pilot flame uses £7 per month

evosy1978 · 11 September 2007 at 9:37PM

hello all.

Ive done a test on my gas.

obviously it depends on much your gas supplier charges.

our rented house has a boiler in the lounge which has a pilot flame which is constantly on. We only use the boiler when we want to heat up the hot water tank upstairs for the washing machine and washin ourself in the sink. this only needs to be done for two seperate hours a week. obviously when the cold weather comes we will have it on more often for the radiators.

anyway ive clocked exactly how much the pilot uses a per month and its £7. thats for not even using the gas. god i didnt realise this.

my question is it safe to turn the gas supply of to my house when were not using the boiler. or turning the pilot light off instead.

thanks

Cardew · 11 September 2007 at 11:34PM

That is pretty high consumption for a pilot light.

Yes it is safe to turn off your gas or your pilot light.

MarkyMarkD · 12 September 2007 at 12:37AM

I don't believe your £7 figure in the slightest.

Are you calculating that £7 using the unit rate which includes the standing charge? You shouldn't be.

maninthestreet · 12 September 2007 at 11:25AM

£7 a month! That's not a pilot light, it's a flame-thrower!

netlang · 12 September 2007 at 12:08PM

I thought a similar thing was happening to me a few years ago but it turned out that I had a gas leak!

evosy1978 · 12 September 2007 at 7:41PM

yes its definately £7 per month. theres no standing charge. the bill was £15 for 34 units which was for 31 days. and so i done a test over 24hours and the meter went round by over half a unit. which is bout £7.

so what do peeps think then gas leak????? the property is rented so what shall i do to get it checked.

thanks

MarkyMarkD · 12 September 2007 at 8:55PM

Evosy, you are missing my point.

If you have a supply rate without a standing charge, the first so many units include the standing charge in the unit rate.

So they appear to be ridiculously expensive.

But your marginal usage (your pilot light) isn't actually costing you that initial unit rate but your lower unit rate.

I can't access my online gas bills to illustrate with figures but I will do when I can.

It's incredibly easy for you to prove if it's a gas leak. Simply turn off your pilot light for 24 hours and check that your consumption is (or is not) zero.

nick74 · 12 September 2007 at 9:29PM

I suppose you could argue that if your gas usage would otherwise have been zero over a full quarter, then you would not had to have paid any of these more expensive "standing charge inclusive" units were it not for the small amount of gas used by the pilot light. So a pilot light lit on its own throughout the summer is disproportionately expensive . . .

. . . £7 still sounds too much to me though!

MarkyMarkD · 12 September 2007 at 9:32PM

That would only make sense, nick, if you don't use any hot water during the summer! We certainly do.

nick74 · 12 September 2007 at 9:36PM

or if you use an alternative form of water heating throughout the summer, such as an electric immersion heater.

MarkyMarkD · 12 September 2007 at 10:23PM

Yes, but that would be daft because even an inefficient gas boiler is hugely cheaper to run than an immersion heater.

pilot flame uses £7 per month

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