Used less than £14 gas since June, this low?

gjs1701

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

We don't have an electric shower so need hot water for baths, washes and hair. There are 4 of us. Where am I going wrong? Any tips?

I have a shower that attaches to the bath taps. It saves me a fortune in gas and water usage.

However, it wasn't very good until after I had a new boiler installed. I had good cold water pressure but poor hot water pressure, so the showers were always cold. It might be worth a try. Mine came from Wilkinson Extra.

cheerfulness4

I get a bit confused with 'cubic metres' etc but I was reading my meter and counting the amount of units we were using each week. Is that the same thing?

I started putting my readings into imeasure but didn't think it was matching up to what we were paying. I'm not really sure what is a good price to be paying for gas and am a bit flummoxed with the tarrifs.
Everyone seems to know what they're doing bar us and its not like DH and I are kids - we're in our 40's.

Cardew

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

I get a bit confused with 'cubic metres' etc but I was reading my meter and counting the amount of units we were using each week. Is that the same thing?

There are two types of gas meter. A metric meter and an Imperial meter.

On a metric meter, a unit is a cubic metre.

On an Imperial meter a unit is 100 cubic feet which is 2.83 times bigger than a cubic metre.

It is always best when comparing gas consumption to use kWh as this is what you pay for on your bill.

A metric unit is approx 11.2kWh

An Imperial unit is approx 31kWh.

cheerfulness4

Cardew wrote: »

There are two types of gas meter. A metric meter and an Imperial meter.

On a metric meter, a unit is a cubic metre.

On an Imperial meter a unit is 100 cubic feet which is 2.83 times bigger than a cubic metre.

It is always best when comparing gas consumption to use kWh as this is what you pay for on your bill.

A metric unit is approx 11.2kWh

An Imperial unit is approx 31kWh.

Thanks Cardew, that's really helpful. DH says that we are in cubic metres so I now know how to work out how many kWhs we're using each day.

gjs - I have a mixer tap with a shower attachment over the bath which I find great but my sons won't use it for showers as they say its too short. Maybe I should push a bit more and tell them to bend their knees if its really going to save some money.

I've always heard that showers use less water but I hadn't really thought about how many showers I could get out of a full tank against the 1 + 3/4 full bath.

I'm using a dishwasher and have a cold fill washing machine so the water is heated just for our personal washes/baths etc and cleaning the house. Does 1 hr am and pm sound excessive? Do others just heat up the water when needed rather than regularly?

debtfreein4years

that sounds ok to me. i used £20 for the last 3 months, just having the hot water on for half an hour each day and cooking on the hob 4 times a week for around 15 mins average each time. mine was worked from an actual reading as well.

Cardew

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

gjs - I have a mixer tap with a shower attachment over the bath which I find great but my sons won't use it for showers as they say its too short. Maybe I should push a bit more and tell them to bend their knees if its really going to save some money.

You can get longer hoses, or a connector to join 2 standard hoses together.

cheerfulness4

I think that I'll leave it at 2 hrs a day then for the time being.
I think that as the weather gets cooler that I'll need it that often to heat the water up sufficiently as the boiler is still set to a lowish setting (and I had to slowly up that as the winter came on last year).

I just wish I could get my bills down to the same as some of yours but perhaps I can experiment with the shower thing and see if I can make a difference with that.

aelitaman

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

Thanks Cardew, that's really helpful. DH says that we are in cubic metres so I now know how to work out how many kWhs we're using each day.

gjs - I have a mixer tap with a shower attachment over the bath which I find great but my sons won't use it for showers as they say its too short. Maybe I should push a bit more and tell them to bend their knees if its really going to save some money.

I've always heard that showers use less water but I hadn't really thought about how many showers I could get out of a full tank against the 1 + 3/4 full bath.

I'm using a dishwasher and have a cold fill washing machine so the water is heated just for our personal washes/baths etc and cleaning the house. Does 1 hr am and pm sound excessive? Do others just heat up the water when needed rather than regularly?

One thing to check is the temp that you heat the water too. If you heat the water really hot and then add a lot of cold water to get it to a comfortable temp to shower or bath then that is just a waste of money. My boiler has a temp setting for both heating and water I always have the water temp set to the lowest setting 55C (i still have to add a little cold to that to be comfortable).

cheerfulness4

My boiler just has the one setting on and its in numbers 1-6. I did read about some water tanks having a setting on them but I've searched mine upstairs in the airing cupboard and I can't find anything like that.

I do fill the bath with hot first and then add cold afterwards till it feels right. I probably have my baths too hot and I know that DS1 definitely does. He virtually takes all the hot water so may have to think about asking him to have shallower baths.

I didn't realise that you could buy extenders to your shower hoses. Would I be looking at somewhere like Wickes or Focus for those? I'm guessing that they have standard fittings on them then?
That would really solve that problem as the boys prefer showers. Thanks, aelitamen.

spinningsheep

Cheers for replies everyone.Cardew, I have checked the bill and it is 100% correct.Accurate online meter reads with BG Websaver 3.We do not use the bath, as we are on a water meter and to be fair the pressure on the hot water is so pants that by the time you fill the bath, the water is tepid not hot and you really dont fancy it anymore! So yes we have electric showers, 1 or 2 a day, total of about 15 mins. We boil the kettle to wash the pots every other day, seems daft to heat a whole tank of water just to wash a few plates!