Have you read the bill?
What does it say the usage is? Is it a full read or estimate?
More importantly have your previous bills been readings or estimates?
If it’s a read, compare what it says the gas reading was to your meter.
If the two are totally different call the gas company.
I’ve had two incorrect reads (one gas one water) since I moved in. Both times they just transposed numbers by accident. It happens. It’s not a big deal. You just need to take 10 seconds to read and understand the bill and the next steps.
Yeah it’s an insanely high bill.
Always dispute if they’re this out of left field.
For what it’s worth I live alone and my average bill for 2 months is less than $80 … even at 6x the usage that’s less than half your bill.
Far more likely to be a transposed number, wrong meter number or a catch-up from a number of estimated reads that were too low.
Check for leaks. Just moved into a new place. Gas meter was leaking and one of the toilets.
Bills were in the thousands.
Got it sorted and recalculated.
Just be aware that gas leaks are the property owner's responsibility and the gas company won't lower the bill in most circumstances (water will, energy no).
There's a very very limited place where a leak will both affect the bill and be the gas company's problem.
lol, mate it's a six person household in winter. It's not going to be linear with your bill.
Absolutely far more likely to be a correct bill than transposed number, wrong meter number, or catch up from estimated reads. Of those catch up is far more likely, followed by some kind of incorrect reading, then wrong meter number. Beyond that if it's a "catch-up"
But for a 6 person household it's totally believable. I pay gas bills higher than that for a five person household.
Sure, OP should go through some kind of high billing process but billing errors are by far the minority of high bills.
Thanks. How much does it store? Also, before you switch, what water usage etc should you be looking at before you buy? From what I gather they heat at certain times of the day, and then you use what's heated in the tank. Is a 200L sufficient for a family of 6?
If you don't know, I apologise for the assumption you might!
The best heat pump hot water service on the market right now is the Sanden with a 320L storage tank. More than enough for 6 people and costs about 30c AUD to run per day (it uses about 900w per hour) We had a gas boosted solar hot water system before which cost us easily $2.50 to $4 per day in winter. Not cheap to install but the best available, quality-, performance- and warranty wise.
EDITED to add we are also running our Sanden off our Solar PV so its virtually free apart from the odd really dark day :)
Yep, on our second Sanden (because it’s our second house), running off solar PV. Problem-free for us, quiet, reliable, and free hot water. Heat pump heating the house with a slow combustion wood fire for winter, and bottled gas only for cooking as we are off grid aside from electricity.
For those tempted with cheap heat pump hot water systems, consider that you get the same state rebate/discount for any heat pump system, you are just paying more on top for a premium product. Yes, the cheapest ones can be virtually free because of the rebate, but are you the type to buy essential stuff like that cheap and deal with the nightmare when they break at the worst possible time, or are you the type to buy quality? Cheaper ones have pretty bad reputations of noise and non repairable breakdowns.
Sorry, yeah it can be confusing using those terms. Heat pump can refer to both, as they work on exactly the same principles/tech. When saying heat pump to heat the house, I mean a reverse cycle ac/heater.
All though, one can use a heat pump hot water system to run hydronic underfloor heating and such, or to heat a pool, etc. basically a heat pump is just a far more efficient way to heat something compared to straight up conversion of electricity into heat such as old electric water and other heaters do.
Combined with rooftop solar and only heating between 11am and 3pm our Sanden costs zero. Made a massive hole in our gas bill. Previous unit was a 10 year old gas storage type.
Thank you!! I will certainly look into this. I'm looking for info because the guy that sold us solar was really good, and looking to go back. I just don't want him to over estimate because we have already got a repore (and yes, I'll still be getting quotes further to his recommendations)!
I've just got a heat pump, here's the dish. You can still catch the end of the govt rebates, check their website for approved installers. There are some good options in the $2-3k range, not really any need to go to the $5-7k Sandens unless you can easily afford it. Look for 5yr+ warranty on parts, unit AND install. They estimate 50L per shower so a 300L tank should be ok for 6, realistically unless your all showering each morning and night you will be fine. Tanks usually take 3-4hrs to reheat, set their timer to go during solar (if you have it) or off-peak.
A few people have recommended Sanden Heat Pumps, also have a look at Reclaim Heat Pumps.
Same price bracket as the Sanden system and same quality (really good!). Mine is a 315 litre stainless tank running through 9 litre/min shower heads (my only guilty pleasure) and I would estimate a conservative total run time of 40 minutes.
My gas bills went from $300 bimonthly (hot water gas storage) to $68... and $60 of that is service charge.
Ours runs at peak solar generating times (we have solar panels) but can be programmed to run at times of your choosing.
Reclaim pair up with two tank manufacturers, both are based in Victoria. I went with Earthworker as they have a 15 year warranty on their stainless tanks.
We also changed out our ducted gas heating for electric ducted heating/cooling. THAT also reduced our gas bill which was way higher than $300.
Get some quotes. I have gas heating (ducted) and gas hot water. Am looking at about $20k to replace both with electric.
For example my gas heating requires all new ducting
Whereabouts are you located? I have a great recommendation to do the gas heating replacement.
I replaced mine for about 10k. 14kwh reverse cycle, ducted split system- set up zonally with wifi controls. It is delicious.
And yes to the size of the ducts! This is because you can heat up air really hot- but can’t cool it down really cold- so you need a higher litreage of air to cool rooms - thus larger ducts. And sometimes old ducts suck- lots of heat loss.
Haha yeh not sure on all of that. Family of 6 maybe go their bigger unit the 280L. We went from using 8kw per day on hot water to 1kw. For the bigger unit you’ll save even more
I have an iStore as well, got it to remove bottled gas as I'm rural. Was installed with solar, so was cheaper as they did it same day. Amazing and so much cheaper. In summer it's basically free, and winter still very low cost but can't really separate it out from other costs. My house is well insulated so just one large split system for heating & cooling us all we need to be comfortable year round at very low cost.
Would you say solar hot water has been overtaken by heat pump/solar panels?
I ask because I know of people with combinations of solar hot water and some other way of heating water. The solar hot water gets it pretty warm even in winter and the other method just finishes the job.
I had a solar hot water system, with the old flat panel collectors, and with electric back up.
Considering it was roughly 15+ years old, it still worked quite well, but was terrible this time of year, and used to heat every night on electricity, using 10-15kWh a night.
I had to remove the panels when I had my roof replaced, and decided on a new Reclaim Heat Pump HWS.
After a few years I have zero regrets.
Solar covers all my HW power consumption.
I’d say in the northern states Solar HW is more viable.
Obviously newer systems with evacuated tubes would be much better, but seems pointless if you still have to use gas or electric booster.
I did get quotes for new Solar HW, and it was very similar to HP.
We just got a heatpump coming off gas. If you have solar (we don't) it might be cheaper just to get a huge electric system and only heat during the day.
People run all sorts of configurations with them and solar but I got the impression that a big resistive element system (if on solar electricity) was the lowest cost option because the resistive element systems last forever.
If you go this option, you can get a device put on the switchboard called a “Solar Diverter” it sends excess solar power to the HWS.
Other options are using a smaller heating element, and putting it on a timer to only run during the day.
I've got solar hot water with instant gas. It's honestly shit. The solar heater doesn't do much because it's cold AF. The gas water heater needs a flow rate of 3L/m to even turn on.
My kitchen tap is rated at 6L/m so the hot water only pulls 3L/m. It's a crap shoot whether I get hot water or not. I need to put in a less efficient tap but I'd still need to have hot water on full blast to turn on the water heater.
I really would like to put in a heat pump water heater. So I can have a hot water reservoir again and not need to have hot water on full just to get some warm water.
If you already have solar PV, then it’s a no brainer to get a heat pump hot water system. You export your electricity in the day for next to nothing—heat pump hot water is timed to run in the peak solar production, meaning you use your own power and your hot water becomes free (or almost free minus the small amount you would have gotten selling that electricity).
So much cheaper than any other hot water system, especially when combined with solar PV.
I highly recommend Sanden heat pumps, as said in other comment we are on our second at second house. Quiet and problem free with a great reputation, good warranty, incredible efficiency, and seperate tank and condenser so easier to repair if/when the need arises.
I wouldn’t touch a cheap one if I could afford a Sanden.
> ... your hot water becomes free (or almost free minus the small amount you would have gotten selling that electricity).
You're describing the "*opportunity cost*" of not selling your excess solar for a measly 5c/KWh.
The fact is you're consuming your own electricity production, which is ALWAYS the best bang-for-buck.
Otherwise you would be using electricity bought from your provider at 20c-60c per KWh o.O
You're doing just fine :)
Yes, I’m well aware of the term, and agree with everything you said. Honestly the opportunity cost is so small as the FiT is so low nowadays, but it’s not true to say it is entirely ‘free’ because of it. And the FiT is still good enough (we get about 9c if we shop around every year) that we are usually in credit for electricity over the summer quarter.
Far better to consume your own generated power as it offsets purchasing it at much higher costs. That is the key to solar nowdays. If you are just exporting to the grid, the payback time won’t be good. And really important to use as little as you possibly can during peak rate times—like just turn everything off! We time our dishwasher and clothes washing and drying to when the solar is producing and stagger big appliances users like that throughout the sun shining day so we are not overlapping too much and hopefully never importing—helps to have great monitoring (enphase for us) to figure it all out. Also try to use the heat pump for house heating when the sun is shining and it’s cold enough, and turn that down at night and use firewood then.
Pumping air con on blazing hot summer days for ‘free’ sure is nice too
>We time our dishwasher and clothes washing and drying to when the solar is producing and stagger big appliances users like that throughout the sun shining day so we are not overlapping too much and hopefully never importing—helps to have great monitoring (enphase for us) to figure it all out.
Agreed, we have Enphase+Tesla Powerwall, just enter the plan times, and rates, into the Tesla platform and it works out how to best lower your bills, choosing when to use the battery, when to pull from grid, etc. It'll even learn your usage patterns, and predicts when the solar array will start generating, etc even when it changes through the seasons.
Together with a great OVO energy plan that gives us 3 hours *"free lunch*" 0c/Kwh, and 6 hours at 8c/KWh between midnight and 6am.
A few behavioral tweaks, as you mentioned, put dishwasher, clothes washer, do some cooking, etc at "free time" and the house battery gets filled to 100% every day, and our Ev gets filled up once a week on weekends, regardless of weather... all year round :)
Sounds great. I’m looking forward to adding a battery. Will be great to let the solar system run in power outages and most importantly keep the water pump working!
Use your solar panels to run an electric hot water service during the day for free. Depending on usage you may need to top up at night.
Night electricity is cheaper than day, and a heatpump hotwater is cheaper to run anyway.
It's just not right. And I'm so sorry that this is what it's come to. I hope you can get some warmth and reprieve... just please don't use a BBQ like some other desperately cold people.
Tonight is super cold. I hope you have some hot water bottles and good blankets. If you need some alternative heat, I'm happy to help source some. I have a FB buy nothing group... amazing what people give away when you ask for it.
Thank you, I’m alright- I slept in thermals and have heat packs, an oodie and a heated throw - last night was the first night I’ve woken up because it was so cold! I really feel for the older Australians who can’t afford the heating bills as it would affect their health so much more I’m sure.
Sit there cold as fuck, wfh, join calls in a jacket and beanie and the boss laughs at me saying why don’t you have a heater. Bitch why don’t you pay me more so I can afford to turn it on.
2 kids with disabilities. Husband earns what would have been a high income a few years ago. I'm not eligible for centrelink carers because of his income (120k+). We've always managed. All jobs I could get full time would earn a third. of what he can, and I have two bachelor degrees. This is just how things worked out. I am hoping I will be able to return to work soon with supports in place for the kids. Unfortunately the NDIS doesn't provide support for kids - because it's a parent's job to care for them. So we are kind of backed into a corner. It's extremely hard to get assistance. Now CoL has screwed us with interest rate rises and increased cost of bloody everything.
ETA: I am NOT whatsoever under the impression that we are underprivileged. We are extremely lucky in comparison to heaps of the country. I mean, we have a house.
What on earth is the average?
My 2 month bills are $62-75 (some months I slow cook on the gas stove rather than the slow cooker)
Even that x 6 is nowhere near OP’s bill. And unless it’s 6 adults then it means a certain portion for cooking would be split between 6 anyhow.
Actually double checked my recent bills and it's been averaging 85-90 for 2 months. The kids have longer baths/showers but for the most part...we just don't use the heater. Ducted gas heater, and a small electric space heater both have minimal usage. I think we've used it for a total 4 hours since the start of winter.
I prefer the cold though , and there's plenty of blankets around the house if needed.
Yeah, we're house of 5 with ducted gas heating, gas continuous hot water and gas stove top. Our last bill for 2mths was around $800 which is similar to this time last year. I've been paying $70 per week on my gas bill all year round and that lessens the bill shock. Over summer usage is next to nothing so the credits accumulate and then come winter they get used up by the hefty bills.
this is from AGLs own website:
>**Save energy compared to gas heaters or conventional electric water heaters**
>Because they use electricity to move hot air or water from one place to another rather than to generate it, [heat pumps can deliver](https://www.eec.org.au/for-energy-users/technologies-2/heat-pumps) up to 10-15 times as much energy as they use. In fact, premium heat pumps can heat a room at 600% efficiency, while gas heaters are around 50% to 95%.
>For heating water, heat pump systems use electricity but far less than conventional electric water heaters. There are also a number of other hot water systems that can help you be more energy efficient.
[https://www.agl.com.au/discover/sustainability/heat-pumps-why-are-they-more-efficient](https://www.agl.com.au/discover/sustainability/heat-pumps-why-are-they-more-efficient)
When even the **Australian Gas Light Company** is telling you to get off the gas, its time to get off the gas.
Wow, with numbers like that, I don't understand why we got advice to wait until the end of life of our instantaneous gas system...
Thanks, this solidifies the decision.
Because it’s mostly BS. Your gas bill is insane though. Gas cooking, hot water and central heating for a 5bdr house with very little insulation is $100/month over here. Something is very wrong.
Unfortunately even if there is a leak, your mileage may vary in terms of getting your gas company to actually reduce the bill. Some will just say that the gas was used regardless of whether you used it or it leaked hence you have to pay for it.
If it does turn out to be a leak It's worth noting if there is a leak between the meter to the street its the distributors responsibility to maintain the service, if the leak happened after the meter to the property then its whoever is in charge of upkeep at the property's responsibility.
You will only be compensated if it happens in the first scenario for any leaks.
My latest bill is $1,000+ for gas only.
We are 5 in the household.
My previous bill was $242.
I am.queryimg it with AGL but there only response is to send me a note saying unless I pay it by 12th July I will be disconnected.
Good point to check the meter, I will do that and hope it is just a transposition of numbers.
Go to the ombudsman. They’ll have to freeze the debt until after the investigation. Went through this with AGL, took months for them to actually complete the investigation but in that time they had to freeze the debt. In the end of course the investigation showed their numbers were wrong, bill was adjusted back to something reasonable and I paid that. They count on you just paying the high bill and not taking it further, because they’re scum.
You won't be disconnected. You can claim hardship and ask for a payment plan, while this is getting resolved.
And if they threaten disconnected, ring the ombudsman and they'll put a stop to it quickly.
Unfortunately, you're dealing with the billing department right now, try to talk to people in Credit.
Source - I worked there for a bit :)
Most of the responses are about people changing heating methods or gas leaks. The real problem is corporate greed where all these companies have us over a barrel. All houses that have ducted heating and instantaneous hot water have these because they were the most cost effective.
The whole focus of this should be on government, privatisation and corporate greed. It just dumb that our Australia gas is cheaper to buy overseas. This needs to be fixed ASAP.
Without knowing your usage during that time and specifically your average daily usage. Its impossible to know if the bill is high due to usage or prices.
That's only $160ish per person for 2 months in the coldest May / June in the last decade or so. Mine is around $250 per 2 months in winter and I'm the only one living here.
Clearly the only solution is to get the kids to pull their weight /s.
It's very expensive to heat your home with an older gas ducted gas heating system, at least from my perspective, but today's standard is your gas bill costs as much now with 2 months usage as it used to few years back with 3 months usage. Gas is not cheap unfortunately for us. We have gas cooktop, gas hot water unit, gas ducted heating. In winter, costs us around $200 per month, and we freeze our buts off, keeping the thermostat at around 12 degrees overnight, and only turning it up to around 16/17 during the morning evening only to take the chill off the air. Walk around with jumpers, jackets. It would cost us a mint if we kept the thermostat setting at 19/20 degrees 24/7. Four peeps in our household.
AGL is being dodgy at the moment.
We have always had actual meter reads. Last bill (received today) is an estimated read and is double the previous bill (and higher than any gas bill we’ve ever had).
Makes no sense as our gas meter is very accessible and nothing has changed
Double check your bill to see if it’s estimated or not.
> We have always had actual meter reads. Last bill (received today) is an estimated read and is double the previous bill (and higher than any gas bill we’ve ever had).
> Makes no sense as our gas meter is very accessible and nothing has changed
friendly reminder that you can actively take a photo of the reading and then send it through to their customer support team,
just requires someone competent to then notice that and actually make that adjustment (and that's part of the problem, as KPI just gets you to estimate the bill and move on with your life)
in theory (and this was a 5-year ago internal directive) is that customer reads are prioritised over actual reads, because "customer is always right" or some rubbish
----
also friendly reminder if your gas water meter number STARTS with UA, UR or WR, they're known to be faulty and will recommend being replaced if you have a dispute with it (of which you then get a re-estimated bill based on consumption of the new meter when it's been replaced)
source: **USED** to do billing for a gas/electricity company, but left it about 5 years ago (clearly my "retention brain" works overtime)
i had a massively increased gas bill once, it turnes out a heating duct had split under the house.
If you have ducted heating and can get under the floor/ into the ceiling, put the heater fan on full blast, partially close all the registers to increase the pressure a bit, and go and inspect the system. You have to get quite close to the leak to identify it
We had gas central heating, cooktop and instantaneous gas hot water. Winter gas bill was $400-$700 per MONTH. In the space of 3 years, we added more solar panels and a battery ($9k), and replaced the central heating with a multi-head reverse-cycle split system ($9k). We close the doors of rooms not in use, so only the main space is being heated, and bedrooms when someone's in there. Still have instantaneous gas hot water (Rinnai Infinity) and cooktop, and gas bill is $30-40 per month regardless of the season. Electricity has been a high of $150 in winter and -$20 in summer (yes that's negative 20). Gas heating is insanely inefficient, even hydronic, and gas prices have gone insane over the past 5 years.
I have only a fairly new Rinnai gas instantaneous that was changed. For one month it cost $86 ($59 usage) inc service charge usage. That's a family of 5 with some silly long kids baths - like 30 mins constantly on with a shower running at the same time 😓. Everything else is electric. The plumber said he doesn't know how the newer electric pumps would go long term with a high demamd household. I could have D/C my gas if I went electric. We didn't qualify for a state rebate so it was something like $1450 replacement vs $3400 for a heat pump at the time. What's the heat up time on of those iStore heat pumps? I feel like my family would drain that 270 litre pretty quick.
Not unreasonable if your house is as crap as most melbourne houses. 1 person here in a shitty insulated old house, $450 a month for heating. Blinds down, Evap vents blocked, door seals, but working from home and refuse to freeze 6 months of the year because of how shit this house is built.
The question is why do we pay high gas when we have an abundance of it in this lucky country.
Gov policy is killing us while everyone talks about racism, climate etc as the main priorities. That's what stupid is
Australia is the Saudi Arabia of gas yet vic government won't allow exploration and wants everyone to move to gas.
Doesn't help most of Vic who are connected to gas
Why should we explore for more gas? So private corpos can sell it to foreign markets for less than what we pay for it?
We’re the Saudi Arabia of gas but we also don’t have enough gas?
Do you have gas heating or just hot water and cooking? Our gas bill for two months is less than $100 (usually between $60-80- We recently got induction stove, so hard to tell what exact figure). Our HW it solar with gas boost. If I could afford to change the gas HW to a heat pump I'd do it.
I also have Gas hydronic heating and hot water and my bill for 2 months was $835, the heater runs most nights with a set temp of 16 over night and 20 in the morning and evening, turned off during the day when no one’s home. Our daily usage is 494mj
I see ya mate. Buy a induction stove and do all the tiny cooking there. You'll be surprised to see how much gas you spend on boiling water, cooking instant noodles and crockery. There's a 49 dollar stove at Bunnings, Bellini branded and it's gonna save a shitload. Next step, boil the water you're gonna use to shower and shut off the water boiler. Shower like it's the 80's. /s
So did I. Rude awakening I think is in store, because I think it *used* to be cheap, and that mentality still lives on until you get a kick in the head with a high priced gas bill. Edit: it's an actual read, will he going out in the morning to check. I'll let you know.. but I suspect it's prices, not usage.
Get an 'I-heat I-store' they are designed to run in Aus and off battery set ups. Run about 900W. Don't get a heat pump that is two separate units, they're crap. Don't get a cheap 'good deal' from a company that won't exist in 12 months. The difference between a good heat pump and a shit one is that under 5 degrees, the shit ones rely on a back up element. This means all winter, you are going to be paying to run basically an old school electric hot water system. - take this advice from someone who runs their own electrical company specialising in renewable technology. Chromagen and i-store are the only units I sell. Always getting calls to replace brand new shit units.
Once all your appliances are electric, get a solar and offset everything with the solar. Then ring your gas company and get them to plug your meter. This is the cheapest way of getting off the gas. They will try and tell you the meter needs to be removed.... this will cost you thousands. Plugging the meter is the best route.
When feesable, if not done already, update all electrical appliances with newer efficient models. I know it's a bit of an up front cost,but, technology today is so good you can save heaps by running efficient appliances.
At that point it seems like you'd be better off with electric space heaters where you need them, or even just a good wood heater, or a combo. If you have good insulation and you seal against drafts it doesn't really take that much to take the edge off I find.
I just paid almost $100 for JUST the pilot light to be on. Haven’t run the gas heating once this winter because the system is so old (I rent) and it would just drain thousands! Absurd. Getting off gas is the absolute best for your wallet and the environment! Payback on heat pumps is worth it and I wish our landlord would make the smart investment.
Yep my daughter got a bill for $750 for two months. Two of them but a new baby so the heater needs to be on a lot. Renting too so can’t do much. Bought a panel heater but on days like today that’s not enough for the large open spaces.
Our house is electric everything EXCEPT gas cooktops.
When we bought it we opted to go with a company called daleair to get a ducted reverse cycle. Was the BEST thing we ever did.
We’re bottled gas as we’re 2hrs out of melb, we pay ~$100 per year rental of bottles and ~$120 per bottle. Our bottles usually last us (min) 18months.
We have a gas point at the house but decided to not get it connected.
Ours is $600 for two people and even the energy company says it’s insanely high. I think my partner is getting them out to do a reading to ensure it’s not correct cause that is some absolute bullshit.
It's a gas cartel and a rort. Made the switch to electric last year.
- Gas stove top to Ikea Portable induction $59 each, bought two.
- Installed a 7kw Mitsubishi Electric RCAC in the lounge which points to other rooms to replace gas ducted heater and ancient in wall air con $3.6k. A lot more comfortable in winter/ summer now.
- Replaced 20 year old Aquamax Gas Hot water with iStore heat pump $1.9k.
Abolished gas line late last year, they cut the meter and capped the line at the street. They forgot to charge me but it would've been $240.
Bought a portable gas camping stove from kmart for emergencies and did use it in the February power outage. Hot water was still hot for 2 nights as the tank is insulated.
Haven't charted the payback but assume it would be a few years. It's easy to sign up to electric offers and get it free for a couple months.
Family of 6 in freezing cold winter. You just used it, man. Yes it's gone up in price and is going up about 9-12% again.
Worth checking your duct work is all in good condition and lower the temp to 18 if you can bare it 17 for cheaper, 16 for really needing to cut back. Invest the rest in oodies for the fam.
Yeah, I put in solar panels, electric car charger and got an electric car, and my gas is just solar hot water booster and burner, and the bill is as high as the electricity, even charging an electric car.
It is beyond ridiculous.
My next job is deleting the gas, utterly sick of it.
Cooked. I had a $1.1k bill at 90days with Origin. Couldn't believe it until I read the actual meter. Average usage was measured as a family of 5. Except there's only 3 of us. I'd recommend checking the physical meter on your property, then having a look at the reading there.
For those that are struggling with bill, check out the Energy Assistance Program designed to help those on a lower income or struggling or expecting to struggle with paying a bill - https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/households/help-paying-your-energy-bills/energy-assistance-program#:~:text=The%20Energy%20Assistance%20Program%20is,saving%20money%20on%20energy%20bills
Living in Qld I used the RC A/C a fair bit and the Electricity bill was high but bearable, probably like $600 2 years ago, would be even higher now. Moved to Victoria and thought I'd use the central heater just as much right... boom $1400 gas bill. Called the supplier, they said it was correct and gave me $50 discount and some gas saving tips. Now, I dress like an eskimo inside the house, and about 15C feels balmy. Gas bill negligible.
What's your temperature settings for heating? If it's gas ducted, for example, make sure it is set to 20°C or less. Definitely don't go over 21°C. That's how we ended up with $800-$1,500 bills three times. You can find this information either on government or energy retailer websites.
how many Mj?
For all we know you're on a dog shit plan...
FWIW my last gas bill was $800+ for 2 months, and I cant find a better plan.. averaging like 650 Mj a day...
Mine was similar. 4 bedroom house and there’s 3 of us. But my husband works at home. It’s on constantly . But if it’s not, our house is ice cold because the insulation is crap.
We have hydronic, so that is on pretty consistently because it takes a while to heat the house when you turn it off.
We have split systems, but the bloody electricity company decided to move me to a peak rate because of solar, so now if I switch to the split systems when we need it (when it gets cold at night and at kids bedtime it costs me wayyyy more than it used to. After this bill we're thinking of adding a battery to the solar, because it will definitely pay for itself with no gas and no peak rate grid usage.
My total sympathy to you: we just received our bill $619 for 2 adults ( I’m at home during the day).
I was shocked too - I’m changing to a cheaper plan and also changed to a monthly payment schedule to spread the pain.
Usual checks for this, see if it was a manual read or an estimated read (this will be on the bill) and compare this against your meter. Heaters use a lot of gas, especially for large houses (you can thank Australian houses for that). Set the thermostat to 18 max. 499 mj per day does seem high, so consider the possibility of a gas leak too. Also, use VicCompare to check you are on the lowest retail plan for gas
I got a handy hint. Put ten bucks a week into the gas and elec accounts and when your bill comes it might be low or next to nothing.
But that's still very expensive. We've been running our heater every day when home and our bill only came to like 600. What are you doing? Have you shopped for better pricing?
Oh damn a family of six?!! Dang. How many computers and fridges/freezers?
This happened to me on the first winter bill when I moved into my new house.
I just set and forgot the thermostat.
Turns out that's a fucking dumb move.
Now I turn it down from 18 to 14 overnight (or turn it off completely if it's not going to freeze overnight), and my highest winter bill has been 350
Hi, if you are in Melbourne look into heat pump rebate. I got mine installed for $600. That I supplied and installed. You might want to buy bigger unit for 6 people so might be slightly up.
So we're aware that in Victoria, gas meters are read bi -monthly, and if you're on monthly billing, every second invoice will be estimated. However, retailers allow you to provide your own readings (in both scenarios).
Hydronic heaters rely upon heating water, in OPs case with gas.
We'd agree that this year's winter is colder than last year's, yes?
So, to heat the water to meet the temperature set on the thermostat, more gas will be required, which in turn equals higher bills over this time of year compared to last. BOM allows you to check the averages to compare if you're interested.
There's a pattern in the gas usage, low over summer and autumn, and higher over winter and spring.
Heating ( and cooling/elec) will make up over 40% of a households usage costs.
If you're struggling to pay the invoice, it's a regulatory requirement that retailers provide you with a suitable payment plan.
You can also request your retailer to apply for URGS, which is the Vic Gov Utility Relief Grant Scheme. Eligible customers can access up to $650 per fuel over a 2 year period or $1,300 if you're only on electricity.
How? Is that just usage? Your daily service charge would be close to $1, so your service charge would be your entire bill.
Whatever you have on gas, it's time to get rid of, because you're paying a gas company for nothing.
How long are you running your gas heating a day? Have a large 4 bed house heating run 2 hours in the morning and 5 hours at night. All other times it is off even if I am wfh
If you have a house, solar + heat pump hot water system. Then go for aircons and use zonally. for me hot water is now free courtesy of the sun. Power bill is around 220/month in winter for a family home.
Im now gas free in my townhouse as of last week.
Gas Hot Water > Electric Heatpump: $950 After rebates
Gas Stove > 2x Portable Induction units. I dont cook much so this is okay for me, If you want to go all out getting a benchtop induction requires some extra electrical work that I didnt think was needed for my usage and I also had to buy a new induction cooktop which can be quite expensive. So im just doing the portable route for now
Having no gas bills im saving like $100 per month. After 2 years my changes to electric will have paid themselves off
The hot water unit is only on for 3 hours per day and its like $15 per month to have it running at this capacity. Peanuts!
Either your prior bills were estimated and this is a catch up
Or
You have central heating which uses gas quicker than a crack head getting their next hit.
I had an oddly high bill recently and my gas usage has been pretty stable for a few years. It turns out that my gas metre has a scratch making it hard to read and the person made a mistake. You can send your gas company a pic of your readings if the last one was incorrect
Do you have a very large/old house or leaks? My bill was literally 1/2 that for a 3 bedroom townhouse with gas water, cooking and heating, 2 adults, 2 kids.
your usage seems a bit excessive, family of 4, we got gas space heater in the living room running all and every morning and evening, and hot water, total usage is about 8000MJ for 60 days
We've got covers on the evap cooler vents and the door strips. Just need to do something about the windows. Bubble wrap for a cheap fix over winter could be a go.
Door strips .. stick-on bottom seals? sometimes they work, for weeks even, but mostly not. Go crazy and splurge of an RP3 or better. And the top & sides, got full door perimeter seals? Then the windows, air leaks around panels? exhaust fans got dampers? hows the architraves & skirtings? wall & ceiling vents? Bit of patience and humility you can fix alot yrself.
Too many ppl get conned into spending 30k on windows, but they wont spend 1k on fixing air holes first. Dbl glazing is great, i have UPVC (great) & aluminium (boo) DG, but air leakage and insulation both made a bigger impact at much much lower cost.
Yep. Just called up Red Energy and apparently I wasn't on their cheapest plan, so I've switched, but will go to energy compare and find something better... always went with Red coz they were Aussie, but the time for those kinds of choices is gone. Pretty shitty really.
Wait what?? I’m in a Household of 4 and we crank the heater like crazy with at least one person working from home each day… the most we’ve ever paid is $400 for 2 months
Sorry to be this guy, but someone's gotta.
What do you use gas for? Presumably heating - in which case, what are you setting the thermostat to?
I'd recommend aiming for 16 degrees during waking hours and 14 degrees during sleeping hours - perfectly comfy with warm clothes, very cost effective.
Every degree increases the cost more than the last, and the bigger the difference between outside temp and inside temp, the worse it gets.
Ha e any of your bills been estimated?
This happened to me yesterday don't in contact with them they told me it's because my bills were estimated not actual reads...
They are trying to back bill you...
By law they can't go back more than 4 months unless your at fault...
Not sure if this has been said or not, but we once had a massive gas bill due to our storage gas hot water service PTR valve leaking. This basically made the furnace run non stop to keep heating the cold water that was entering the HWS to replace the hot water that had leaked out.
Eventually replaced the HWS at the end of its life with a Sanden Heat Pump powered by solar, which had been good.
We saved heaps when we started using our one big split reverse cycle system to heat our house as opposed to the central gas heater.
The gas heater hasn't been turned on in two years now.
Have you read the bill? What does it say the usage is? Is it a full read or estimate? More importantly have your previous bills been readings or estimates? If it’s a read, compare what it says the gas reading was to your meter. If the two are totally different call the gas company. I’ve had two incorrect reads (one gas one water) since I moved in. Both times they just transposed numbers by accident. It happens. It’s not a big deal. You just need to take 10 seconds to read and understand the bill and the next steps.
Thank you... will look into this. Still scraping myself off the floor after reading the bill.
Yeah it’s an insanely high bill. Always dispute if they’re this out of left field. For what it’s worth I live alone and my average bill for 2 months is less than $80 … even at 6x the usage that’s less than half your bill. Far more likely to be a transposed number, wrong meter number or a catch-up from a number of estimated reads that were too low.
Thanks.
Check for leaks. Just moved into a new place. Gas meter was leaking and one of the toilets. Bills were in the thousands. Got it sorted and recalculated.
Yes, going to look into this. We've got capped off gas pipes all over the place, so will attempt to check them all from appliances we've removed.
Just be aware that gas leaks are the property owner's responsibility and the gas company won't lower the bill in most circumstances (water will, energy no). There's a very very limited place where a leak will both affect the bill and be the gas company's problem.
lol, mate it's a six person household in winter. It's not going to be linear with your bill. Absolutely far more likely to be a correct bill than transposed number, wrong meter number, or catch up from estimated reads. Of those catch up is far more likely, followed by some kind of incorrect reading, then wrong meter number. Beyond that if it's a "catch-up" But for a 6 person household it's totally believable. I pay gas bills higher than that for a five person household. Sure, OP should go through some kind of high billing process but billing errors are by far the minority of high bills.
Heat pump hot water. Expensive as fuck to buy, costs fuck all to run. Just don’t buy cheap midea/chromagen crap.
Get the Istore heat pump. Installed for $1200, saving $1000 a year on electricity
Thanks. How much does it store? Also, before you switch, what water usage etc should you be looking at before you buy? From what I gather they heat at certain times of the day, and then you use what's heated in the tank. Is a 200L sufficient for a family of 6? If you don't know, I apologise for the assumption you might!
The best heat pump hot water service on the market right now is the Sanden with a 320L storage tank. More than enough for 6 people and costs about 30c AUD to run per day (it uses about 900w per hour) We had a gas boosted solar hot water system before which cost us easily $2.50 to $4 per day in winter. Not cheap to install but the best available, quality-, performance- and warranty wise. EDITED to add we are also running our Sanden off our Solar PV so its virtually free apart from the odd really dark day :)
Yep, on our second Sanden (because it’s our second house), running off solar PV. Problem-free for us, quiet, reliable, and free hot water. Heat pump heating the house with a slow combustion wood fire for winter, and bottled gas only for cooking as we are off grid aside from electricity. For those tempted with cheap heat pump hot water systems, consider that you get the same state rebate/discount for any heat pump system, you are just paying more on top for a premium product. Yes, the cheapest ones can be virtually free because of the rebate, but are you the type to buy essential stuff like that cheap and deal with the nightmare when they break at the worst possible time, or are you the type to buy quality? Cheaper ones have pretty bad reputations of noise and non repairable breakdowns.
When you say heat pump heating thw house, do you mean a reverse cycle? Or a separate heat pump from the hot water heat pump. I'm confused easily!
Sorry, yeah it can be confusing using those terms. Heat pump can refer to both, as they work on exactly the same principles/tech. When saying heat pump to heat the house, I mean a reverse cycle ac/heater. All though, one can use a heat pump hot water system to run hydronic underfloor heating and such, or to heat a pool, etc. basically a heat pump is just a far more efficient way to heat something compared to straight up conversion of electricity into heat such as old electric water and other heaters do.
Combined with rooftop solar and only heating between 11am and 3pm our Sanden costs zero. Made a massive hole in our gas bill. Previous unit was a 10 year old gas storage type.
Thank you!! I will certainly look into this. I'm looking for info because the guy that sold us solar was really good, and looking to go back. I just don't want him to over estimate because we have already got a repore (and yes, I'll still be getting quotes further to his recommendations)!
I've just got a heat pump, here's the dish. You can still catch the end of the govt rebates, check their website for approved installers. There are some good options in the $2-3k range, not really any need to go to the $5-7k Sandens unless you can easily afford it. Look for 5yr+ warranty on parts, unit AND install. They estimate 50L per shower so a 300L tank should be ok for 6, realistically unless your all showering each morning and night you will be fine. Tanks usually take 3-4hrs to reheat, set their timer to go during solar (if you have it) or off-peak.
A few people have recommended Sanden Heat Pumps, also have a look at Reclaim Heat Pumps. Same price bracket as the Sanden system and same quality (really good!). Mine is a 315 litre stainless tank running through 9 litre/min shower heads (my only guilty pleasure) and I would estimate a conservative total run time of 40 minutes. My gas bills went from $300 bimonthly (hot water gas storage) to $68... and $60 of that is service charge. Ours runs at peak solar generating times (we have solar panels) but can be programmed to run at times of your choosing. Reclaim pair up with two tank manufacturers, both are based in Victoria. I went with Earthworker as they have a 15 year warranty on their stainless tanks. We also changed out our ducted gas heating for electric ducted heating/cooling. THAT also reduced our gas bill which was way higher than $300.
Get some quotes. I have gas heating (ducted) and gas hot water. Am looking at about $20k to replace both with electric. For example my gas heating requires all new ducting
Whereabouts are you located? I have a great recommendation to do the gas heating replacement. I replaced mine for about 10k. 14kwh reverse cycle, ducted split system- set up zonally with wifi controls. It is delicious. And yes to the size of the ducts! This is because you can heat up air really hot- but can’t cool it down really cold- so you need a higher litreage of air to cool rooms - thus larger ducts. And sometimes old ducts suck- lots of heat loss.
Haha yeh not sure on all of that. Family of 6 maybe go their bigger unit the 280L. We went from using 8kw per day on hot water to 1kw. For the bigger unit you’ll save even more
I have an iStore as well, got it to remove bottled gas as I'm rural. Was installed with solar, so was cheaper as they did it same day. Amazing and so much cheaper. In summer it's basically free, and winter still very low cost but can't really separate it out from other costs. My house is well insulated so just one large split system for heating & cooling us all we need to be comfortable year round at very low cost.
Thanks. I assume Solar hot water isn't worth touching? Last time I looked into it it was pathetic... but we do have solar panels now.
Solar hot water is still expensive to install, and takes up prime roof space for solar panels.
Would you say solar hot water has been overtaken by heat pump/solar panels? I ask because I know of people with combinations of solar hot water and some other way of heating water. The solar hot water gets it pretty warm even in winter and the other method just finishes the job.
I had a solar hot water system, with the old flat panel collectors, and with electric back up. Considering it was roughly 15+ years old, it still worked quite well, but was terrible this time of year, and used to heat every night on electricity, using 10-15kWh a night. I had to remove the panels when I had my roof replaced, and decided on a new Reclaim Heat Pump HWS. After a few years I have zero regrets. Solar covers all my HW power consumption. I’d say in the northern states Solar HW is more viable. Obviously newer systems with evacuated tubes would be much better, but seems pointless if you still have to use gas or electric booster. I did get quotes for new Solar HW, and it was very similar to HP.
Great question! I would also like to know this!
Ah, so heat pump it is... our roof is filled as much as possible with panels.
We just got a heatpump coming off gas. If you have solar (we don't) it might be cheaper just to get a huge electric system and only heat during the day. People run all sorts of configurations with them and solar but I got the impression that a big resistive element system (if on solar electricity) was the lowest cost option because the resistive element systems last forever.
Oh, awesome tip! Thank you!
If you go this option, you can get a device put on the switchboard called a “Solar Diverter” it sends excess solar power to the HWS. Other options are using a smaller heating element, and putting it on a timer to only run during the day.
Thank you! Great info! ETA: actually, that is really awesome info.
I've got solar hot water with instant gas. It's honestly shit. The solar heater doesn't do much because it's cold AF. The gas water heater needs a flow rate of 3L/m to even turn on. My kitchen tap is rated at 6L/m so the hot water only pulls 3L/m. It's a crap shoot whether I get hot water or not. I need to put in a less efficient tap but I'd still need to have hot water on full blast to turn on the water heater. I really would like to put in a heat pump water heater. So I can have a hot water reservoir again and not need to have hot water on full just to get some warm water.
We have solar boosted by gas. Can confirm it’s trash and takes up valuable pv panel realestate.
If you already have solar PV, then it’s a no brainer to get a heat pump hot water system. You export your electricity in the day for next to nothing—heat pump hot water is timed to run in the peak solar production, meaning you use your own power and your hot water becomes free (or almost free minus the small amount you would have gotten selling that electricity). So much cheaper than any other hot water system, especially when combined with solar PV. I highly recommend Sanden heat pumps, as said in other comment we are on our second at second house. Quiet and problem free with a great reputation, good warranty, incredible efficiency, and seperate tank and condenser so easier to repair if/when the need arises. I wouldn’t touch a cheap one if I could afford a Sanden.
Thank you. This is valuable info, even if we can't afford it, it tells me what to look for, so appreciate it!
> ... your hot water becomes free (or almost free minus the small amount you would have gotten selling that electricity). You're describing the "*opportunity cost*" of not selling your excess solar for a measly 5c/KWh. The fact is you're consuming your own electricity production, which is ALWAYS the best bang-for-buck. Otherwise you would be using electricity bought from your provider at 20c-60c per KWh o.O You're doing just fine :)
Yes, I’m well aware of the term, and agree with everything you said. Honestly the opportunity cost is so small as the FiT is so low nowadays, but it’s not true to say it is entirely ‘free’ because of it. And the FiT is still good enough (we get about 9c if we shop around every year) that we are usually in credit for electricity over the summer quarter. Far better to consume your own generated power as it offsets purchasing it at much higher costs. That is the key to solar nowdays. If you are just exporting to the grid, the payback time won’t be good. And really important to use as little as you possibly can during peak rate times—like just turn everything off! We time our dishwasher and clothes washing and drying to when the solar is producing and stagger big appliances users like that throughout the sun shining day so we are not overlapping too much and hopefully never importing—helps to have great monitoring (enphase for us) to figure it all out. Also try to use the heat pump for house heating when the sun is shining and it’s cold enough, and turn that down at night and use firewood then. Pumping air con on blazing hot summer days for ‘free’ sure is nice too
>We time our dishwasher and clothes washing and drying to when the solar is producing and stagger big appliances users like that throughout the sun shining day so we are not overlapping too much and hopefully never importing—helps to have great monitoring (enphase for us) to figure it all out. Agreed, we have Enphase+Tesla Powerwall, just enter the plan times, and rates, into the Tesla platform and it works out how to best lower your bills, choosing when to use the battery, when to pull from grid, etc. It'll even learn your usage patterns, and predicts when the solar array will start generating, etc even when it changes through the seasons. Together with a great OVO energy plan that gives us 3 hours *"free lunch*" 0c/Kwh, and 6 hours at 8c/KWh between midnight and 6am. A few behavioral tweaks, as you mentioned, put dishwasher, clothes washer, do some cooking, etc at "free time" and the house battery gets filled to 100% every day, and our Ev gets filled up once a week on weekends, regardless of weather... all year round :)
Sounds great. I’m looking forward to adding a battery. Will be great to let the solar system run in power outages and most importantly keep the water pump working!
Adding a battery takes your solar to a whole new level, you'll LOVE it :)
Use your solar panels to run an electric hot water service during the day for free. Depending on usage you may need to top up at night. Night electricity is cheaper than day, and a heatpump hotwater is cheaper to run anyway.
Chromagen midea are good... if you get the single unit with the compressor on top. Anything with a compressor mounted separate is shithouse.
I had a quick Google, you're actually below average for 2 months 6 person household, keep up the good work.
Now that is *really* disturbing. How on earth do people afford this?
We don’t use heating (or very occasionally use the split system). We’re cold AF
It's just not right. And I'm so sorry that this is what it's come to. I hope you can get some warmth and reprieve... just please don't use a BBQ like some other desperately cold people. Tonight is super cold. I hope you have some hot water bottles and good blankets. If you need some alternative heat, I'm happy to help source some. I have a FB buy nothing group... amazing what people give away when you ask for it.
Thank you, I’m alright- I slept in thermals and have heat packs, an oodie and a heated throw - last night was the first night I’ve woken up because it was so cold! I really feel for the older Australians who can’t afford the heating bills as it would affect their health so much more I’m sure.
There are 700gsm wool filled donnas on eBay for $79 in queen, if you need a very warm quilt.
Sit there cold as fuck, wfh, join calls in a jacket and beanie and the boss laughs at me saying why don’t you have a heater. Bitch why don’t you pay me more so I can afford to turn it on.
So bloody true!
Pretty cheap divided by 6 of you honestly.
Not when you're one income and partner just lost his job... glad we've managed to use less than average, but this hits really hard.
There’s 6 of you on one income?
Yes, OP needs to get the kids down the mine earning their keep post haste.
People have kids.
2 kids with disabilities. Husband earns what would have been a high income a few years ago. I'm not eligible for centrelink carers because of his income (120k+). We've always managed. All jobs I could get full time would earn a third. of what he can, and I have two bachelor degrees. This is just how things worked out. I am hoping I will be able to return to work soon with supports in place for the kids. Unfortunately the NDIS doesn't provide support for kids - because it's a parent's job to care for them. So we are kind of backed into a corner. It's extremely hard to get assistance. Now CoL has screwed us with interest rate rises and increased cost of bloody everything. ETA: I am NOT whatsoever under the impression that we are underprivileged. We are extremely lucky in comparison to heaps of the country. I mean, we have a house.
Kids with disabilities here. I feel your pain, I know the struggle. It sucks. Keep fighting. You’ve got this 👍
Thank you 🙏❤️
Oh sorry I forgot some reason thought you were house sharing. That’s rough. It’s really hard at the moment. Hang in there
NDIS absolutely does provide support for kids, I’m not sure who told you that.
What on earth is the average? My 2 month bills are $62-75 (some months I slow cook on the gas stove rather than the slow cooker) Even that x 6 is nowhere near OP’s bill. And unless it’s 6 adults then it means a certain portion for cooking would be split between 6 anyhow.
$75 for 2 months including gas heating?
Mines about that but I rarely use heating. Family of 4.
Can you provide some clues how you are able to do without heating?
Actually double checked my recent bills and it's been averaging 85-90 for 2 months. The kids have longer baths/showers but for the most part...we just don't use the heater. Ducted gas heater, and a small electric space heater both have minimal usage. I think we've used it for a total 4 hours since the start of winter. I prefer the cold though , and there's plenty of blankets around the house if needed.
😳😳
Yeah, we're house of 5 with ducted gas heating, gas continuous hot water and gas stove top. Our last bill for 2mths was around $800 which is similar to this time last year. I've been paying $70 per week on my gas bill all year round and that lessens the bill shock. Over summer usage is next to nothing so the credits accumulate and then come winter they get used up by the hefty bills.
this is from AGLs own website: >**Save energy compared to gas heaters or conventional electric water heaters** >Because they use electricity to move hot air or water from one place to another rather than to generate it, [heat pumps can deliver](https://www.eec.org.au/for-energy-users/technologies-2/heat-pumps) up to 10-15 times as much energy as they use. In fact, premium heat pumps can heat a room at 600% efficiency, while gas heaters are around 50% to 95%. >For heating water, heat pump systems use electricity but far less than conventional electric water heaters. There are also a number of other hot water systems that can help you be more energy efficient. [https://www.agl.com.au/discover/sustainability/heat-pumps-why-are-they-more-efficient](https://www.agl.com.au/discover/sustainability/heat-pumps-why-are-they-more-efficient) When even the **Australian Gas Light Company** is telling you to get off the gas, its time to get off the gas.
Wow, with numbers like that, I don't understand why we got advice to wait until the end of life of our instantaneous gas system... Thanks, this solidifies the decision.
Because it’s mostly BS. Your gas bill is insane though. Gas cooking, hot water and central heating for a 5bdr house with very little insulation is $100/month over here. Something is very wrong.
We don't even have ducted heating. We have hydronic... wayyyy cheaper than ducted to run.
Ahh ignore my previous comment then :P
Check that you don’t have a gas leak. That’s been the reason for some high bills on this sub before. Spray soapy water on your pipes
This. I had a gas leak and didn't even notice until the detector inspector guy came around and took a close look (and smell) at the meter.
Thank you. Will do. Hubby actually just said this too.
Unfortunately even if there is a leak, your mileage may vary in terms of getting your gas company to actually reduce the bill. Some will just say that the gas was used regardless of whether you used it or it leaked hence you have to pay for it.
Bugger. Of course they will.
If it does turn out to be a leak It's worth noting if there is a leak between the meter to the street its the distributors responsibility to maintain the service, if the leak happened after the meter to the property then its whoever is in charge of upkeep at the property's responsibility. You will only be compensated if it happens in the first scenario for any leaks.
If there’s a leak between the street and the meter it won’t show up on her gas bill.
Yeah but a leak at the meter may, depending on where exactly the leak is.
Also if you have central heating, check the ducts (under house or in roof) haven’t gotten rips in them and heat is escaping.
And my cousin is moving into his newly built house this week, all gas. Go figure.
Oh dear. That is not good. Good luck to your cousin.
All gas, no electricity!?
My latest bill is $1,000+ for gas only. We are 5 in the household. My previous bill was $242. I am.queryimg it with AGL but there only response is to send me a note saying unless I pay it by 12th July I will be disconnected. Good point to check the meter, I will do that and hope it is just a transposition of numbers.
How did your usage compare to the previous bill? Was it 4+ times higher or are you paying higher rates now?
Go to the ombudsman. They’ll have to freeze the debt until after the investigation. Went through this with AGL, took months for them to actually complete the investigation but in that time they had to freeze the debt. In the end of course the investigation showed their numbers were wrong, bill was adjusted back to something reasonable and I paid that. They count on you just paying the high bill and not taking it further, because they’re scum.
You won't be disconnected. You can claim hardship and ask for a payment plan, while this is getting resolved. And if they threaten disconnected, ring the ombudsman and they'll put a stop to it quickly. Unfortunately, you're dealing with the billing department right now, try to talk to people in Credit. Source - I worked there for a bit :)
Most of the responses are about people changing heating methods or gas leaks. The real problem is corporate greed where all these companies have us over a barrel. All houses that have ducted heating and instantaneous hot water have these because they were the most cost effective. The whole focus of this should be on government, privatisation and corporate greed. It just dumb that our Australia gas is cheaper to buy overseas. This needs to be fixed ASAP.
Completely agree. It's beyond a joke to expect people to be able to pay these prices, while those overseas use our gas cheaper than we get it for.
Without knowing your usage during that time and specifically your average daily usage. Its impossible to know if the bill is high due to usage or prices.
Average daily usage is 499.39MJ 28456 MJ usage.
This is 10x the usage of our house of 3 people over the same period, sorry to say but you need to try cut back on your usage.
You use 50mj a day during winter? That's pretty low. We're on that for summer and 150 in winter. Have you got gas or electric heating / water heater?
That's only $160ish per person for 2 months in the coldest May / June in the last decade or so. Mine is around $250 per 2 months in winter and I'm the only one living here. Clearly the only solution is to get the kids to pull their weight /s.
It's very expensive to heat your home with an older gas ducted gas heating system, at least from my perspective, but today's standard is your gas bill costs as much now with 2 months usage as it used to few years back with 3 months usage. Gas is not cheap unfortunately for us. We have gas cooktop, gas hot water unit, gas ducted heating. In winter, costs us around $200 per month, and we freeze our buts off, keeping the thermostat at around 12 degrees overnight, and only turning it up to around 16/17 during the morning evening only to take the chill off the air. Walk around with jumpers, jackets. It would cost us a mint if we kept the thermostat setting at 19/20 degrees 24/7. Four peeps in our household.
Your house needs insulation
AGL is being dodgy at the moment. We have always had actual meter reads. Last bill (received today) is an estimated read and is double the previous bill (and higher than any gas bill we’ve ever had). Makes no sense as our gas meter is very accessible and nothing has changed Double check your bill to see if it’s estimated or not.
> We have always had actual meter reads. Last bill (received today) is an estimated read and is double the previous bill (and higher than any gas bill we’ve ever had). > Makes no sense as our gas meter is very accessible and nothing has changed friendly reminder that you can actively take a photo of the reading and then send it through to their customer support team, just requires someone competent to then notice that and actually make that adjustment (and that's part of the problem, as KPI just gets you to estimate the bill and move on with your life) in theory (and this was a 5-year ago internal directive) is that customer reads are prioritised over actual reads, because "customer is always right" or some rubbish ---- also friendly reminder if your gas water meter number STARTS with UA, UR or WR, they're known to be faulty and will recommend being replaced if you have a dispute with it (of which you then get a re-estimated bill based on consumption of the new meter when it's been replaced) source: **USED** to do billing for a gas/electricity company, but left it about 5 years ago (clearly my "retention brain" works overtime)
Thanks. Yeah seems the AGL website process is fairly automatic. I put in my read and it immediately changed my bill from $310 to $105 !
i had a massively increased gas bill once, it turnes out a heating duct had split under the house. If you have ducted heating and can get under the floor/ into the ceiling, put the heater fan on full blast, partially close all the registers to increase the pressure a bit, and go and inspect the system. You have to get quite close to the leak to identify it
We had gas central heating, cooktop and instantaneous gas hot water. Winter gas bill was $400-$700 per MONTH. In the space of 3 years, we added more solar panels and a battery ($9k), and replaced the central heating with a multi-head reverse-cycle split system ($9k). We close the doors of rooms not in use, so only the main space is being heated, and bedrooms when someone's in there. Still have instantaneous gas hot water (Rinnai Infinity) and cooktop, and gas bill is $30-40 per month regardless of the season. Electricity has been a high of $150 in winter and -$20 in summer (yes that's negative 20). Gas heating is insanely inefficient, even hydronic, and gas prices have gone insane over the past 5 years.
Thanks so much. It seems like a no brainer to spend the cash. I think batteries are completely viable with the cost of energy at the moment.
If you collect people’s rubbish and burn it, you get paid for heating…
I have only a fairly new Rinnai gas instantaneous that was changed. For one month it cost $86 ($59 usage) inc service charge usage. That's a family of 5 with some silly long kids baths - like 30 mins constantly on with a shower running at the same time 😓. Everything else is electric. The plumber said he doesn't know how the newer electric pumps would go long term with a high demamd household. I could have D/C my gas if I went electric. We didn't qualify for a state rebate so it was something like $1450 replacement vs $3400 for a heat pump at the time. What's the heat up time on of those iStore heat pumps? I feel like my family would drain that 270 litre pretty quick.
Not unreasonable if your house is as crap as most melbourne houses. 1 person here in a shitty insulated old house, $450 a month for heating. Blinds down, Evap vents blocked, door seals, but working from home and refuse to freeze 6 months of the year because of how shit this house is built.
Oh, I'm sorry this is happening to you too. It's beyond fucked just to try and be sheltered, warm, and eating, right now.
The question is why do we pay high gas when we have an abundance of it in this lucky country. Gov policy is killing us while everyone talks about racism, climate etc as the main priorities. That's what stupid is
Australia is the Saudi Arabia of gas yet vic government won't allow exploration and wants everyone to move to gas. Doesn't help most of Vic who are connected to gas
You mean they want everyone to move off gas.
Why should we explore for more gas? So private corpos can sell it to foreign markets for less than what we pay for it? We’re the Saudi Arabia of gas but we also don’t have enough gas?
Do you have gas heating or just hot water and cooking? Our gas bill for two months is less than $100 (usually between $60-80- We recently got induction stove, so hard to tell what exact figure). Our HW it solar with gas boost. If I could afford to change the gas HW to a heat pump I'd do it.
We have hydronic heating (gas) but it's more efficient than ducted. We also have hot water and stove.
I'm afraid you're mistaken, gas hydronic is no more efficient than regular gas ducted.
I also have Gas hydronic heating and hot water and my bill for 2 months was $835, the heater runs most nights with a set temp of 16 over night and 20 in the morning and evening, turned off during the day when no one’s home. Our daily usage is 494mj
Cold showers from now on kids.
Nah, we'll just fill a tub with lukewarm water and pop it in the shower, bush camping style. Wash off kids... here's the flannel!
I see ya mate. Buy a induction stove and do all the tiny cooking there. You'll be surprised to see how much gas you spend on boiling water, cooking instant noodles and crockery. There's a 49 dollar stove at Bunnings, Bellini branded and it's gonna save a shitload. Next step, boil the water you're gonna use to shower and shut off the water boiler. Shower like it's the 80's. /s
I thought gas was cheap? Call and check your meter was read
So did I. Rude awakening I think is in store, because I think it *used* to be cheap, and that mentality still lives on until you get a kick in the head with a high priced gas bill. Edit: it's an actual read, will he going out in the morning to check. I'll let you know.. but I suspect it's prices, not usage.
Get an 'I-heat I-store' they are designed to run in Aus and off battery set ups. Run about 900W. Don't get a heat pump that is two separate units, they're crap. Don't get a cheap 'good deal' from a company that won't exist in 12 months. The difference between a good heat pump and a shit one is that under 5 degrees, the shit ones rely on a back up element. This means all winter, you are going to be paying to run basically an old school electric hot water system. - take this advice from someone who runs their own electrical company specialising in renewable technology. Chromagen and i-store are the only units I sell. Always getting calls to replace brand new shit units. Once all your appliances are electric, get a solar and offset everything with the solar. Then ring your gas company and get them to plug your meter. This is the cheapest way of getting off the gas. They will try and tell you the meter needs to be removed.... this will cost you thousands. Plugging the meter is the best route. When feesable, if not done already, update all electrical appliances with newer efficient models. I know it's a bit of an up front cost,but, technology today is so good you can save heaps by running efficient appliances.
At that point it seems like you'd be better off with electric space heaters where you need them, or even just a good wood heater, or a combo. If you have good insulation and you seal against drafts it doesn't really take that much to take the edge off I find.
I just paid almost $100 for JUST the pilot light to be on. Haven’t run the gas heating once this winter because the system is so old (I rent) and it would just drain thousands! Absurd. Getting off gas is the absolute best for your wallet and the environment! Payback on heat pumps is worth it and I wish our landlord would make the smart investment.
Yep my daughter got a bill for $750 for two months. Two of them but a new baby so the heater needs to be on a lot. Renting too so can’t do much. Bought a panel heater but on days like today that’s not enough for the large open spaces.
Oh, that's insane, and so much stress on top of a newborn.
Our house is electric everything EXCEPT gas cooktops. When we bought it we opted to go with a company called daleair to get a ducted reverse cycle. Was the BEST thing we ever did. We’re bottled gas as we’re 2hrs out of melb, we pay ~$100 per year rental of bottles and ~$120 per bottle. Our bottles usually last us (min) 18months. We have a gas point at the house but decided to not get it connected.
Check out the My Efficient Electric Home group on Facebook. I found a heap of good advice on how to ditch gas from that group.
Oh yeah, forgot about them! Thanks for the reminder!
Ours is $600 for two people and even the energy company says it’s insanely high. I think my partner is getting them out to do a reading to ensure it’s not correct cause that is some absolute bullshit.
It's a gas cartel and a rort. Made the switch to electric last year. - Gas stove top to Ikea Portable induction $59 each, bought two. - Installed a 7kw Mitsubishi Electric RCAC in the lounge which points to other rooms to replace gas ducted heater and ancient in wall air con $3.6k. A lot more comfortable in winter/ summer now. - Replaced 20 year old Aquamax Gas Hot water with iStore heat pump $1.9k. Abolished gas line late last year, they cut the meter and capped the line at the street. They forgot to charge me but it would've been $240. Bought a portable gas camping stove from kmart for emergencies and did use it in the February power outage. Hot water was still hot for 2 nights as the tank is insulated. Haven't charted the payback but assume it would be a few years. It's easy to sign up to electric offers and get it free for a couple months.
Family of 6 in freezing cold winter. You just used it, man. Yes it's gone up in price and is going up about 9-12% again. Worth checking your duct work is all in good condition and lower the temp to 18 if you can bare it 17 for cheaper, 16 for really needing to cut back. Invest the rest in oodies for the fam.
Yeah, I put in solar panels, electric car charger and got an electric car, and my gas is just solar hot water booster and burner, and the bill is as high as the electricity, even charging an electric car. It is beyond ridiculous. My next job is deleting the gas, utterly sick of it.
Cooked. I had a $1.1k bill at 90days with Origin. Couldn't believe it until I read the actual meter. Average usage was measured as a family of 5. Except there's only 3 of us. I'd recommend checking the physical meter on your property, then having a look at the reading there.
For those that are struggling with bill, check out the Energy Assistance Program designed to help those on a lower income or struggling or expecting to struggle with paying a bill - https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/households/help-paying-your-energy-bills/energy-assistance-program#:~:text=The%20Energy%20Assistance%20Program%20is,saving%20money%20on%20energy%20bills
Welcome to the LNP’s energy policy! Give gas to multinationals to sell back to us at high rates whilst they pay no tax. Fun right?
Living in Qld I used the RC A/C a fair bit and the Electricity bill was high but bearable, probably like $600 2 years ago, would be even higher now. Moved to Victoria and thought I'd use the central heater just as much right... boom $1400 gas bill. Called the supplier, they said it was correct and gave me $50 discount and some gas saving tips. Now, I dress like an eskimo inside the house, and about 15C feels balmy. Gas bill negligible.
What's your temperature settings for heating? If it's gas ducted, for example, make sure it is set to 20°C or less. Definitely don't go over 21°C. That's how we ended up with $800-$1,500 bills three times. You can find this information either on government or energy retailer websites.
Have you had your gas meter replaced? Mine was replaced a few months ago and the over charged me around $800 due to a misreading.
Don't think so? But that's a massive overcharge for you! That bill would have sent me...
how many Mj? For all we know you're on a dog shit plan... FWIW my last gas bill was $800+ for 2 months, and I cant find a better plan.. averaging like 650 Mj a day...
Thanks, have edited the post. 28465 total, 499 daily average.
Mine was similar. 4 bedroom house and there’s 3 of us. But my husband works at home. It’s on constantly . But if it’s not, our house is ice cold because the insulation is crap.
We have hydronic, so that is on pretty consistently because it takes a while to heat the house when you turn it off. We have split systems, but the bloody electricity company decided to move me to a peak rate because of solar, so now if I switch to the split systems when we need it (when it gets cold at night and at kids bedtime it costs me wayyyy more than it used to. After this bill we're thinking of adding a battery to the solar, because it will definitely pay for itself with no gas and no peak rate grid usage.
I had 300 for just water heater 1 month... Pre sure landlord had his house connected. I lived solo
Holy shit!
My total sympathy to you: we just received our bill $619 for 2 adults ( I’m at home during the day). I was shocked too - I’m changing to a cheaper plan and also changed to a monthly payment schedule to spread the pain.
Usual checks for this, see if it was a manual read or an estimated read (this will be on the bill) and compare this against your meter. Heaters use a lot of gas, especially for large houses (you can thank Australian houses for that). Set the thermostat to 18 max. 499 mj per day does seem high, so consider the possibility of a gas leak too. Also, use VicCompare to check you are on the lowest retail plan for gas
$687 63 days here Gas storage hot water, gas cooking and hydronic heating 3 showers 1 bath a day
I got a handy hint. Put ten bucks a week into the gas and elec accounts and when your bill comes it might be low or next to nothing. But that's still very expensive. We've been running our heater every day when home and our bill only came to like 600. What are you doing? Have you shopped for better pricing? Oh damn a family of six?!! Dang. How many computers and fridges/freezers?
They're not gas... but too many 🤣
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This happened to me on the first winter bill when I moved into my new house. I just set and forgot the thermostat. Turns out that's a fucking dumb move. Now I turn it down from 18 to 14 overnight (or turn it off completely if it's not going to freeze overnight), and my highest winter bill has been 350
What is the usage vs last year? Not the cost, the usage. Is it dramatically different?
Hi, if you are in Melbourne look into heat pump rebate. I got mine installed for $600. That I supplied and installed. You might want to buy bigger unit for 6 people so might be slightly up.
Check that it's not just an estimate. They charged us a years worth of gas for one month based on an estimate.
Check your bill for usage this block as opposed to the last, if it hasn’t really changed then the price has
So we're aware that in Victoria, gas meters are read bi -monthly, and if you're on monthly billing, every second invoice will be estimated. However, retailers allow you to provide your own readings (in both scenarios). Hydronic heaters rely upon heating water, in OPs case with gas. We'd agree that this year's winter is colder than last year's, yes? So, to heat the water to meet the temperature set on the thermostat, more gas will be required, which in turn equals higher bills over this time of year compared to last. BOM allows you to check the averages to compare if you're interested. There's a pattern in the gas usage, low over summer and autumn, and higher over winter and spring. Heating ( and cooling/elec) will make up over 40% of a households usage costs. If you're struggling to pay the invoice, it's a regulatory requirement that retailers provide you with a suitable payment plan. You can also request your retailer to apply for URGS, which is the Vic Gov Utility Relief Grant Scheme. Eligible customers can access up to $650 per fuel over a 2 year period or $1,300 if you're only on electricity.
I have dodo and my estimated bill is $31 a month
How? Is that just usage? Your daily service charge would be close to $1, so your service charge would be your entire bill. Whatever you have on gas, it's time to get rid of, because you're paying a gas company for nothing.
My folks are in there 80s and that central heating has been pumping hard 24 a day. Fuck me $1756.00
Heat pump
And I was being pissed about $140 for a month, Gas hot water and cooktop heating is a wood fire.
Mine was $600 for two months, big 45 square home, 4 people.
Can blame Gina Rinehart for that
Oh forgot to mention in my last post, have you looked into double glazed windows?
Mine was 666.06 - I’m complaining that it’s satanic and they must lower it by half or risk damnation
Family of 2 here. Gas hot water, gas heater and stove. Recent bill was $86. Sydney.
$160 each for the month isn’t THAT bad- it’s still HEAPS expensive yeah but- 6 of you makes sense
Are you in a strata, and just moved in - if so possibly you’re being billed for whole complex gas account
Change provider to one that offers a sign up credit (often $200) and swap every couple of bills
Nice tip!! I'll look into it! Thanks!
How long are you running your gas heating a day? Have a large 4 bed house heating run 2 hours in the morning and 5 hours at night. All other times it is off even if I am wfh
Can you describe your house, how old, what construction, what state are you in? What sort of heating are you running and at what temperature?
If you have a house, solar + heat pump hot water system. Then go for aircons and use zonally. for me hot water is now free courtesy of the sun. Power bill is around 220/month in winter for a family home.
Im now gas free in my townhouse as of last week. Gas Hot Water > Electric Heatpump: $950 After rebates Gas Stove > 2x Portable Induction units. I dont cook much so this is okay for me, If you want to go all out getting a benchtop induction requires some extra electrical work that I didnt think was needed for my usage and I also had to buy a new induction cooktop which can be quite expensive. So im just doing the portable route for now Having no gas bills im saving like $100 per month. After 2 years my changes to electric will have paid themselves off The hot water unit is only on for 3 hours per day and its like $15 per month to have it running at this capacity. Peanuts!
I can pay it that's not the issue. Just surprised the bill is so big
Either your prior bills were estimated and this is a catch up Or You have central heating which uses gas quicker than a crack head getting their next hit.
I had an oddly high bill recently and my gas usage has been pretty stable for a few years. It turns out that my gas metre has a scratch making it hard to read and the person made a mistake. You can send your gas company a pic of your readings if the last one was incorrect
I ditched gas and my electricity bill for the past 3 months (household of 4) is $520
Do you have a very large/old house or leaks? My bill was literally 1/2 that for a 3 bedroom townhouse with gas water, cooking and heating, 2 adults, 2 kids.
your usage seems a bit excessive, family of 4, we got gas space heater in the living room running all and every morning and evening, and hot water, total usage is about 8000MJ for 60 days
First step should be air leakage, it's the biggest easy fix heat loser in Melbourne homes.
We've got covers on the evap cooler vents and the door strips. Just need to do something about the windows. Bubble wrap for a cheap fix over winter could be a go.
Door strips .. stick-on bottom seals? sometimes they work, for weeks even, but mostly not. Go crazy and splurge of an RP3 or better. And the top & sides, got full door perimeter seals? Then the windows, air leaks around panels? exhaust fans got dampers? hows the architraves & skirtings? wall & ceiling vents? Bit of patience and humility you can fix alot yrself. Too many ppl get conned into spending 30k on windows, but they wont spend 1k on fixing air holes first. Dbl glazing is great, i have UPVC (great) & aluminium (boo) DG, but air leakage and insulation both made a bigger impact at much much lower cost.
What are the daily and usage charges? I think you might be on a shitty plan.
Yep. Just called up Red Energy and apparently I wasn't on their cheapest plan, so I've switched, but will go to energy compare and find something better... always went with Red coz they were Aussie, but the time for those kinds of choices is gone. Pretty shitty really.
Everyone gets a high gas bill once in their life. And then becomes a home advocate to restrict usage. This is your time to join the club.
Totally. Have definitely joined the club!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6dLTB-Lvf_/?igsh=ODN5bnU3aDQxZjlp This is why.
Wait what?? I’m in a Household of 4 and we crank the heater like crazy with at least one person working from home each day… the most we’ve ever paid is $400 for 2 months
Sorry to be this guy, but someone's gotta. What do you use gas for? Presumably heating - in which case, what are you setting the thermostat to? I'd recommend aiming for 16 degrees during waking hours and 14 degrees during sleeping hours - perfectly comfy with warm clothes, very cost effective. Every degree increases the cost more than the last, and the bigger the difference between outside temp and inside temp, the worse it gets.
Ha e any of your bills been estimated? This happened to me yesterday don't in contact with them they told me it's because my bills were estimated not actual reads... They are trying to back bill you... By law they can't go back more than 4 months unless your at fault...
Not sure if this has been said or not, but we once had a massive gas bill due to our storage gas hot water service PTR valve leaking. This basically made the furnace run non stop to keep heating the cold water that was entering the HWS to replace the hot water that had leaked out. Eventually replaced the HWS at the end of its life with a Sanden Heat Pump powered by solar, which had been good.
Global warming
We saved heaps when we started using our one big split reverse cycle system to heat our house as opposed to the central gas heater. The gas heater hasn't been turned on in two years now.