Gas bill

Finally tracked down my gas and electricity bills online after six weeks - turns out after switching back to Southern Electric from nPower we'd been put back on the bog-standard tariff instead of RSPB Energy. Anyway, a swift phone call has hopefully rectified that. Checked out my gas bill, which - after we finally switched back from nPower to SE - was for about two months instead of the usual three. Imagine my shock when I discovered the estimated use was over 9,500 units (our typical use in Stuart Close was 6,000 per quarter - ie, every three months - for the cold months and under 3,000 for the summer months)! No wonder my account credit had all but been wiped out.

I still need to look into cavity wall insulation, but I thought I'd just check the meter reading to see how high it now was. Lo and behold, bearing in mind this is nearly two months after that estimated meter reading, the actual current figure is still 250 units below the estimate! I'm guessing that estimate was based on the previous occupants' use, and perhaps I shouldn't be that surprised considering how high the boiler thermostat was set when I looked into it (since turned down of course), but it's amazing how people can waste so much energy...

[Listening to: Pretty Tied Up (The Perils of Rock & Roll Decadence) - Guns N' Roses]