View Full Version : Ouch gas bill
Hey guys just got my gas bill through and almost had a heart attack. I've checked the first and ongoing meter readings and they are fine. It's for £180 on top of my direct debits, That works out as 33kWh a day. This sounds high. It's a 1 bed flat, only shower, don't use heating often and when I do it's only for a few hours in the evening. Except 2 or 3 weeks when we had the snow and it was freezing. In contrast to the electricity that was within £2 of what I budgeted for.
Does that sound high and how much do you guys use..
Knipples
09-03-2009, 19:16
The gas bill here for the house I live in (with 4 other people) for the quarter was £840 quid. :shocked:
My landlady nearly had a heart attack too. Flip knows whats going on.
LeperousDust
09-03-2009, 19:20
We paid £400 for our recent quarter if memory serves me correct. 5 of us living here. My "frugal" (can think of other words right now) flatmate still went mental and said we have to save money. Until i had a massive go at him and reminded him last year i told him/us we should switch to a fixed bill since prices are going to rise mentally. Fast forward and our bill has surprisingly risen about 1/3 since thats the amount the price of gas has risen ;) I've told him i won't be using any more or less electricity or gas, and next time i ask them to do something how about we actually seriously listen to me!
Apathy in our flat is monumental!
What's the total amount for the year?
:jawdrop: How much? More happy about mine now, I was grumpy about £160 for the quarter over the cold months.
Are you double glazed? Loft topped up etc.
Gas prices have gone up, and it's been the coldest winter for at least a decade. That will have pushed prices way up. Having said that, I'm in a two-bed flat and I'm now paying £77/month (averaged over the year) for my combined energy use, and I'm sure that two-thirds of that is down to the four PCs that are on 24/7.
AcidHell2, get your boiler checked, especially if it's old. If the boiler looks over 5-10 years old, you may find the boiler is scaled up, and if it is, heating limescale is horrendously inefficient. If it's really old, it might have a continuous pilot light, which is even worse.
yeah double glazed, not sure about loft as it's a rented place. but I don't have heating on much at all.
What's the total amount for the year?
I work it out to be around 12000kWh a year. Or has gas really gone up that much in the last 18-24months. As my last place was included. but didn't pay anywhere near this amount on the house before that.
Gas prices have gone up, and it's been the coldest winter for at least a decade. That will have pushed prices way up. Having said that, I'm in a two-bed flat and I'm now paying £77/month (averaged over the year) for my combined energy use, and I'm sure that two-thirds of that is down to the four PCs that are on 24/7.
If I've worked it out right it's £27 a month for electricity and I thought it would be around £25 so spot on.
Gas I thought would be around £20 but this is averaging out at around £75-80 a month.
Do any of these gas comparison sights just let you type in Kwh instead of selecting who your gas supplier etc is.
Npower took almost 2months to switch over and British gas only charged me ~45 for almost 2 months worth.
uSwitch does, I think. Haven't tried any others.
Even so, that's the sort of gas bill I'd expect from a house with children or elderly occupants, not a single-bed flat.
First thing to do - right now - is to re-calculate your gas bill yourself. Here's a guide...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/latest_meters_pic.shtml
Make absolutely sure that if you have a metric meter, you're being charged metric rates. If you've recently switched suppliers, this can go wrong and you'll get dumped with a huge bill if it does.
Yep that all checks out.
Which leaves 2 possibilities?
either that's what I've used or I have a small leak?
Justsomebloke
09-03-2009, 20:49
This happens when you pay quarterly, Of course it is a tad cheaper & more convenient but your usage is not as controlled/monitored as when you use a pre pay meter, By Actually placing every single ten pound note in the meter yourself personally it is ultimate control over the bills/usage.
I have saved myself 10 quid a week since having my pre pay meter installed. I don't have any gas in the house at all so control is ultimate.
Think I worked out kWh per day wrong and thus the yearly total.
The estimate is almost spot on.
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/375bcb084b.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)
oops I'll resize
The only other thing it says is they can only charge me for 4500 units at the high price per year. So that should mean my bills should drastically fall?
Kell_ee001
09-03-2009, 22:51
We use around £30 a quarter, and this quarter is was just over £200! I nearly cried :'(
I'd have thought the best thing to do i go and read your meter and work it out from there. If you're being overcharged then the chances are you probably are because they rarely read your meters these days. Ring them up with a correct meter reading and keepa note of the readings and when you took them. Estimated bills are always wildly out, in their favour.
I'd have thought the best thing to do i go and read your meter and work it out from there. If you're being overcharged then the chances are you probably are because they rarely read your meters these days. Ring them up with a correct meter reading and keepa note of the readings and when you took them. Estimated bills are always wildly out, in their favour.
That all checks out. Would hate to think what the bill would be if I liked the place warm.
upped my DD to £70 a month and with the bills going onto the far cheaper rate it should be overpaying.
That's way too much. Our gas bill is £23/month for two of us in a two bed flat, we have the heating on quite a lot, two showers per day, cook on gas etc. Definitely something wrong there.
How much does your gas cost per unit? Mine is 3.675p/kWh (including VAT) according to the latest newsletter.
Our gas bill last month was £76. The only thing we have thats gas powered is the boiler, everything else like the cooker is electric. Incedentally, the electric bill was £22.
Im positive it would be cheaper to convert the house to run on bottles of propane......
That's way too much. Our gas bill is £23/month for two of us in a two bed flat, we have the heating on quite a lot, two showers per day, cook on gas etc. Definitely something wrong there.
How much does your gas cost per unit? Mine is 3.675p/kWh (including VAT) according to the latest newsletter.
6.7p kWh level 1
2.47p kWh level 2
they charged me 3100ish at level 1 and a 1000ish at level 2. They can only charge me 4500 a year at level 1
**** me that's expensive! You need to change suppliers.
**** me that's expensive! You need to change suppliers.
All the comparison websites are still saying they are the cheapest :confused: I think the level 1 charge really screwes you over in the winter. Then in the summer I'll be paying next to nothing.
Who are you with?
Equigas (part of Southern Electric), flat rate at whatever it was I posted.
USwitch has them down as EBICo. Just change to them if they can supply in your area and don't believe the lying bull**** the power companies pay U Switch etc to appear on their sites as "cheaper".
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