This all makes interesting reading. This is what I do, probably no help, but my bills are always consistent.

1. NEVER EVER PAY BY DIRECT DEBIT!

2. Pay quarterly, and when you get the bill(s), read the meter(s) and get the bill amended from estimated to customer reading.

3. Take a digital pic of the meter reading for your own records. A picture is worth a thousand words!

4. One of the biggest consumers is an electric tumble drier. My parents/grand parents managed without one..........

5. Never leave electrical items on standby, they can consume up to 50% of what they do when being operated.

Hi,

I can't believe that this has happened to someone else & it is exactly the same as what I am going through, also with British Gas. The Gas meter was changed and reset etc, same circumstances I live in a two bedroom mid terraced property. I am not using anything with high consumption. I have two young children and my bill currently stands in excess of £2000. They said that they would change the meter in-case it was faulty, but on the day of the appointment a British Gas employee arrived and said that he had been told to just take a meter reading which he did and then left? I am a single parent with an incurable illness, as if I don't have enough to worry about! Anyway I pay British Gas by direct payment, but the bill is going up not down!

Hello there - no the bill has not been misread or misunderstood as we triple checked it with Britsh Gas and with current meter reading. It is under special investigation so will see what they come back with.

Boris007:

Very interesting and clearly possible. However in that case the anomoly should appear in the bill which included the meter change. In this thread the new meter seemed to display the anomoly.

Unless the bill has not been clear or misunderstood of course.

I have read this with interest!. Only last week I was down for a meter change on the electricity, from the old dial type to the new digital one.

The engineer turned up as planned and the first thing he did was read the old meter apart from wanting a cup of coffee!. He took the reading and asked me to confirm, my reading was half, he had mistaken the position on the 10,000 dial as a 2 and not a 1.

After much debating the method of reading these meters it was agreed that I was right. Had I not insisted on this my bill would have been huge.

I would challenge your bill on the basis that the meter was incorrectly read.

Thank you for your help to date, I am waiting for British Gas to come back on appointmetn to check meter cost £35 but think it is worth it! The meter is a new electronic small white box with 5 figure digital reading which flashes between that and reading of lots zeros, I cannot see any devise/switch on it that would allow muliple reading. I am taking readings day and night now and will keep a log it does not seem excessive to me so far 4KW in 12 hours

Hall - main light with energy saving bulb and 4 spotlights

Living room - Main light and 2 lamps all with energy saving bulbs, TV, BT home hub, BT vision box using ethernet plugs, DVD player (not plugged in).

Dining room - Sony Vio laptop, ipod speaker, main light and lamp with energy saving bulb

Kitchen - 3x spotlight uplighter, 4x led lights in kitchen cabinet, 2 x under counter lights, 2 x bulbs in cooker hood, A rated fridge freezer, electric fan oven. Then we have a toaster, breadmaker, microwave and digital radio all switched off when not in use.

Utility - dishwasher used 5 times week, washing machine 5 times week and dryer 5 times a week.

Bedroom 1 - digital alarm clock, main light and lamp both with energy saving bulbs, use hairdryer 3 times week and straighteners 3 times week. Charge mobile phone x 2 3-5 times week

Bedroom 2 - Iron used most days for 1-2 items, main light and lamp with energy saving bulbs.

Bedroom 3 - Main light with energy saving bulb, room not in use

Bathroom - 2 x led spotlight in downlighter.

- dishwasher used 5 times week, washing machine 5 times week and dryer 5 times a week.

Bedroom 1 - digital alarm clock, main light and lamp both with energy saving bulbs, use hairdryer 3 times week and straighteners 3 times week. Charge mobile phone x 2 3-5 times week

Bedroom 2 - Iron used most days for 1-2 items, main light and lamp with energy saving bulbs.

Bedroom 3 - Main light with energy saving bulb, room not in use

Bathroom - 2 x led spotlight in downlighter.

We do not have a garage or any other outbuildings we are a mid terrace house. The telephone to the house is basic model not using electricity we do not have a garden for power tools, water features etc, no outside lights, only one set of Christmas lights used at Christmas not switched on constantly due to safety conscious husband! We used an industrial sander for one day and a steamer for 4 days whilst renovating kitchen in November.

The telephone to the house is basic model not using electricity we do not have a garden for power tools, water features etc, no outside lights, only one set of Christmas lights used at Christmas not switched on constantly due to safety conscious husband! We used an industrial sander for one day and a steamer for 4 days whilst renovating kitchen in November.

Cannot see how this could this cause 13,462kw of energy consumption in 9 months.

Kimo:

Does not add up?

Certainly doesn't add up. Its very difficult to get that much consumption in a gas heated house. Is it a fancy electronic meter you have or a mechanical one with a digital display? If electronic do you have to push a button to get the reading and is more than one reading possible?

Please, I'm not pointing the finger but trying to eliminate. It's about a 1.5kW standing load extra, or less extra counting your spotlights. Could there be a heater in a garage, greenhouse, loft or conservatory left on?

I would suggest taking daily readings for a week to get a handle on your consumption.

Sorry I haven't helped yet but I'm still thinking...

and while I am thinking everybody reading this and worried about their electricity should go and read their meter NOW and quarterly at least and ideally monthly.

The meter was changed as we previously had old dial meter this was changed for new digital one. The date it was changed was set to 00000 on 22 November 2007 then estimated 00367 on 17th Jan 08 using 367kw over 57 days, then ACTUAL meter reading on 18th Jun 08 at 01164 so another 797kw over 153 days and so on estimated 02053 on 13th December. We then had a new ACTUAL meter reading of 14,626 on 26th March using 13,462 units over 9 month we have not changed energy consumption. Does not add up?

Kimo:

A long shot for elimination. Is it possible that the 18/6/2008 reading was 11640 and the replacement meter reading wasn't properly recorded?

Please explain the background to the meter change.

Hi Scott

I have just recieved a shocking bill from British Gas saying we owe £1,482 based on latest meter reading. I am not sure where to turn. This equates to an average of 47.90kw per day usage since last meter reading. Since moving to the property in 2004 our average electrity use has been between 5-10 kw / day. We had meter fitted on 22nd November 2007 then our first actual reading after this was 18th June 2008 it was 01164 therefore 5.5kw/day. The next meter reading was 26th March 2009 14,626 therefore using 13,462kw in just 9 months or 281 days average of 47.90kw per day. Looking at meter reading today it is 14,744 using 118 kw in 11 days average of 10.73kw per day.

I am puzzeled as to why we have had this surge in electricity, is there anything we can do to challenge this? I have asked BG to send someone to test meter at cost of £35. We have always been with british gas are very conservative in our electricity use we are a married couple who work full time we do not watch a lot of television, have gas hob, gas central heating, have energy saving lightbulbs, one laptop, a washer, dryer and dishwasher, the microwave is swithched off not on standby. What could have caused this?

We had problem with our electrics over Christmas we have spotlights in hall that kept blowing as the transformer was gone in loft, the BG Homecare man came over to replace it as it was constantly blowing mains fuse, in fuse box it had wire fuse we had it replaced to trip switch now. Could this have caused the excessive electrity use and if so are we liable for the bill? I do not have the money to pay the bill of £1,482 debit, Britsh Gas have said they will alter the direct debit to £340 per month to pay it off but I do not have fund to cover this - can you help me I do not know what to do?