Orge vs Scottish Power

[orge]

I'm not sure whether here's anything that can be done about my situation with SP, but I thought I might drop a line in here for advice...

I've had a few problems with this company as our utilities bills (both electricity and gas) have always been very high. This is compounded by the fact that they seem unable to bill me more regularly than bi-annually. Earlier this year, I ended up in the situation where they applied for and obtained a warrant for entry. I managed to settle the bill on the day but this was during the visit.


On my latest bill there are two entries for warrant costs - each is £100 pounds. Is this typical?


Also, I'm still not convinced there isn't something wrong with the bills... The house is not very thermal efficient (not double glazed etc), but the CH has been off from April till Nov and we've still received a massive bill for gas. It's a combi, but I can't understand how two shower's a day and other usage can add up to this much - there's only two of us in the property.


It's possible that the boiler's/meter efficiency is part of the problem. It seems to run at about:
£1 per hour of CH

£0.7 per hour of HW


Do these figures sound normal? It's terraced house and an old gloworm boiler.


Obviously, it's difficult to provide objective advice based on an unknown situation but I would be interested if anyone had suggestions for things I might check. SP will do the meters, but at our cost if they're ok.



Thanks for your help,


J

[ozzywizard]

To be honest this consumption could be correct from what you are saying, you need to phone your energy efficienty department up and discuss with them how you can cut down with your useage and ensure your on the best rate etc. Things like loft insulation and double glazing do make a differance and the type of boiler you use and when you use it. Also you may be better off on an economy 7 tarrif etc. You may get help with loft insulation depending on your circumstances.
The warrant charges are correct as long as they applied correctly and stuck to the correct procedure. Check your bills and ensure they are not estimated etc. Hope this helps but as you said it is difficult to advise not knowing your circumstances.

[orge]

I'm currently looking into improving the house's energy efficiency - getting double glazing quotes and fixing some issues with the roof of the extension. I'm considering a replacement boiler but that might be a stretch too far...

Thanks for the confirming the warrant charges, I suspected they were right - I will chase this up with SP though, just in case. As for the boiler consumption, I'm still rather sceptical about it.


running our boiler for 2-3h/day for a quarter would give us a bill of:
£180-270+standing charge


To me, this sounds like quite a lot for what must be average-low usage for a combi - at least for a well insulated house in winter.*My house is not "well insulated" but both myself and my housemate are putting up with a very chilly environment and using the gas as frugally as possible.*I think we're on a reasonable tarrif, so I don't think it's the *cost we're paying for the gas - although I have noticed that we could save some more by switching to SP's online energy deals. I'm more inclined to think that the boiler is the culprit rather than the meter, but it would be nice to know before investing £1000s in an appliance. Would a boiler engineer be able to help with this?


J

[2Grumpy]

For what it's worth, BG replaced my meter and now my bills are lower.

With a boiler, it is either on at the maximum flow rate, or off (pilot light only).

With some maths and the boiler specifications (if you can find them) you might be able to work something out. Any difficulties - send it to Mensa to publish as one of their puzzles.

Grumpy