High gas bills, creeping to excessive with Kleenheat?

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Kleenheat

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  savage bargain on 09/12/2018 - 03:01

  We're Kleenheat and have only had bills go up in winter when my husband's hate for feeling cold means he goes "<expletive> the environment" and had 100% hot water showers until the hot water system runs out or my nagging is worse than the cold, as well as the heater is turned up so the house is hotter than in a heat wave. So every year I expect the price increase and use the bill fruitlessly to demonstrate why using a jumper would be better in numerous ways…

  So something definitely doesn't sound right if it's increasing without you increasing usage. If that was a water bill, I would have guessed a leak. Could you request they check the meter for a fault? Or maybe the thermostat for the hot water heater is going and overheating the water? (Equivalent of my other half's winter binge). Or maybe the hot water safety valve is playing up and dumping too much hot water? Or there could be a leak under ground past the point of the meter? Or in a wall/roof/etc.?

  In terms of billing, for AutoPay, it's adjusted based on your previous 3 month usage each month.
  E.g. So say you start and pay $30/month. But in the 3 months you use $50/month in gas because your husband is on his winter binge. So the next 3 months you pay $70/month ($50/month as per the previous 3 month average plus the $20/month short fall from the previous 3 months).
  But now it's not as cold, you actually used only $40/month of gas. So in the next 3 months, you only pay $30/month ($40/month based on the previous 3 month average minus the extra $10/month you paid in the previous month).
  Repeat with a combination of the previous 3 monthly average + the adjustment from under/over payments during those 3 months.

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  Davo1111 on 09/12/2018 - 06:03

  surly an excel session and your own personal meter check would resolve this?

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    Diji1 on 09/12/2018 - 09:44

    -1

    No, you should not need to create an Excel spreadsheet to understand how the private sector is ripping you off.

    But you do because the private sector has been made as difficult as possible to compare prices while morons insist that it's cheaper than a nationalised system even though there's only evidence of the opposite.

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      Davo1111 on 09/12/2018 - 10:42

      this is nothing to do with the private sector.

      OPs usage has gone up, and so has the bills. As far as i can see, the argument so far is "we dont think we used the gas, but the meter says otherwise"

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  Grande Kintama on 09/12/2018 - 07:13

  +1

  Here's how to check for a leak https://youtu.be/AjcIKkIXEUw. What sort of gas Hot water system is it and how old is it as a worn out system can use more gas.

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  bigticket on 09/12/2018 - 10:40

  A leak is not fishy. Just like water leaks happen, the same applies to gas. Easily checked though, by shutting the stopcock valve at the stove and hot water system overnight and checking the meter reads.

  I went online and grabbed a screenshot of the billing usage and I cannot make any sense of the readings— they don't seem to add up, as -in, if you take a previous reading and add the new usage, it doesn't = the next reading?

  The reading don't add up because the last column is probably MJ and relate to the difference of the meter reads by a factor of about 10.58.

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  [Deactivated] on 09/12/2018 - 15:47

  I'm guessing it is mains - not bottled gas?

  Ask what units the meter reads.

  Turn off ALL supply, & check that the meter doesn't move.

  Little gas would be used for cooking - by far the majority for hot water, more under colder conditions.

  Did the same seasonal usage apply 12 months ago - quarterly for 3 people?

  As mentioned, you quite possibly have a leaking HWS - they do need periodic attention!
  A bucket under the overflow can help check daily loss.