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valkerie
Joined: 02 Mar 2007
Location: Busan
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 Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:55 am Post subject: Out of control gas bill! |
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Yeah, I know this is not a new topic but it is a new thing for me. Last year I lived in 1 room in Seoul and my gas bill was reasonable/cheap.
This year I live in a village and I have figured out the gas charges are crazy, (I snooped at my neighbours bills last month to compare cos for NOV I was charged 138.000 (36 units). So I was extra careful with the ondol in dec AND I LEFT FOR MY HOLS ON THE 14TH DEC and guess what? Just got back and the gas bill for Dec is 220.000!!!!! It says I used 56 units.
WTF? Gone half the month, careful with use and it is so much higher? Gotta be summat wrong. I can try to get this sorted vis school (PS) but am suspicious about what is going on. In the UK it was not unusual for people to hook their electricity up to someone elses, but not poss with gas, right? |
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Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:25 am Post subject: Re: Out of control gas bill! |
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| valkerie wrote: |
Yeah, I know this is not a new topic but it is a new thing for me. Last year I lived in 1 room in Seoul and my gas bill was reasonable/cheap.
This year I live in a village and I have figured out the gas charges are crazy, (I snooped at my neighbours bills last month to compare cos for NOV I was charged 138.000 (36 units). So I was extra careful with the ondol in dec AND I LEFT FOR MY HOLS ON THE 14TH DEC and guess what? Just got back and the gas bill for Dec is 220.000!!!!! It says I used 56 units.
WTF? Gone half the month, careful with use and it is so much higher? Gotta be summat wrong. I can try to get this sorted vis school (PS) but am suspicious about what is going on. In the UK it was not unusual for people to hook their electricity up to someone elses, but not poss with gas, right? |
(1) You said you snooped at your neighbours bills but didn't say how much they are paying. Is it a similar amount, or was yours way higher? If you're a typical Brit I'd say you keep your heat a lot lower than the average Korean so it should be lower.
(2) Do the gas meters just run on gas, or is there some kind of electrical circuit involved in their reading? If the latter maybe it'd be possible to rig it some way. I really don't know, I'm just hypothesizing.
A faulty gas meter may be a possibility but probably unlikely.
You said you live in the sticks, are you sure you're using gas and not some oil based system? Oil is a lot more expensive than natural gas based systems in Korea.
It's also possible you're not using your gas the 'right' way. Maybe you leave it in such a way that something is burning when it shouldn't be - maintaining hot water when it's not being used for example; if that's a possibility get a Korean to explain all of your controls to you
If you're living in a big building like an officetel or some apartment buildings you may just be paying the total building amount divided by the number of apartments or residents. If that is the case heat your house as much as you want because your bill isn't likely to go up since everyone else will be doing the same. It's a stupid system but it exists and leads to massive energy wastage and big bills. |
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greedy_bones
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
Location: not quite sure anymore
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:25 am Post subject: |
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| If you're in an Office-tel, you may just be getting charged the average for the tenants in the building. I lived in a building once where they did this. They just take the total bill for electricity and gas and divide it by the number of people in the building. This sucks if you don't use much gas or electricity, but you can be a bit less stingy with your heating and ac if that's the case. |
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valkerie
Joined: 02 Mar 2007
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:46 am Post subject: Re: Out of control gas bill! |
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| Hyeon Een wrote: |
Cheers for the replies.(My responses in bold)
(1) You said you snooped at your neighbours bills but didn't say how much they are paying. Is it a similar amount, or was yours way higher? If you're a typical Brit I'd say you keep your heat a lot lower than the average Korean so it should be lower.
My immediate neighbours (who get home very late every night) had a Nov bill lower than mine. The rest were either around the same or a little higher.
(2) Do the gas meters just run on gas, or is there some kind of electrical circuit involved in their reading? If the latter maybe it'd be possible to rig it some way. I really don't know, I'm just hypothesizing.
Oohh no clue.
A faulty gas meter may be a possibility but probably unlikely.
You said you live in the sticks, are you sure you're using gas and not some oil based system? Oil is a lot more expensive than natural gas based systems in Korea.
LPG gas, for sure.
It's also possible you're not using your gas the 'right' way. Maybe you leave it in such a way that something is burning when it shouldn't be - maintaining hot water when it's not being used for example; if that's a possibility get a Korean to explain all of your controls to you
I turned everything off when I left for hols. Ironically I had used it even less in the first 13 days of Dec then in Nov. Was cutting back on purpose.
If you're living in a big building like an officetel or some apartment buildings you may just be paying the total building amount divided by the number of apartments or residents. If that is the case heat your house as much as you want because your bill isn't likely to go up since everyone else will be doing the same. It's a stupid system but it exists and leads to massive energy wastage and big bills.
Live in a villa, guess we are billed sep as all were different for Nov.
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Cheonmunka
Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:31 am Post subject: |
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| Do you have your own boiler, or your own tanks, directly piped from there into your very own part of the building? |
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sobriquet
Joined: 16 Feb 2007
Location: Nakatomi Plaza
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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| have you noticed any long pipes or hoses leading from your house to your neighbours? I would suggest following them to see where they go. |
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I_Am_The_Kiwi
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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a - someone stealing your gas.
b - its a divided amount from all tenants
c - they havn't read your meter and simply made a guess-timate as to your usage for the colder month based on the last reading, this is ok cos next time they read it youll be in credit.
Ive paid 3 bills in the last 6 months that were 660won. thats right, 60cents for an entire month.
d - you have a leak. |
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inkoreaforgood
Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Location: Inchon
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| I_Am_The_Kiwi wrote: |
a - someone stealing your gas.
b - its a divided amount from all tenants
c - they havn't read your meter and simply made a guess-timate as to your usage for the colder month based on the last reading, this is ok cos next time they read it youll be in credit.
Ive paid 3 bills in the last 6 months that were 660won. thats right, 60cents for an entire month.
d - you have a leak. |
I think 'c' or 'd' is more likely. Is your gas meter in a place where they can read it, like an outside hall? Ours is inside our apt, and we must write meter numbers on a pad outside the apt. every month. If you have a leak, pretty damn serious. Get someone out to inspect your gas lines and so on, make sure that 'a' or 'd' is not going on. |
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macaronique
Joined: 14 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| I was like that I had to pay 260,000 for 45 days with the LPG Gas it is very expensive. If your landlord does not want to pay for natural gas to be installed. My building was new and now we have Natural Gas , which is around 680 per unit less than 1,000 won per unit. My bill will be high but when March comes we are home free, Good luck. See you in Spring. My suggestion buy an electric fan dont use the LPG. Good investment you can even sell if you plan to leave. |
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