Everything you Needed to Know about Gas and Electricity part 2
Check your bills regularly and if you find they're suddenly beginning to rise, your first instinct may be to blame your supplier. By all means check your meters, past bills and call the supplier to make sure their records are correct, but there are other things that can cause a bill to rise unexpectedly.
If you've been spending more time at home, it stands to reason that you'll use more energy. Having the TV or heating on, making more cups of tea, perhaps using the computer through the daytime…all these things can substantially increase your kWh consumption. Maybe you have guests staying with you who are also using your electricity, or you recently splashed out on new electrical goods.
Another, less common and obvious, reason for bills rising is faulty meters. A standard meter will work fine for around 20 years, after which time it starts to deteriorate and give inaccurate readings. If you have looked at and ruled out every other possibility for rising bills, inform your supplier that you think your meter might be faulty. They will probably ask you to take several readings over the course of a week, or perhaps send an engineer to install a checking meter next to yours to verify consumption.
If it's found that your meter is indeed faulty you will be reimbursed the cost of any tests carried out. If however, there is no problem with it, you will be charged for the costs of checks, replacement meters and so on. A meter doesn't have to be 100% accurate – an electricity meter can be 2.5% higher or 3.5% lower than the actual figure and still be classed as accurate. Bear this in mind before you complain of a faulty meter.
It's worth getting your boilers and meters serviced regularly to prevent faulty readings. This can be costly but if you have heating cover your costs will be significantly reduced. Part three of this utilities guide will cover reducing your bills and perhaps switching your electricity and gas suppliers.
About the Author: J Tillotson is a financial author in the UK with a particular interest in saving energy
More articles by JayTillotson
Print Article | Download PDF | 37 views | Sep 15 2008
|
|
