Help me understand why my gas is £17 a day!

[Elmatheele]

hello all, I live in a 3 bed semi detached house that’s about 30 years old. 14 year old boiler but unvented cylinder in the loft. Heating goes on for about one hour in the morning and is turned off all day until we return home at 4pm it’s then set to around 19 and is off completely over night. What am I doing wrong? Bills seem to have increased since smart meter was installed last month. Is this extortionate of am I just out of touch with gas prices?

There must be a small leak, mine is £9 per day.

Possibly

try 30m x2

and if not enough hot water for baths /showers increase slightly

if you don’t shower am you might not need an Hour

I shower before bed as like the extra time in bed in am

Are you taking these figures from the actual meter, or your In House Display thingy? The IHD can be wildly inaccurate (well mine can).

Start taking daily readings from the meter itself.

Ignoring the ihd (the monitor) have you got an ap which says the amount of gas you are using
E.g this is mine for last week

That is a lot. For context I have a large detached 4 bed house and am at home a lot as I am retired. We don't skimp on heating at all and even on the coldest days during January we are only using around 160kWh.

We only have the water on for an hour a day and its plenty

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/17/uk-smart-meter-targets-energy-users-martin-lewis

This article simply explains that around 10% of smart meters are not communicating with the supplier, much like a mobile phone in an area with no coverage. Such meters do not generate inaccurate readings, and can be read manually, like a traditional meter.

It also refers to people receiving inaccurate bills because of faulty smart meters. OP hasn't been billed yet I know, but that is why I thought she might be interested in the article.🙂

That only happens if people aren’t aware that their supplier hasn’t received any (automatic) readings, and bills on an estimate instead. Supplying a meter reading solves that issue. Of course, it’s more fun to kick up a fuss about inaccurate bills. Anyway, that’s not what’s happening here. OP has been asked if she’s using actual meter readings, but she hasn’t responded yet.

Oh well, my mistake. I don't have a smart meter, so not as knowledgeable as you about them.

Unfortunately, many people conflate smart meters’ accuracy with their radio connectivity. Like all energy meters, the accuracy of smart meters is tightly regulated, and genuinely inaccurate meters, of all types, are rare.

I've just checked my usage and costs, I've been off work unwell the last two weeks so heating has been on a lot (then there's showers as well) every day I'm spending between £3/£5 a day. 3 bed end of terraced.

Thanks all. I’m so pleased to hear it isn’t normal. I was wondering how anyone affords to live! I have sent the company an email. Hoping it’s just an error and no leak!!!!!

Have you taken any meter readings? This is the first step of working out what’s going on.

I'm using about £3 a day - 40 yr old boiler in a 3 bed semi - heating water for 2 hours a day and heating on for about 4-5 hours a day.

Is the meter moving while gas it not in use. If not, I'm guessing it's not a leak and more likely to be an error with the meter.

Can you take actual meter reading for a few days, not using the display but on the physical meter that way you can see what's actually being used each day and do the sums that's the clearest way to find out how much gas is being used....you're sure this is not the combined Gas and electric BTW? as some smart displays can be set to show total usage on energy and can also be split to show Gas and Electric individually.

They will probably suggest taking readings and sending it to them.

I'm also on BG with a smart meter. Your kWh charges are slightly less than mine and your standing charge a tiny bit more. We hit £7 of gas 3 days this month.

Yes it’s certainly the gas separate. Electricity seems absolutely normal and is only a few £ a day.

I will look at the meter properly this evening and see how it’s reading with the boiler switched off. Thanks again.

I dunno my mouth fell open at £17 a day.

Mines a 3 bed, old, drafty windows doors ect and mine is £9 a day maximum. And that's if I have it on all day

Might be an idea to read it just before you go out in the morning and then when you get home before the heating comes on?

Ours was 262 for December.