Your Question
I've received a gas and electricity bill and it's higher than expected. Why is this? Is my meter faulty? How do I get my meter tested?
If you receive a bill that's unexpectedly high, we recommend that you check your current and previous bills to see if any of the meter readings have been estimated. Look at the back of your bills under the Breakdown of Charges section.
If any meter readings have been estimated, they will be clearly marked with (E). The front page of your bill will also say if you've been billed using estimated meter readings. It's possible that your previous bills were based on estimated meter readings that were too low and that your current bill has been calculated using true meter readings, so it's higher than you expected. This can happen if we haven't been able to get a meter reading for some time. To avoid this happening, we'd advise you to check your meter readings whenever you receive an estimated bill and call our meter reading line on 0800 027 8000 (Lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week). This enables us to send you an accurate bill, based on actual meter readings. if your previous and current bills have been calculated using actual meter readings, please check the meter reading and let us know if it's wrong.
If the meter reading looks right, it's likely that your energy usage has increased over the billing period. This could be due to the time of year - for example in winter you're likely to use more heating and lighting than you do in summer.
It's also worth considering whether you've used any new or different appliances during the billing period, which may account for the higher usage.
The following information* shows you the amount of power electrical appliances typically used:
Cold Appliances
- Freezer (upright or chest) 150 1 to 1.5 units a day
- Refrigerator 100 Less than 1 unit per day
- Refrigerator (new) 1/3 unit per day
- Fridge/Freezer 1 to 1.5 units per day
Heating
- Convector Heater (2kW) 2000 1 unit per ½ hour
- Fan Heater 2000 1 unit per ½ hour
- Infra-red heater 1000 1 unit per hour
- Oil filled radiator 500 - 2500 For 500W heater 1 unit - 2 hours
- Panel Heater 1500 40 mins - 1 unit
- Electric Immersion Heater (Hot Water) 3000 20 mins - 1 unit - Note - a 2kW heater should provide twice as much heat as a 1kW heater
- Wet Appliances Dishwasher 3000 One full load - 1.5 units
- Tumble Dryer 2500 Full load cottons-3.5 units Full load of synthetics - 2 units
For further information and some useful tips on how to try and reduce the amount of energy you use at home, call our Energy Efficiency team on 0800 33 22 33 (Mon-Fri 08.30-16.45). If your energy use has increased but you haven't changed the way you use appliances, it could be that one of your appliances has developed a fault. In this case, we'd recommend that you contact a private electrician or gas safety registered (corgi) engineer to test your appliances.
If you've taken all these steps and still can't account for your higher bill, try recording your meter readings over a seven-day period. You can also test your meter by making a note of the meter reading, turning off the electricity and then checking the reading again to see if it has advanced. If it has, please write to us at the address shown on your bill, confirming that you've completed this test and enclosing a copy of your seven-day meter readings. Please also include a record of which appliances were used each day and how long they were on for - this will help us to investigate the problem.
*source: Energy Advice Handbook 2004 - published by Energy Inform Ltd 2004. Author - Julie Green, Director of Energy Inform Ltd, 5 Hawkyard, Greenfield, Oldham OL3 7NP
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