gas bills lets compare

[tim west]

When the monthly payments went up and up i didnt really think about it as it was warned of on the news so sort of took it for granted that thats what you have to pay now, checked my account online recently and had a shock, nearly £700 in credit!

Phoned them up and gave the latest reading, was told that my monthly payment was far too excessive, reduced it and gave me a big refund,
Nice people moral is check your account you may get a nice surprise.

 

[masona]

Since we got this super duper combi boiler which was supposed to be so energy efficient, the gas bills have got higher and higher. Never had bills like that with me old boiler and hot water tank.

My boiler is RS60 potterton kingfisher although not big enough for all my radaitors but does cope well, I was told by a plumber to change to a more efficient bigger boiler, why should I, the boiler is now 28yrs old I don't think combi boiler are efficient as IMO they use more gas to heat the water quickly and tend to have a shorter life.

 

[breezer]

Just brought my Plug in watt meter. Yes its not 100% but its not far offit.

my pc has 300 w psu, sure doesnt draw 300w thought, its running right now just under 100w, the monitor is around 20w (15 inch lcd)
router so small it hardly registers.

so i still do not agree with the pc being on using more than a TD

now if The PC was running at 100%, 100% of the time then yes may be, but 300w. no.

My speakers are only litlle 50 watt ones, but they are doing nothing since i am not playing any audio, and if i were it would have to be on 100% to use 50w (or what ever)

so again i have to say that a pc uses nowhere ner as much power as has been suggested. (even if you said my plug in meter was 50% it still would not make it as bad as suggested.

 

[toptec]

my pc has 300 w psu, sure doesnt draw 300w thought, its running right now just under 100w,

so i still do not agree with the pc being on using more than a TD

so again i have to say that a pc uses nowhere ner as much power as has been suggested. (even if you said my plug in meter was 50% it still would not make it as bad as suggested.

Gotta agree breezer.

Used my plug meter for the past few weeks. My Pc uses btwn 40-60W at a time. I have had it running now for 32 hours, and it has used 19p's worth of lekky.

Four hours of Tumble Dryer useage cost us 24p.

A lot of the larger bills are down to increase in costs. I am paying 0.128p per unit. What about you Alison?

 

[big-all]

Just brought my Plug in watt meter. Yes its not 100% but its not far offit.

my pc has 300 w psu, sure doesnt draw 300w thought, its running right now just under 100w, the monitor is around 20w (15 inch lcd)
router so small it hardly registers.

so i still do not agree with the pc being on using more than a TD

now if The PC was running at 100%, 100% of the time then yes may be, but 300w. no.

My speakers are only litlle 50 watt ones, but they are doing nothing since i am not playing any audio, and if i were it would have to be on 100% to use 50w (or what ever)

so again i have to say that a pc uses nowhere ner as much power as has been suggested. (even if you said my plug in meter was 50% it still would not make it as bad as suggested.

the figures do work if you have a tumble that consumes up to 2.5kw like i have and a computer and accompanying screen printer speakers ect that use around 300w per hour like i have

i havent claimed that it applied to anybody elses set up as it obviously cant but i did check the reading via a flow meter as i have done with every appliance in the house



cant be an exact science considering there are so many variable

i thought it was the electric that was the issue and was just trying to be helpfull as to where the units go

 

[Alison556]

Sorry chaps, it's the gas that's the issue. I can't understand why my gas bill is so high when I use so much more electricity than gas.

However, it's been really interesting just to see what it costs to run things. I'm surprised that the TD isn't as expensive as I thought it would be in the grand scheme of things

Anyway, toptec - unit costs? I haven't got a flippin clue. I must be really thick or something, but I just don't understand the bills. Here's the gas bill:

23 Oct 2008 - actual 6732 We read your meter
28 Jan 2009 - actual 6930 We read your meter
= 198 metric units over 98 days
Gas units converted = 6371.65 kWh used over 98 days
Usage charge First 720.00 kWh x 7.504 p = £ 54.03
Next 5651.65 kWh x 3.578 p = £ 202.22
Total cost of gas used £ 256.25

Gas units are converted to Kilowatt hours using the following formula:
metric units
Used -- Calorific Value -- Volume Correction -- To Convert to kWh -- Gas used expressed in kWh
198..... x........ 40.0295..... x...... 1.0226400..... ÷ ..... 3.6..... =..... 6371.65

If your meter is imperial, we multiply your units by 2.83 to convert to metric.
The above conversion is based on your first meter read.


Having looked at that again, the actual meter readings from Oct to Jan are in cubic feet (I know cos I checked the meter), but the difference they're saying is 198 metric units - is that right?

It only makes me wonder cos there was a bit on Watchdog about people getting huge gas bills and it was because the meter readings weren't being calculated properly. They put the formula for calculating the bill on their website and for an imperial meter -

To convert the readings on an imperial meter from imperial units to kWh's the company should do the following calculation;

(The number of units you've used) X (The metric conversion factor) X (The volume correction factor) X (The calorific value of the gas) divided by 3.6 = kWh's.

The number of kilowatt hours you calculate should match the number of kilowatt hours the energy company says you've used. If they don't, then you should query your bill with your energy supplier.[/b]

 

[Alison556]

Ignore most of what I had in my last post!! I sat and worked out the values and it is right (I think).

As for electricity, it would appear that I pay:

First 242 kWh x 14.742 p = £ 35.68
Next 1235 kWh x 9.906 p = £ 122.34

Is that on par with other people? I probably really should look into changing supplier.

 

[big-all]

well the divide by 2.83 would bring your gas down to just under the ton

what does your meter look like !!!

how long have lived in this property !!!

have you had estimated bills over the last few years without an actual reading to correct any errors in the intervening years!!

 

[Alison556]

The 2.83 is a multiply - thats the metric conversion factor of the equation!!

I've lived here for coming up for 10 years and the meter has always been read either by the wee man from the gas board or myself. It got moved outside a couple of years ago (and I've checked that they're reading the right meter and not my neighbours cos they're side by side!)

I'm gonna have to have a look at other tariffs. We don't seem to have a standing charge on our bills though, so I'm guessing that must be reflected in the price of the utility.

They don't flippin make it easy for you!

 

[big-all]

was it the same meter moved to the outside !!!

you cheepest way to buy gas and electric is by duel fuel monthly direct payments internet account and deffinatly without scottish or british gas in the equasion
try u switch or simmilar tranfer sites but dont give your address or phone number as these sites just sell your details on to people who will quote

you should only have to give your post code or local supplier
http://www.uswitch.com/?gclid=CIWY3eDa0JgCFYh_3god0n3dzg

 

[libby lou lou]

When the monthly payments went up and up i didnt really think about it as it was warned of on the news so sort of took it for granted that thats what you have to pay now, checked my account online recently and had a shock, nearly £700 in credit!

Phoned them up and gave the latest reading, was told that my monthly payment was far too excessive, reduced it and gave me a big refund,
Nice people moral is check your account you may get a nice surprise.

thlnk your a mug tlm, blggest credlt to me has been £40, they have your money?????? nowt personal.

 

[Alison556]

was it the same meter moved to the outside !!!

you cheepest way to buy gas and electric is by duel fuel monthly direct payments internet account and deffinatly without scottish or british gas in the equasion
try u switch or simmilar tranfer sites but dont give your address or phone number as these sites just sell your details on to people who will quote

you should only have to give your post code or local supplier
http://www.uswitch.com/?gclid=CIWY3eDa0JgCFYh_3god0n3dzg[/QUOTE]

I'm trawling comparison sites as we type!!!! I may be some time!! Send out the St Bernard with the brandy if you don't hear from me in a while!

We're on dual fuel no standing charge (as far as I can make out) but not paying by direct debit - don't trust the buggers with my bank details!!!

 

[big-all]

the difference in standing charge and no standing charge is pence unless you go away for months
as a normal family i am with scottish power no standing charge and the difference was 3p over standing charge although i have gained a bit as my boiler packed up before xmass so being on no standing charge my bill is zerro which helps to off set the extra cost of a fan heater at 10p a unit over 4.5 for gas after the higher rate 6. somthing pence

also the saving they claim on comparason sites are often innacurate as they often "FORGET" discounts you already get

i went on one site that quoted me a saving of £35 and quoted my bill with them as being £744 a year when my actual consumption =£633 at todays prices so beware you need to know your actual consumption

 

[masona]

I probably really should look into changing supplier.

Before you do that get the gas meter tested first, could be faulty(?)

 

[JohnD]

I don't think comparing £££ helps. You have to look at Actual Usage.

My gas usage (CH & DHW), averaged per day, in cu. metres and kWh, was:

This Winter
Jan 2009 av. 7 m/d 77 kWh/d
Dec 2008 av. 6.5 m/d 72kWh/day
Nov 2008 av. 6.3 m/d, 70 kWh/d

Previous Winters
Dec 2007 to Feb 2008 av. 6.7 m/day 74 kWh/day
Dec 2006 to Mar 2007 av. 6.4 m/d 71 kWh/day
Dec 2005 to Mar 2006 av. 8.8 m/d 97.24 kWh/day
Oct 2004 to Jan 2005 av. 6.5 m/d 72 kWh/day



I had a more efficient boiler fitted Sept 2008, which seems to have kept this year's usage about the same as before, even though it is unusually cold. Was winter 2005/6 very cold?

Last Summer
June 2008 av. 1.3 m/d 14 kWh/day

Previous Summer
June/Aug 2007 av. 1.1 m/d 12.2 kWh/day


Modern 3-bed house heated during the day, South coast.