Why has my gas bill doubled?

[longdogs]

Hi
Received my gas bill last week for the summer period and was shocked to see that our usage has doubled since the same period last year. We haven't cooked any more, haven't had the fire going etc.

I did have a problem with my combi boiler which turned out to be the diverter valve which I replaced myself last month and I must admit it took me a couple of months to sort it out. Because the weather was warm, we just turned the boiler off at the iso switch and just turned it on when we needed hot DHW.

Is there any reason why doing that would have greatly increased the gas consumption?

Thanks

 

[JohnD]

You are comparing actual meter readings, not estimates, and not £pounds, are you?

How often do you take the meter reading? If you have this sort of query it is worth taking the reading at least once a month, preferably more, and keeping a record so you can calculate daily usage, and see what's happening.

I use 0.5 cu m per day in summer, and 4 to 7 in winter depending on how cold it is. We had a cold spring this year. Last year the spring was warmer.

Heating the radiators takes ten times as much as heating the water so your diverter valve will have cost you something.

 

[Onetap]

Or a leak, though you'd probably have smelt it. Check the meter dial doesn't move during an hour or two when there is no gas being used.

 

[rjm2k]

Have you changed supplier?

Compare with your previous gas bill and see if they mention anything to do with converting from imperial to metric that has changed between bills, they have been known to get it wrong. Failing that, check if your meter is metric or imperial and make sure the bill reflect this (imperial should mention conversion).

 

[longdogs]

Hi

I havn't changed suppliers

The recent bill was an actual reading - not an estimate but the bill from last year was an estimate.

This quarter's consumtion was 3700 and cost £174.00

The same quater from last year was 200 and cost £15.00

I guessed that the diverter valve problem would have cost more because the haeting is effectively on when water is needed but it was only for about ten minutes per day.

I will check the meter with regards to a leak and also look into metric conversion.

Thanks for your replies

 

[JohnD]

If you look at a rolling 12-month (actual) usage it will make up for any estimates that make one quarter look too high and another quarter look too low.

For an "actual" you need the true figure for both the start and the end of the period, of course.

You can probably input your actual readings online to the suppliers website, which usually avoids inaccurate estimates.

 

[Charnwood]

We always chek our meters when we are issued with a bill based on an estimated reading. It prevents a big '££surprise££' when we get a bill based on an actual meter reading.

I'm convinced estimated readings are just numbers pulled from a hat with no basis in fact!

 

[doitall]

I pay the same every month direct debit, stops any big bills, and you get a small discount.