How to Calculate Your Gas Usage

For Imperial and Metric Meters

So, your meter registers

meters cubed (m3) if your meter is metric

hundreds of cubic feet (ft3(x100)) if your meter is imperial

But then you’re billed in kWh!

So, how are you supposed to calculate your bill?

First, you need a minimum of 2 meter readings

‘Why’ will become apparent …

Note the dates of your readings so thatyou have a period of usage

If you want to calculate your hourly usage, you need the times of the readings also

Once you have these …

Minus the previous reading from the latest

Then minus the date and time of the previous reading from the latest

This is why you needed a minimum of 2

You now have …

The meters cubed or hundreds of cubic feet you have used

The timeframe within which they were used

Now you need to do the conversion …

Conversion Equation …

And for metric meters:

((((Hundreds of cubic feet x 2.83) x Adjustment Factor) x Calorific Value) / Conversion Factor)

For imperial meters:

(((Cubic meters x Adjustment Factor) x Calorific Value) / Conversion Factor)

What was that?

Adjustment Factor?

Calorific Value?

Conversion Factor?

If you have an imperial meter, first multiply your hundreds of cubic feet by 2.83

This is to convert it to m3 for the rest of the equation

The Adjustment Factor, AKA the Correction Factor is used to account for temperature and atmospheric conditions at your site

It’s usually 1.02264

Check your latest bill for the latest information

The Calorific Value is the amount of energy in your gas and it’s constantly monitored by TRANSCO (The National Grid)

It can range from 37.5 to 43.0

The Conversion Factor is just to convert seconds to hours

It’s 3.6

Here’s an example …

So your first reading is:

142406 (metric)

And your second is:

142424 (metric)

Firstly, minus 142406 from 142424 to get your m3 usage

Your result will be 18

Then multiply this by theAdjustment Factor (usually 1.02264)

Your result will be 18.40752

Next, multiply by your Calorific Value(we’ll use 39.3)

Your result will be 723.415536

Lastly, divide that by 3.6

And you’ll have 200.94876

And that’s how many kWh you have used!!!

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So now you can …

Use your pence/kWh to calculate what that has cost you

Divide the number of kWh by the number of hours it took to use them to calculate your average kWh usage per hour

(If you remembered to take the times of the readings)

Happy Days!!!

Got a dispute with your provider?

Talks getting nowhere?

If all else fails, you can contact the Ombudsman:

Email: osenquiries@os-energy.org

Phone: 0330 440 1624

Fax: 0330 440 1625

Textphone: 0330 440 1600

Office closed at the weekends, on bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year

Web: www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.html#

Hope this was helpful

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