Gas / Electricity usage and cost? SHOCK BILL!

Since living here (in Melbourne) we have received 2 extortionate gas bills, and one extortionate electricity bill.

I'm trying to understand - is gas just bloody expensive here, are we getting ripped off, or do I need to check for a gas leak [emoji848]

After getting a $160 gas bill for a 15 day period I switched suppliers. My final bill with the original supplier was for $577! For a period during which our heating was broke to 2 weeks so therefore barely any consumption. After I complained they credited both these bills in full which was a result but I assumed I had been massively overcharged.

So I switched to Origin. First bill comes in at $443 ($356 if I pay on time). And that's only for a 22 day period.

So, is this normal? We only use the heating in evening and early morning (ducted heating, fairly large 2 storey house).

Thanks. It's driving me mad.

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Are you reticulated or on bottle? Mate of mine got a massive bill and when he checked they were charging for about twice as much gas as you could physically fit in the bottle.

Sydney, 3 bedroom detached house, 3 monthly electricity $380-$635 depending on time of year. Gas $350 per year

Have you had readings done? Or are they basing it on estimates?

Wow that's high. Have you tried turning everything off and seeing if your meter is still going up?

Gas is expensive.

If you have gas ducted heating through a large house then I would expect a large winter gas bill.

They are readings and I have checked the meter and it's gone up at a similar rate since the bill date.

I will turn everything off and see if the meter still ticks over.

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Gas is expensive.

 

If you have gas ducted heating through a large house then I would expect a large winter gas bill.

Yeah, and the house is terribly insulated - if this is the norm for this kind of house we will definitely take it into account when building / buying.

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Since living here (in Melbourne) we have received 2 extortionate gas bills, and one extortionate electricity bill.

 

I'm trying to understand - is gas just bloody expensive here, are we getting ripped off, or do I need to check for a gas leak [emoji848]

 

After getting a $160 gas bill for a 15 day period I switched suppliers. My final bill with the original supplier was for $577! For a period during which our heating was broke to 2 weeks so therefore barely any consumption. After I complained they credited both these bills in full which was a result but I assumed I had been massively overcharged.

 

So I switched to Origin. First bill comes in at $443 ($356 if I pay on time). And that's only for a 22 day period.

 

So, is this normal? We only use the heating in evening and early morning (ducted heating, fairly large 2 storey house).

 

Thanks. It's driving me mad.

 

 

 

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If you have a problem, changing supplier won't help. You need to sort the problem.

If you don't get any help from the company, Google the CEO and write direct, and (not sure about oz energy) but I assume they have a body like ombudsman or offgem.

There are things you can do, like turning everything off. They can also install a check Meter etc.

But you should be able to determine how much you should be paying from the usage and tariffs. If not, get them to explain.

There are a huge number of different things that can go wrong, but it should be fairly simple to work out. Assuming you have a boiler, there could even be a problem with it.

But don't change supplier just because you get a big bill. Find out why first.

This page has an estimate of the cost of heating different sized houses in Victoria (although it seems to me that they have reversed the medium and large house costs in the table). If your cost is way off this then you should have it investigated.

http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-and-advice/households/energy-efficiency/at-home/heating/heating-running-costs

Hi

We are with Origin in Melbourne and unless you request a discount they will charge you the full amount. Each year we go to one of the comparison sites (iselect,comparethemarket for example). and find out what companies are offering and then get on the phone to Origin and ask them to match or better the offer. I think I am getting around 30% discount on electricity and 17% discount on gas, pay on time and direct debit and electronic bills. The only pain is that this has to be done each year or you will revert to full tariff.

They are keen to keep your business.

Mike

I will be phoning them tomorrow.. Thank you :-)

Will also be keeping the heating off as much as possible.

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Hi

We are with Origin in Melbourne and unless you request a discount they will charge you the full amount. Each year we go to one of the comparison sites (iselect,comparethemarket for example). and find out what companies are offering and then get on the phone to Origin and ask them to match or better the offer. I think I am getting around 30% discount on electricity and 17% discount on gas, pay on time and direct debit and electronic bills. The only pain is that this has to be done each year or you will revert to full tariff.

They are keen to keep your business.

Mike

I phoned them today as Momentum were offering a deal at nearly 35% less than Origin... The guy on the phone just told me to switch and save money lol. Not interested in matching it.

Also I noticed a hissing noise at the gas meter - so the gas guys are on the way to check it for leaks.

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