Why do we use so much gas ?

mggirl

I've been using imeasure for 2 weeks now and taking daily gas and electricity readings.

I'm on a mission with the electricity; pulling out plugs, fitting energy lightbulbs, removed a 2nd fridge we weren't using much etc, but stumped about the gas.

Our kwh usage for the house is :
Gas : 466 (wk1) 502 (wk 2)
Elec : 67 (wk1), 96 (wk2)

Using the UK averages on the imeasure site, it should be only be about 164 kwh a week for Gas and 37 kwh for Electric. It that's the case we're using 3 times the average. Never mind that we'll struggle to pay the increased DD.

We're a 2 adult and one young child family in a 1940's 3 bed semi.
I've switched the hot water so it's only on for two 1/2 hour slots a day and the CH is on for 4 hours a day (same at weekends). Gas cooker is used for about 40 mins a day.

Any help at all will be gratefully received.
Thanks

Magentasue

We have a similar sized house but much larger family. Our usage this week is:

Elec: 92kwh
Gas: 752 kwh

Feel better now? :-)

Hoping for better things this non half-term week.

aceades

I was about to start a topic saying exactly the same,

I am doing well with th eelectric but gas is a knightmare, i thought it was meant to be cheaper for heating ( i havnt had it before)

moved in about a month ago and have used £65 worth already, this might be ok if i kept the house warm but i dont, i leave the boiler switched off at the wall and only put the water on for about 1/2 a day and heating on for a couple of hours but this isnt even everyday, i dont have a gas cooker so the only thing is the boiler, prices seems mad, i think it would be better to switch it off and just use electric.

I only spent £6 on electric this week and i thought i had used it alot, i live in a modern very well insulated house with one other adult, no idea why so much gas is being used ?

Can anyone give an example of how much gas should be used when you, for example have the central heating on @ 20C for 1 hour, im going to do some monitoring.........


my meter readings since i moved in (gas first then electric)

2 Nov 08
46754
41703

26 Oct 08
46724
41651

19 Oct 08
46710
41489

12 Oct 08
46698
41398

5 Oct 08
46694
41354

according to imeasure my Energy use is 2,230 kWh (Gas: 1,881kWh | Electricity: 349kWh) Carbon emissions are 570 Kg CO2 (Gas: 388 Kg CO2 | Electricity: 183 Kg CO2) This just seems wrong as i hardly use gas at all, and with these stats i get an F rating on the carbon rating.

Can anyone tell me if this is excessive for my circumstances ?

it seems to me if i ste my heating up so i had hot water in the morning and heating and water at night i would be in a serious state of fuel poverty, i thought that such a setup is quite common but would be coming to hundreds of pounds a week - is something worng with my boiler or does gas cost more than gold ?

Thanks

Magentasue

Are your meter readings metric or imperial? Or have they been converted to kwh?

If they're metric, multiply by 11 for approx kwh.
If they're imperial, multiply by 31 for approx kwh.

You can then post your weekly kwh usage to compare.

notbritishgas

mggirl wrote: »

I've been using imeasure for 2 weeks now and taking daily gas and electricity readings.

I'm on a mission with the electricity; pulling out plugs, fitting energy lightbulbs, removed a 2nd fridge we weren't using much etc, but stumped about the gas.

Our kwh usage for the house is :
Gas : 466 (wk1) 502 (wk 2)
Elec : 67 (wk1), 96 (wk2)

Using the UK averages on the imeasure site, it should be only be about 164 kwh a week for Gas and 37 kwh for Electric. It that's the case we're using 3 times the average. Never mind that we'll struggle to pay the increased DD.

We're a 2 adult and one young child family in a 1940's 3 bed semi.
I've switched the hot water so it's only on for two 1/2 hour slots a day and the CH is on for 4 hours a day (same at weekends). Gas cooker is used for about 40 mins a day.

Any help at all will be gratefully received.
Thanks

I think you or imeasure have got the wrong national average. The figures are about 20000kwh gas and 3300 electric per year.
Don't forget that you use a lot more gas in winter weeks than in summer, for example last week I used 504 kwh of gas, but in a summer week I use less than 60kwh.
I do not think your gas uage is too high, especially if you like to keep your house warm.
Have the imeasure figures been taken from actual input, if so perhaps they have only been going during the summer .

aceades

How do i know ?

i have a meter with analogue dials that go up to 9, i assume this is a metric meter, meaning for last week, i used 20 Units x 31 = 620 but that was i heavy usage week which means i probably had the heating on for an hour every night.

Previous weeks gas usage were 434 , 372 , 124 (part week)

but like i say i do not have the gas heting or water on regular, this weeks gas cost £32 and i hardly noticed i used any gas, if it continues like that its appraoching £130 a month just for gas whcih is rediculous, especially as it is not keeping my house warm, i have the kitchen radiator set to 1, the lounge set to 3, the hall set to 1, the bedroom set to 1 , bathroom set to one and spare room off. The boiler its self is set to 2 and teh thermostat set to 20C

any advice much appreciated......

I would be nice if i was on imperial though as the figures that would equate to are much more pleasing

aceades

I aslo noticed that my immersion heater is set to 60C is that wrong ? ie too hot using to much energy

Magentasue

Your meter should say whether it's measuring in cubic metres or feet.

aceades

~Oh dear made a mistake, its the electric that reads on the analogue dials, pretty sure my gas meter reads cubic feet

That does confuse me though as imeasure stipulates cubic feet, which would mean that the unit figure is only multiplied by 11 not 31 (arrording to the above post) and those calculations dont go along with what imeasure is telling me ?

Magentasue

In imeasure, when you enter your details, you tell them whether your meter is metric or imperial and they convert it into kwh for you. You put in current reading every week and they do the maths. Check your meter and then check imeasure User Details making sure they're the same.

Phlik

aceades wrote: »

my meter readings since i moved in (gas first then electric)

2 Nov 08
46754
41703

26 Oct 08
46724
41651

19 Oct 08
46710
41489

12 Oct 08
46698
41398

5 Oct 08
46694
41354

I wish they were my readings, you use in a month what I use in a week

I use about 22000 Kwh of gas a year.

Phlik