I posted a topic around a month ago about my gas bill being in hcf
(hundreds of cubic feet) and my gas meter measuring cubic metres.

I've just had a revised bill from my gas supplier: they've scrapped all
charges over the last two years and recalculated using the correct
units.

The up-shot is, I've gone from being £1500 in arrears to £250 in
arrears (I did suspect my monthly direct debit should have been upped).

So, the moral of this tale is: get to understand how your gas bill is
calculated.

LJMeek wrote:
I posted a topic around a month ago about my gas bill being in hcf
(hundreds of cubic feet) and my gas meter measuring cubic metres.

I've just had a revised bill from my gas supplier: they've scrapped all
charges over the last two years and recalculated using the correct
units.

The up-shot is, I've gone from being £1500 in arrears to £250 in
arrears (I did suspect my monthly direct debit should have been upped).

So, the moral of this tale is: get to understand how your gas bill is
calculated.

The moral is check your bill every quarter and don't let it get that
far in the first place!

MBQ

On 15 Sep 2006 06:21:28 -0700, "LJMeek" wrote:

I posted a topic around a month ago about my gas bill being in hcf
(hundreds of cubic feet) and my gas meter measuring cubic metres.

I've just had a revised bill from my gas supplier: they've scrapped all
charges over the last two years and recalculated using the correct
units.

The up-shot is, I've gone from being £1500 in arrears to £250 in
arrears (I did suspect my monthly direct debit should have been upped).

So, the moral of this tale is: get to understand how your gas bill is
calculated.

What's really annoying is that this is a fairly common problem that frequenlty
must stand out like a sore thumb but the companies deliberately ignore.

Unqualified people like my sister, quite naturally assume that the fitted meter
reads in the units you are charged at and why not ? When the later m3 meters
were fitted, the companies should have ensured that their records were updated.

Only when some chance conversation hi-lights the possibilty does the problem
come to light and it is NOT the consumers fault.

Andy

I posted a topic around a month ago about my gas bill being in hcf
(hundreds of cubic feet) and my gas meter measuring cubic metres.

I've just had a revised bill from my gas supplier: they've scrapped all
charges over the last two years and recalculated using the correct
units.

The up-shot is, I've gone from being £1500 in arrears to £250 in
arrears (I did suspect my monthly direct debit should have been upped).

So, the moral of this tale is: get to understand how your gas bill is
calculated.

What's really annoying is that this is a fairly common problem that
frequenlty
must stand out like a sore thumb but the companies deliberately ignore.

Unqualified people like my sister, quite naturally assume that the fitted
meter
reads in the units you are charged at and why not ? When the later m3
meters
were fitted, the companies should have ensured that their records were
updated.

Only when some chance conversation hi-lights the possibilty does the
problem
come to light and it is NOT the consumers fault.

Andy

Is there a gas meter that shows units ? doesn't the calorific value change
from time to time hence the need to calculate the units used based on volume
and calorific value ?

Pete

Pete Cross wrote:


Is there a gas meter that shows units ? doesn't the calorific value change
from time to time hence the need to calculate the units used based on volume
and calorific value ?

Pete

Household gas meters measure in imperial (hcf=hundreds of cubic feet)
or metric (m³=cubic metres). Both these measurements are volumetric.

UK gas bills require that they charge against energy, measured in kWh
(kilo-Watt-hours).

To convert from the volumetric measurement into energy, the calorific
value is used, along with other correction factors.

My problem was that I had a metric gas meter and an imperial bill. This
resulted in an overbilling of 283% (the ratio between hcf and m³).

On 15 Sep 2006 06:21:28 -0700, "LJMeek" wrote:

|I posted a topic around a month ago about my gas bill being in hcf
|(hundreds of cubic feet) and my gas meter measuring cubic metres.
|
|I've just had a revised bill from my gas supplier: they've scrapped all
|charges over the last two years and recalculated using the correct
|units.
|
|The up-shot is, I've gone from being ?1500 in arrears to ?250 in
|arrears (I did suspect my monthly direct debit should have been upped).
|
|So, the moral of this tale is: get to understand how your gas bill is
|calculated.

The moral is: Check all bills.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

On 15 Sep 2006 07:56:29 -0700, "LJMeek" wrote:


Pete Cross wrote:


Is there a gas meter that shows units ? doesn't the calorific value change
from time to time hence the need to calculate the units used based on volume
and calorific value ?

Pete

Household gas meters measure in imperial (hcf=hundreds of cubic feet)
or metric (m³=cubic metres). Both these measurements are volumetric.

UK gas bills require that they charge against energy, measured in kWh
(kilo-Watt-hours).

To convert from the volumetric measurement into energy, the calorific
value is used, along with other correction factors.

My problem was that I had a metric gas meter and an imperial bill. This
resulted in an overbilling of 283% (the ratio between hcf and m³).

Quite so but it is the responsibility of the Gas supplier to know what kind of
meter is fitted and not the frequently non-technical consumer. Customer Services
must hear this same tale time and time again. I bet the casual attitude wouldn't
be the same if the effect was an undercharge.

Andy

I've just had a revised bill from my gas supplier: they've scrapped all
charges over the last two years and recalculated using the correct
units.

IIRC suppliers are now only allowed to back-charge 12 months, so you
might *still* be getting overcharged.

It might be worth referring to the http://www.energywatch.org.uk site
for clarification :-)