High Gas Bill

vidapura said:
hi Folks,
Can I ask yez what kind of gas you have?
Like I have the calor gas with the big tank out the back that the truck comes and fills every now and then.
The reason I'm asking is that it seems to me there is a really big difference between Calor, Flo, and piped/town gas.

We're being told our gas is €2.90 a unit. Thats Calor.

I don't really know what a 'unit' is.. is it a kilowatt hour?
Natural gas seems to be done on Kilwatt hour and I am under the impression that IT is a lot cheaper than Calor gas.
Click to expand...

Hi Vida, Yes unfortunately the LPG Gas like you have is a fair bit higher than the price of Natural gas, The delivery unit for LPG seems to be litres or Kg not KwH, however take a look at the following link on the SEI web site:

[broken link removed]

And you will see a true comparison in Kw/H ,seems to be about 10 cent versus 6 cent per KwH, or could be 14 cent for bottled gas.
 
My bill arrived yesterday - €515 :eek: !!

The later reading is an estimate. The Gas Used figure is 8126.

We live in a 4 bed semi with 11 radiators & a coal-effect fire & immersion. We were at home a lot over Christmas and my wife complains about the cold most of the time.

For the first time in my life. I am going to have to let the bill payment go late until there are funds to cover it.
 
RSMike said:
And you will see a true comparison in Kw/H ,seems to be about 10 cent versus 6 cent per KwH, or could be 14 cent for bottled gas.
Click to expand...

Hi RSMike.
Thats interesting.. lots of good info on the SEI site allright...
Will have a read of that over lunch and see if I can make head or tail of it.

Thanks
Vida.
 
Its been an especially cold winter. So people probably have the heating on more than usually. I know we have.
 
vidapura said:
Yeah,

I heard of an interesting deal with peat briquettes the other day so we are looking forwrd to having a proper fire that give us a choice of fuel.


Vida
Click to expand...

Do you have details of this deal? I wouldn't mind getting some briquettes myself as I've just reopened the fireplace as my fuel bills were just too much. Nothing as cosy as an open fire on a winter's night !
 
sandrat said:
where did you get the information on airtricity being 10% cheaper?
Click to expand...

I emailed Airtricity yesterday and they sent me back rates

If you sign up for direct debit, bill by e-mail and flat payment, the rate is 14.76c per KwH versus ESB at 16.40 per Kwh ( both pre VAT)

Flat Payment=
• Based on your consumption, we estimate your usage for the next year.
• If your anticipated bill for 12 months is €1,200, your payments would be
calculated as follows: €1,200 /12 = €100 per month. Your monthly level
payment plan will be reviewed at regular intervals, and the amount you pay
may increase or decrease based on your consumption and your account balance

If you don't want to do flat payment, you can still get -9% lower than ESB by taking direct debit and e-billing, -8% for Direct Debit only, -4% for e-bill only, or -3% if you pay by cheque and want a paper bill posted to you.
 
Turn the main thermostat down slightly on the boiler. I used to have mine really high and would blast the heating for a few hours each day. The problem was that the house would cool down fairly quickly when it was switched off (it also costs a fortune!). Last November I turned it down and left it on for longer. My bill last week was E130.
 
Daffodil said:
Do you have details of this deal? I wouldn't mind getting some briquettes myself as I've just reopened the fireplace as my fuel bills were just too much. Nothing as cosy as an open fire on a winter's night !
Click to expand...

Hi there,
Far as I know this is available in many places around the country.. basically anywhere they sell briquettes.. i presume the bigger fuel depots though.
The one I know about is in Attymon in galway. Exact location i don't know cos a friend of mine is going to take me along there this weekend (all going well)

Vida
 
Yoltan said:
Turn the main thermostat down slightly on the boiler.
Click to expand...

My boiler used to be set to be at 60C. but that meant the sittingroom only ever got to about 17 to 18C.. when comfortable temp (from SEI site) is supposed to be 21C.
So now we have ours set at 70C temporarily and the room gets to 20C.
But I think we are using crazy amounts of gas at that temp. Am monitoring it daily for a week to see what gives...

What temp is yours set at?
We don't have room thermostats...
House is 3 bed semi.. quite a large one..

Vida
 
Got my november/january gas bill today and it is double the bill for the same period last year.
Re briquettes for anyone living in the midlands - the Bord na Mona factory at Derrinlough, between Cloghan and Birr in Offaly sells loose briquettes by the trailer-load - they are seconds from the manufacturing process. Not sure of exact prices but I know it works out cheaper than bales
 
Our recent bill was €440. Up from €225 for same period last year. Our actual gas usage in the period was 6,931 units, which is an increase of 62.5% over last year (4265 units). So yes, it must have been colder this year!

Cost per unit has increased from 4.51 cents to 5.47 cents since last year. What's been the corresponding difference in wholesale natural gas prices?
 
A gas bill I have went up more than 20%. I haven't read the booklet from Bord Gais yet but it said gas was going up on average 20% but I did a quick calculation and it was I think 22.5% plus there is more VAT as the unit rate is higher so I imagine Gas bills have gone up 25% actually. I hate when then pretend it's 20% when it's actually more.
 
our bill came last week, 324 euro. Usage was exactly the same (within 2 units) as same period last year (mid Nov to mid Jan). We have zoned heating in the house (upstairs and down) and set stat to 18 degrees most times with the odd boost up to 20 for half hour here and there. With the zoned heating we leave room doors open all the time and there are no draughts, the whole downstairs comes up to same temperature. 4 bd detached, water heating and cooking done by gas as well. The bill was 50 euro higher than same period last year which accounts for the price increase. The one difference we made this year is put a curtain on the front and back doors and a better chimney block for when we aren't using it. Vat is actually 13.3% not 21.5% on gas.
 
Like so many others the alarm bells rung when I found gas bill for last year came to 2,150 Euros in my 3 bed detatched. I got in one of the firms who carry out Energy Ratings to do a list of recommendations & projected benefits. Will start to do some of the simpler & inexpensive recommendatios such as better insulation, hot cylinder improved lagging rd thermostats, boiler temp reduction settings, draught excluders, etc. The Energy Raters claim that doing this stuff will save me 500 Euro p.a.
 
vidapura said:
...We're being told our gas is €2.90 a unit. Thats Calor.

I don't really know what a 'unit' is.. is it a kilowatt hour?
Natural gas seems to be done on Kilwatt hour and I am under the impression that IT is a lot cheaper than Calor gas.
I don't have exact figures but I did ring around in October about this and remember taking to someone in Flogas and being amazed at how much cheaper it appearred.. during the conversation it came out I was using Calor and it was explained to me that Calor gas calculations are done in a completely different way.. or something..
Click to expand...

Next to impossible to find any information online, but I THINK your Calor units are kilograms. You said you've got outside tanks, so that'll be bulk propane.

1 kg of propane = 1.985 litres, and 1 litre = 7.1 kWh. So your kilogram of propane is about 14 kilowatt hours... at €2.90/kg (IF that is the unit) you would be paying a little over 20c/kwH.

Natural gas bills (either Bord Gais or Flogas) show units of cubic metres, and also multiply up by about 11.5 to give kilowatt hours. Flogas show their current rate per kWh (post the September 2008 20% increase, and including VAT) as 6.12c.

This would make Calor more than three times as expensive per kWh. But note, I am only GUESSING at the Calor unit being kgs. And they make it next to impossible to find information about pricing online, which annoys me greatly. Bord Gais Energy Supply are no better. Looks like obfuscatory pricing is as popular with the gas suppliers as the telcos.

None of this includes any standing charges etc.

The place to answer this would normally be the SEI website ...

[broken link removed]

... but they've managed to break the link to the latest domestic costs. :confused:
 
Dub_nerd,

I believe that you are correct in what you post

When the inefficiency of the gas boiler is taken into account this makes Flogas more expensive than day time ESB for space heating !

There would seem to be a consumer revolt against Flogas over in England - where they appear to charge half of what is charged over here :

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=18301759



The spot price of LPG ( propane ) is about USD380/ton - this is equivalent to around 15c / litre
 
A company called DCC own Flogas

DCC released an "Interim Management Statement" to investors on 03/02/2009

[broken link removed]

I'm sure investors will be glad to note that :

"On a constant currency basis DCC Energy, DCC's largest division, achieved
substantial operating profit growth in the quarter"
 
It's 'gas' that this is being dicussed as last night I told out all our old bills from Calor. In December 07, I was paying 2.39 per unit. In December 08 just gone, it was 2.64 per unit. Since December I have received two letters from Calor informing me that the rate was dropping by.14, so by my calculations my next bill should be calculated at 2.36 per unit. We have a communal tank in our estate.
 
I just got hit with a 4500 euro bill in January - trying to get to the bottom of it. but it looks like we have been paying estimated bills for 1.6 years, 60 euros each so yes I should have noticed something. But still this seems absolutely crazy as we are talking about average spend over 1.6 years of 300 euro per month including the summer months. We live in a new built modern detached house of approx 1800 sqft. What on average do people usually pay for something similar?? temperature set to 21 degress and we dont go nuts on it. Are boiler is serviced regularly?

Anybody go through this before? Any ideas if I have to pay all of it? Is there any consumer body I can contact for help?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top