High Gas Usage?

Cardew

moneysavingplumber wrote:

However, the position of your thermostats might, in theory, appear to explain the coldness of your house, both being located in 'hot spots', but they wouldn't explain the high gas usage. I would guess it's a mixture of this and all of the other aforementioned problems that is to blame for that.

Far be it from me to question the experts, but personally I don't think the gas usage is particularly high.

njm's post for 34kWh/101kWh summer/winter daily consumption suggests a consumption of around 25,000kWh pa. (depending on supplier in the region of £480 pa)

For a 3 bedroomed house with solid walls and poor insulation and the heating left on 24 hours a day in winter, that doesn't seem excessive to me.

moneysavingplumber

Cardew wrote:

Far be it from me to question the experts, but personally I don't think the gas usage is particularly high.

njm's post for 34kWh/101kWh summer/winter daily consumption suggests a consumption of around 25,000kWh pa. (depending on supplier in the region of £480 pa)

For a 3 bedroomed house with solid walls and poor insulation and the heating left on 24 hours a day in winter, that doesn't seem excessive to me.

https://www.boilers.org.uk , the annual fuel cost estimator suggests that it is high, although we've established that the lack of insulation has alot to do with this already. If you read through the above thread you'll see we've accounted for much of the usage but the point is that it is high because there should be no need to have the central heating on 24/7, and given the size of the property and efficiency rating of the boiler the cost of heating is way above average.

njm_2

The heating is not on 24/7, but programmed to come on morning and evening, although this is overridden if the children are at home all day or it is very cold. The heating is off overnight. The 9m3 daily usage, when the heating is on, is based on the average figures we have obtained taking daily reading since this thread started and compares directly with the readings we have been able to approximate for last winter. Our only slight concern is that as we are now very conscious of just how much gas we are using we probably have the thermostat set a little lower and are less likely to “boost” the boiler for that extra bit of warmth – better to wear our coats in doors!

To quote MSPlummer – “…if the combustion has been analysed as efficient as well. The heat has to be going somewhere, so as well as having the system investigated for sludge and poor balance…”

We have this British Gas service contract costing £170 per year and so the boiler SHOULD have been emission/combustion tested last month. They are also supposed to confirm there are no visible water leaks from radiators and hot water cylinder and check each radiator for correct operation, however in order to do that they would have had to venture further into the house than the boiler cupboard, which is at the back door. Any idea if sludge and balancing the system is something we should expect them to do as without them the central heating is less likely to be efficient. I plan to raise these service failings on Monday (as I believe poor British Gas service contracts has been raised in the media in the past) however I would also appreciate knowing if their fee is excessive; would an annual service be likely to cost any more from a local plumber or is it worth paying the extra for the breakdown service?

I had to measure our existing attic insulation in order to fill in a Energy Advice Line questionnaire, our 2” didn’t compare very favourable with the recommended 10” – it’s a good thing people don’t want to use their attics for storage as there wouldn’t be any space left!

Certainly the moral of this thread is to read your meter often, don’t accept estimated readings or assume that your monthly DDR bears any relation to your actual energy usage. Also, don’t assume just because you have a service contract on your heating system that it will be working efficiently and don’t buy an old house with old world charm & CRAP INSULATION! Better still, move to Kent and get Dave (MSPlummer) to look after you!

Cardew

The BG conditions specifically exclude sludge removal - they term it 'Powerflush' - and that is quite prominently displayed in their brochure - not small print. My understanding is that sludge prevents/restricts the flow of hot water thro' the system and thus the radiators do not heat properly. However that would not seem to cause excessive gas consumption as the boiler would not fire up as often.

I think it is reasonable for BG to expect the customer to tell them if there are any obvious problems like leaking radiators or a radiator not getting warm enough.

As you have probably read there have been several threads on BG Servicing Contracts. There are mixed opinions on the value of the contract and the competence of the fitters. However given people are more likely to write with a complaint than praise I think that the balance is slightly in favour of BG - I am in the 'in favour' camp.

Certainly if I could find an honest and reliable Corgi fitter I might consider cancelling my BG contracts(I have 2 systems). As it is, the fact that they will come out at a couple of hours notice is reassurance(and indeed insurance) for me. I think the one thing that you will discover from the threads is there is no alternative servicing contract that offers better value.

2" of roof insulation plus solid walls must be a big factor in your problems. When your neighbours have frost on their roof, I bet yours doesn't!!