Gas usage - what the hell!!??
Discussion
Have had a BG supply since end Jan, setup an estimated amount based on assessment of house & utilities etc (it's a two bed old cottage) and have been paying £100pm since. Sounds about right? Wrong, apparently. Just sent a reading and BANG, bill has gone from £240 in credit to £1100 in debit. Is it even possible to use that much gas in a two bed? Property has been empty several times due to work commitments etc, hob gets used a fair bit for cooking, but other than heating being on a lot over winter I just can't see how it's possible. I took the reading 2 days ago, checked again today and in that time it's moved 0.9 units; they claim it's moved 1050 units since Jan 25th. I make that 1 unit per two days currently vs 4.7 units per day average up to now - surely some mistake!
As a (potentially) interesting aside, the previous billee owed BG something like £1100 before they moved abroad. Seems strange that's the amount they've come up with for my bill....
Question is, what can I do to argue it? I suspect the start reading is wrong (or they've backdated to the last paid bill by the previous billee), but I don't know how I can prove it...
As a (potentially) interesting aside, the previous billee owed BG something like £1100 before they moved abroad. Seems strange that's the amount they've come up with for my bill....
Question is, what can I do to argue it? I suspect the start reading is wrong (or they've backdated to the last paid bill by the previous billee), but I don't know how I can prove it...I had this problem a few years back in a student flat when the previous tenants claimed that they were the landlord and no one lived there (!).
It was also British Gas, and while this was about 12 years ago they were very reasonable when I rang and said: "Look, I hope I don't sound cheeky but we're four students in a flat who've lived here for just 2 months- surely you agree it's highly unlikely we've racked up £800 in gas in the height of summer? Help us sort out where the error is here." If you ring and explain calmly, you're likely to get the result you want.
Having the records that tallied up with my landlord/letting agent for what the meters read when I moved in were invaluable in proving my point. They sorted it out for us in a couple of weeks.
It was also British Gas, and while this was about 12 years ago they were very reasonable when I rang and said: "Look, I hope I don't sound cheeky but we're four students in a flat who've lived here for just 2 months- surely you agree it's highly unlikely we've racked up £800 in gas in the height of summer? Help us sort out where the error is here." If you ring and explain calmly, you're likely to get the result you want.
Having the records that tallied up with my landlord/letting agent for what the meters read when I moved in were invaluable in proving my point. They sorted it out for us in a couple of weeks.
Unfortunately I don't have any record of what the reading was when I took over the bill... I stupidly assumed everything would be just fine, and their estimate sounded about right according to what I'd have expected in a property this size. I'm waiting for them to call me back, but won't be holding my breath...
Unfortunately I don't have any record of what the reading was when I took over the bill... I stupidly assumed everything would be just fine, and their estimate sounded about right according to what I'd have expected in a property this size. I'm waiting for them to call me back, but won't be holding my breath...
eliot said:
should always read all the meters when you move in - otherwise you are leaving youself wide open.
This.On the subject of high usage, our first gas bill in our new house based on actual meter readings was £587 for 1 quarter. There were a few issues around how my wife had been using the heating while I was at work, how cold it was last winter, the age of the boiler and the fact that we didn't have a room thermostat. New combi with a room stat, a lesson for my wife in what not to do and despite the next quarter being just as bloody cold the bill was down to £370.
Have you tried seeing how much gas you use over the course of a day?
I did this and you can quickly get an idea of whether the bill is sensible or not.
Oh dear.
If no one has the meter reading from when you moved in, then all you can do is read it repeatedly for a while and then British Gas can try and estimate the reading backwards to when you moved in. That will help assuming that the problem is just a wrong move in reading.
Other problems you may have are-
If no one has the meter reading from when you moved in, then all you can do is read it repeatedly for a while and then British Gas can try and estimate the reading backwards to when you moved in. That will help assuming that the problem is just a wrong move in reading.
Other problems you may have are-
- The meter may be a 5 dial gas meter which is being billed as a 4 dial.
- There may be a leak somewhere (incredibly unlikely, but my mate once had a gas leak from her fire which was venting straight up the chimney so didn't smell)
- You may just have a very, very inefficient boiler!
- The latest reading may be the one that's not right rather than the initial
trackdemon said:
Have had a BG supply since end Jan, setup an estimated amount based on assessment of house & utilities etc (it's a two bed old cottage) and have been paying £100pm since. Sounds about right? Wrong, apparently. Just sent a reading and BANG, bill has gone from £240 in credit to £1100 in debit. Is it even possible to use that much gas in a two bed? Property has been empty several times due to work commitments etc, hob gets used a fair bit for cooking, but other than heating being on a lot over winter I just can't see how it's possible. I took the reading 2 days ago, checked again today and in that time it's moved 0.9 units; they claim it's moved 1050 units since Jan 25th. I make that 1 unit per two days currently vs 4.7 units per day average up to now - surely some mistake!
Just re-read you post.Is this usage since you moved in?
1050 units in over 7 months during which we had a very long and cold winter. On top of this it's an old cottage. What are the windowns like? How old is the boiler? Is it properly insulated.
Before getting too annoyed with BG, it's worth just checking that there's no other explanation as to why you've used so much gas.
A gas cooker uses feck all, a combi boiler uses a s
t load when it's running. numbers on meter are not units
its either in cubic feet, or cubic meters.
if you read the bill, it shows you how to convert that to kwh units that your billed on.
1m3 = ~11.2kwh = ~44p
assuming you mean 1050 M3 since 25th Jan, that's not unreasonable, over the same period, we have got though 975 M3
it has been dam cold and I would assume the boiler there is less than stellar efficiency wise?
bigger issue is what tarriff are you on?
1050M3 should cost you ~£425....
its either in cubic feet, or cubic meters.
if you read the bill, it shows you how to convert that to kwh units that your billed on.
1m3 = ~11.2kwh = ~44p
assuming you mean 1050 M3 since 25th Jan, that's not unreasonable, over the same period, we have got though 975 M3
it has been dam cold and I would assume the boiler there is less than stellar efficiency wise?
bigger issue is what tarriff are you on?
1050M3 should cost you ~£425....
Edited by Scuffers on Wednesday 4th September 22:44
I've got nerdy Home Automation, so I track gas, water and electricity in real time on my phone:
The heating is also controlled via HA it emails me when someone adjusts it, Wife not impressed with that feature!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLNkTUPaooo
The heating is also controlled via HA it emails me when someone adjusts it, Wife not impressed with that feature!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLNkTUPaooo
OP assuming you have done a sanity check, call BG.
I had a similar issue where my meter seemed to be running away with itself running up truly massive potential bill. I noticed it first when several estimated readings were miles off what it actually said on the meter. By an order of magnitude IIRC !
They eventually replaced the meter as it was physically impossible to have used up that much gas.
I had a similar issue where my meter seemed to be running away with itself running up truly massive potential bill. I noticed it first when several estimated readings were miles off what it actually said on the meter. By an order of magnitude IIRC !
They eventually replaced the meter as it was physically impossible to have used up that much gas.
eliot said:
I've got nerdy Home Automation, so I track gas, water and electricity in real time on my phone:
The heating is also controlled via HA it emails me when someone adjusts it, Wife not impressed with that feature!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLNkTUPaooo
What are you using for the HA?The heating is also controlled via HA it emails me when someone adjusts it, Wife not impressed with that feature!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLNkTUPaooo
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