How much are you using the heating in this cold snap?

LouBlue

I just make sure me and OH are comfortable. I hate being cold and if it costs a little bit more, then so be it.

waspsforever

I leave it on 24 hours a day 365 days a year with the thermostat in the lounge set at 21C. Therefore the heating comes on any time it drops below this. I also have thermostatic radiator valves fitted in the bedrooms so they control the bedroom temperatures at a lower temperature. I also heat a conservatory with a radiator and have a gas wall heater for extra heat when needed.
At present I am paying £70 a month for my gas and electricity and am still in credit.

Possetjohn

Hi,
We live in a 1920's detached bungalow, converted with a dormer in the 1980's. Solid brick walls and poor insulation, near the Bristol Channel catching a lot of wind. Typically used 30,000kW gas/ year in the last few years and the house was still cold.
Have been making some improvements. Double glazing, Increasing insulation (floor, ceiling and insulated dry lining) as room refurbishment takes place. Also changed the old cast iron heat exchanger wall boiler for a condensing combi in November last year. Although being a much colder winter (so far) and the house being warmer we have used less gas in the last 3 months!. Too early to say for sure but heading for maybe 25,000kW this year, and still much more insulating to be done.

toastiest

This flat that we are in is a 2 bed flat and it is drafty with tall ceilings. Even though it is double glazed, the windows in the rooms at HUGE. The windows in the kitchen span from left to right with a door to the garden in the middle. Always very very cold in the kitchen and the front bedroom... As we rent, we could not afford to buy new thicker curtains for these huge windows so they are thin and flimsy.

Whether we are in or not, we try not to use the heating. But instead I have to admit we've been using electric heaters instead! I've not been able to work out how much that comes to but we only really use them at night for an hour in the bedroom.

For this winter, we turn on the heating at 6.20 until 7.10am to take the cold bite out of the air for when we get up. Occasionally we pop it on for an hour at night as well. We have a combi heater for water, and our hob is electric.
I estimate this quarter to come to about 110 pounds, but we have been walking around the flat in coats all winter!
Last year's winter we were with E.On energy and paid twice that amount for winter.

A_fiend_for_life

This last week was 54kWh. Week before was 87 and 98 kWh I think. No GCH at the moment. Should be on the home run now.

skylight

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

No GCH at the moment. Should be on the home run now.

Same here for the last week. :T

Gas and heating isn't so much of an issue in this house. Its the use of electric. Need a new provider for that.

housebug

skylight wrote: »

Same here for the last week. :T

Gas and heating isn't so much of an issue in this house. Its the use of electric. Need a new provider for that.

Thats the case here too. The electric is high year round now. Fingers crossed the utilties prices go down as much as the so-called "experts" are predicting they "should" this year.

Thank goodness the weather has improved so much the past couple of weeks. We need the savings on that to cover the blasted electric bills. :rolleyes:

danielhoggan

I have just received my bill for the past 5months (after nPower did not come out to round the meter before this date).

We live in a 1 bedroom rented flat - and are currently using approximately £25.00 a month of electricity. However, with our heating set only for an hour in the morning and an hour an a half in the evening we have according to our bill been using on average £63.00 of gas per month for the past 5months.

Does this amount seem reasonable for a small flat with only a couple living there? I am yet to phone npower as I know the cost of fuel has gone up in recent months so I thought I would ask here!

Current costings from the bill for Gas:

first 3158 at 7.693p
next 2179 at 2.488p

LittleMissAspie

jtb2412 wrote: »

Did a bit of an experiment here over the last 2 weeks with our heating and electricity:

Week 1 - heating on between 6am and 8am and then 5pm to 8.30pm - hot water the same times, topped up with 1 hour boost a couple of times during the week but other times just put extra warm clothes on = Gas usage 49 units and electric was 113 units. (Thermostat on about 20 most of the time when on)

Week 2 (this week just gone) - heating on most of the time but thermostat set to about 18 (turned down to about 15 overnight for 3 nights) = Gas usage 42 units and electric was 95.

So, for us it works out better to have the heating on most of the time and the house kept at a more or less constant temperature flicking the thermostat up or down as required.

I always thought it was cheaper to keep the heating off !

Maybe it depends on the type of boiler. I did this experiment in our old flat and came up with the opposite result to you. We had a combi boiler that heated the water as we used it, no water tank.

I haven't tried it where we live now, there's no central heating in the living room so absolutely no point having it on other than first thing in the morning.

A_fiend_for_life

danielhoggan wrote: »

I have just received my bill for the past 5months (after nPower did not come out to round the meter before this date).

We live in a 1 bedroom rented flat - and are currently using approximately £25.00 a month of electricity. However, with our heating set only for an hour in the morning and an hour an a half in the evening we have according to our bill been using on average £63.00 of gas per month for the past 5months.

Does this amount seem reasonable for a small flat with only a couple living there? I am yet to phone npower as I know the cost of fuel has gone up in recent months so I thought I would ask here!
Quote:
Current costings from the bill for Gas:

first 3158 at 7.693p
next 2179 at 2.488p

What do you mean by 'round the meter'?

Are these exact readings rather than estimates? Worth checking that they are not over estimates.

Even so it doesn't sound a good deal.

I get a cost of around £305 for that consumption.

Comparing with my current provider SP standard*** I get £203.98.

Assuming 5 months exactly your standing charge would be about £17 for 5 months. Less prompt payment - £50 a year.

Your consumption is not high enough to take advantage of the higher tier rate.

***I am using SP standard for comparison only. You need to shop around on one of the comparison sites to find a deal / supplier that suits your consumption and payment method. DD is cheaper.

Ideally put in an annual conspumtion for gas and electricity if you have them.