DIYbanter - View Single Post - Ever wondered why your gas bill is so high?

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Thus spaketh :
wrote:

I've just received an estimated gas bill. It shows that I'm £1200 in
arrears. I took a reading from my gas meter and found out that the
estimate was low. After calculating the real value, I found out that
I should be £1500 in arrears.

This worried me. I checked and re-checked all my bills and readings
that I'd taken over the last few years. Everything seemed to point to
the gas bill being massively in arrears.

However, I rechecked my gas meter and was surprised to find out that
it measures in cubic metres whereas my gas bill is in hcf (hundreds
of cubic feet). This would result in my gas bill being 283% of what
it should be.

It only takes five seconds to compare your gas bill units with your
gas meter units.

With all the talk of gas price rises, there's much emphasis on
changing supplier. So, suppose your gas supplier is lax in checking
whether your gas meter is in cubic metres. You'll run up a large
bill, get a fright, settle the bill and move to a different
supplier. If the new supplier uses the correct units, you'll get a
much-reduced bill and feel good that you've moved. Ironically, the
original supplier could have had a lower gas price.

Ask your neighbours/family members to do the 'five second check'. I'd
be surprised if there weren't a couple with suppliers using the wrong
units.

Everyone thinks that suppliers working with estimated readings is a
scandal; this is the REAL scandal, if not criminal fraud.

presumably every thing installed in the last 40 years is Meters
though ?

When we moved into our one home in late 1998 there was a pre-payment
meter in there, as British Gas the then current provider there was meant
to change the meter over on the day we moved in, yet they didn't show,
when we called them they said they didn't organise meters to be switched
out, I stated I was told someone would be there sometime after 10:00 to
do this, they again said they wouldn't do this and certainly wouldn't
give a time, so I said then why do I have a letter from yourselves
stating not only a time of 10:00 but that this is to switch the meter
out to a credit one, anyway they said they'd get back to me, however
with some luck I noticed a then Transco bloke just up the road, I had a
word with him he came and switched the meter out, it looked fairly new,
was set at just coming up to 0000, and was an imperial meter and not a
metric one.

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