all looks correct to me. 70kWh per day in winter is really not that excessive. For me during that period I was using around 45kWh per day, but I have a high-efficiency boiler. My dad uses about 115kWh per day.

The high cost seems mainly due to your outrageously expensive gas on the Isle of Mann. In mainland Britain it's around 2.5p per kWh. If there is an error it's in the unit price.

amazon_spice

We moved into this house 18 months ago.
Two of us in a 2 bed bungalow, both at work. Similar to you.

First winter quarter was well over £300 and I nearly fell on the floor.

I am convinced it is the clonky old boiler [ca.1970s] which guzzles the gas - looking to change it ASAP.

freegenie

OK I may be on the wrong track but I may have had a revelation... ??

If a meter is 00000 (m3) and then it reads 001024 (m3) have we therefore used 1024 "units"...? What IS a unit here? One out of 1024, OR is a "unit" actually a "kilowatt hour"....

Cos they are charging us 7.9225pence per KILOWATT HOUR by this bill, however their tarrif says it is that amount "PER UNIT" not "PER KILOWATT HOUR"... Sorry, is anyone keeping up??

Cos if a "unit" is 1 out of 1024 (ie. the meter reads "units") then our bill would be £81 for 75 days, which seems normal to low, as we'd expect in our house...

But if a billed "unit" is a "kilowatt hour" then this seems mad...

Em

mute_posting

freegenie wrote: »

OK I may be on the wrong track but I may have had a revelation... ??

If a meter is 00000 (m3) and then it reads 001024 (m3) have we therefore used 1024 "units"...? What IS a unit here? One out of 1024, OR is a "unit" actually a "kilowatt hour"....

Cos they are charging us 7.9225pence per KILOWATT HOUR by this bill, however their tarrif says it is that amount "PER UNIT" not "PER KILOWATT HOUR"... Sorry, is anyone keeping up??

Cos if a "unit" is 1 out of 1024 (ie. the meter reads "units") then our bill would be £81 for 75 days, which seems normal to low, as we'd expect in our house...

But if a billed "unit" is a "kilowatt hour" then this seems mad...

Em

Afraid that is probably wishful thinking OP - gas meters read in m3 or 100's of cubic feet and all suppliers (AFAIK) do the conversion into Kwh from these.

MP