Mercury high gas bill despite not using heating at all.

[morehumble]

Hi, I live in a 4 bedroom house in Hamilton with 3 other people and we just got our first electricity+gas bill from Mercury ( billing period 9th feb to 16th March).

While the electricity bill is reasonable (80 NZD) , the gas bill is a whopping 135 dollars. I don't understand how the gas bill can be so high when we literally only use the gas for cooking (stove). The house only has one heat pump which we haven't used and anyways it operates on electricity not gas.

Can this be a mistake ? Or is gas used for something else too that I am missing?

 

[crow123]

@morehumble With an electricity bill that low for the month, you probably have hot water on gas as well. More people at home using the shower and things at the moment?

 

[coramay21]

@morehumble 80 dollars electricity cost for four people is extremely low. You clearly have gas hot water, which will be the vast majority of your gas bill. Hot water is usually the single biggest component of an energy bill, especially this time of year where you're not really using air heating or cooling.

 

[broadlandbeliever]

@morehumble Is it possible the gas heats the water? I know mine does anyway.

 

[luckymarriedguy]

@morehumble What’s your standing charge for having the gas connection? That can get pretty wild just to have it connected.

 

[childojesus]

@luckymarriedguy That’s my thoughts too, gas connections can have steep daily charges.

 

[lotuspicker]

@childojesus That was why we ditched our gas heating. Didn't want to pay nearly $40 a month for gas connection over summer

 

[mom22feb]

@luckymarriedguy Frank charges like 2.60/day now if you only have gas with them. So that's ~80/month just to have the 'privilege' of using gas if you wanted to.
Even their witb power option is 1.60/day so still 50/month to not use it.

 

[christian_commenter_1234]

@mom22feb Shit like this is why bottled gas is far superior to piped. All the benefits of using gas, none of the beholden to the supplier when not in use*

*(mostly not, I still pay a bottle rental but the $4/month I pay in bottle rental is definitely better than the $50-80/month that seems to be the go with piped gas)

 

[justm811]

@christian_commenter_1234 I got sick of the bottles has and got rid of has all together. Very pleased.

I love the induction cooktop.

 

[rickscraps1975]

@justm811 Did yours get installed over your oven or separate nech space. I'm just trying to figure how easy a straight swap is... We have stone benches!

 

[justm811]

@rickscraps1975 Mine is was an oven/cooktop combo but I'm pretty sure you can get induction top as a direct swap for gas top.

I believe there are standard sizes to make this easier.

I like the clean look of the induction top and the ease of cleaning. Plus they are as fast as gas.

 

[rickscraps1975]

@justm811 Thanks!

 

[in_jesus_i_trust]

@christian_commenter_1234 Its fucking stupid isn't it. Cheaper to get LPG trucked from Taranaki to a filling facility via 20 tonne tankers, then trucked from there to your house in bottles, vs just using existing pipeline infrastructure and compression. First Gas are regulated business for gas transmission (and struggling with compression maintenance costs at the moment to be fair), so not sure if distribution is taking the piss or what is going on.

LPG rental for two bottles with OnGas is about $0.38/day.

 

[invernest]

@morehumble Are you sure you dont have gas hot water?

No way that 3 people is only $80 electricity unless the gas is more than just cooking.

The total bill of $215 is still good for 3 people.

 

[alwaysdown]

@invernest Mines that high and I live alone. The washing machine dryer heat pump and long hot showers is what my bill is made up of.

 

[sergyi]

@morehumble Maybe gas hot water?

 

[2bpeaceful]

@morehumble Wanna swap? I expect electricity bill to be $250-260 a month, $50 is freezers, so cut that off. 4 people. I use bottle gas for cooking only, and that is $40 every three months. In winter I also burn $300 a month in firewood, but with a wetback turn off the electric hotwater. You are in the top half of the North Island, but your bill is way reasonable.

 

[abel_emanuel]

@morehumble How much gas have you used.
How many cubic metres.
Is this the same as previous months.
I assume the amount you use for cooking would not vary much.
Your biggest energy bill year round is hot water which you havent mentioned.
There is either a cylinder (electricity) or a white box on an outside wall that makes noise when you run the hot water. (Gas)

 

[jesusreigns777]

@morehumble Check the reading on the bill vs the meter, usually power companies estimate every other month so the meter readers don’t need to go out every month. It could be estimated too high.