British Gas Smart Meters

Bacus

OK so I did search on here but found nothing relevant to my question.

I have been using a key meter with British Gas for years as I was so used to it and able to keep an eye on spending/budget. This was only for electricity as my gas I paid monthly which is also supplied by British Gas.

Anyway recently I have had a British Gas smart meter fitted, again this is only for electricity (gas I'm still paying monthly) but we seem to be using a lot more electricity than we used to or rather its costing us a lot more !!
I went back over my bank statements from a few months back to see what I was paying when I had a key meter and how long it lasted prior to topping the key back up. With a key meter I was using about £50 every 5 weeks, with the new smart meter its costing me about £80 for 5 weeks. I have had no other electrical items fitted in my house, every appliance is the same.

Has anyone else noticed this ?

I have spoken to British Gas but all I get from them is I'm on the exact same tariff.

So any ideas on how I move forward with this ?

noiseboy72

Either your old meter was very inaccurate or they have put you on a different tariff.

Get on the comparison sites and enter your current usage and I bet you can reduce your bill. Just because you are with British Gas and they supplied the smart meter does not mean you cannot shop around for a cheaper supplier.

I only wish my electricity bill was as low as yours. Our family home is about £18 per week for electricity and £10 for gas.

Rodders53

Post your key meter unit and standing charge price and also the unit and standing charge plus name for the tariff you are on with the smart meter.  This should prove that the prices are identical - or not.

THEN you need to (if you can) find the total units used on the key system over the last year and compare that, as a ballpark average, to the units used (NOT the displayed cost) on the smart meter since you've had it.

Alternatively just calculate the cost of units used, plus standing charge at the tariff rates and compare to what the meter says the cost is.  Are they the same?

AIUI from other forums the cheapest prices now are prepayment (key) tariffs; following some recentish legislation or industry code of practice updates.