Gas Bills

[JSK]

Hi All,

Could someone help, my gas bills seem to be EXCEEDINGLY high. i own a 3 bedrom semi detached house. My heating is set to come on at 630am - 800am - then from 4.30pm till 10.30pm. I have a gas cooker which i guess is used once a day in evening, and a gas fire which is occasionally used for an hour or so once or twice a week. What kind of average bill should i be expecting per quarter. i have just received a bill for �250.00, which i feel is way above what it should be. Historically i have always found the gas bill high compared to other similar house owners. what am i doing wrong?!?! - help!!

[zara 4]

We have a card meter and we have gas just for the heating,everything else is electric,we put on average �15 per week in the gasmeter and that is with the heating on from 7.30am- 11pm during cold weather which is most of the time lately,cos we were told its just as much to have it on all day as it is to turn it on and off and having to heat up from cold each time.

[Mattk]

we use �40+ per month(�120/qtr) in a 4 bed detached with heating on for 2 hrs AM and 3 hrs PM and also cook with gas(4 people).

Your bill will be based on average useage per year not what you are currently using as your heating will be turned off in the next month or two until approx Oct or Nov.

Zara - heating from cold doesnt take more energy as the boiler is just told to turn on or off so by leaving it on all day you are constantlyburning gas meaning that your bill will be higher.You wouldnt leave your gas cooker on all day would you so its nice and hot when you want to cook?!

[Mattk]

JSK - forgot to mention that someone at work has a very similar problem to you in that their gas bills are too high and their house is empty all day !

I recommend asking the gas board round to test for you.

one last thing - you have checked your meter reading? maybe your bill is based on an estimated reading that is way out.I only mention this as I was caught out like this once.

[zara 4]

Yeah i would actually,preheating and all that you know.No i'm just saying what the gas people told me,someone else on here was told that too!If i'm cold i'll have the heating on,its that simple really.

[hugoboss]

This might be obvious, but have you given meter readings, because they could be estimated bills you're receiving. And/or are you reading your meter correctly?

[mini_m]

Which company are you with? I'm with British Gas, theres been loads in the news about their price rises. I only have a gas cooker my quarterly bills are usually no more than �5 so you can imagine how shocked I was to get a bill for �14.97 and no it was not estimated . Time to switch I think!

[twinny_15]

Hi I have a four bedroom semi 3 people living here I cook on gas and due to my husband and I being disabled the heating is on constantly about 20c I pay on weekly card at �10 per week.

[curiosity]

Just to support Zara 4 here, my house has high ceilings, so does my place of work. On at least two separate occasions (one at home one at work) I have been told that with a large space to heat (as the walls take in heat) it is more economicial to have your heating on the LOWEST setting on constant. Therefore the place doesn't ever feel cold enough, and the heat from the walls is not lost, to the point of needing the heating on a HIGH setting to both re heat the walls and eventually the house. I for one hate my thermostat, as it cuts the heating off totally, and even when it's blasting, the house isn't warm enough for at least 30 mins, and then it's time to leave. Exactly yhe same at work, people are freezing until at least 10am and yet the building is lovely and warm until 7pm.

[coverall]

have u had new meter put in recently check whether u have metric meter are imperial meter

[malaise]

I had a similar problem. I switched supplier via www.uswitch.com and found my gas and electric bills decreased quite substantially!

Re: being advised to keep heating on low all the time for houses with high ceilings: I was also advised this, but find that having the heating on high works out cheaper, since we only need the heating on for a few hours in the evening as opposed to on all day.