Gas meter Speed when using boiler

sva14

I have a big concern of how fast my gas meter turns when I put the boiler on for hot water or central heating. Is it my boiler is inefficient? During a 1 hour test with the meter reading

Start - 4319.26
End - 4321.31

It used 2.05 units, equates to 23 kwh, equates to approx £0.92 in bill. Which I find excessive, what do you think

Here is video showing meter turning - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydnjbnENm0Y

Blenheim_2

Sounds about right to me, my figures pretty much mirror yours except for the cost of a kwh, but that will depend on your gas supplier / tariff.

EkPosh

satish98 wrote: »

I have a big concern of how fast my gas meter turns when I put the boiler on for hot water or central heating. Is it my boiler is inefficient? During a 1 hour test with the meter reading

Start - 4319.26
End - 4321.31

It used 2.05 units, equates to 23 kwh, equates to approx £0.92 in bill. Which I find excessive, what do you think

I have to say it does turn a lot quicker than mine, but I guess it depends on a few things.

If this is when you first put the boiler on in the day, then clearly the water is colder and will use more energy.. Also depends how big the house is...

I have run a similar test and my boiler is using around 1m3 / hour ...

sva14

Thanks I will run further test during day and throughout.

Also my thermostat set to 15c is in the hallway and it usually takes very long time for it to get to that temperature, so it seems like the boiler is contiously running . The lounge on the other hand get very warm.

When you said " 1m3 / hour" - is that 1 unit on the meter?

My house is a 4 bed house.

I have a Brit gas man coming for boiler quote on monday and will show him (Don't worry not going to get changed with them, just want idea of quote and advise!)

Cardew

You need to look at your boiler input.

For a 4 bed house a boiler might have an input of 40kW or more. If you were heating the whole house from cold and a tank of hot water(I assume it is not a combi) it is theoretically possible for you to use 40kWh.

If your boiler is working, why are you thinking of getting a new boiler? Many people are apparently disappointed at the reduction in consumption they get.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors stated recently :

The average cost of installing one of these modern boilers is £1,720, but saves on average just £95 off people's gas bills." See:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...erts-warn.html

Also old boilers are far more reliable than new boilers that are stuffed full of electronics.

greenbee

Cardew wrote: »

Also old boilers are far more reliable than new boilers that are stuffed full of electronics.

And cheaper to repair

aelitaman

My boiler at peak output, if running continuously, will use 3 cubic meters of gas an hour. that is 3 units on a metric gas meter.

If your boiler is a newish model and you do not have the manuals do an onlione search the technical specs should specify the gas consumption per hour

Andy_WSM

Cardew wrote: »

Also old boilers are far more reliable than new boilers that are stuffed full of electronics.

I made this mistake. I replaced a working Baxi Boiler with a new Combi boiler which failed beyond economical repair after just 4 years. Well annoyed!

C_Mababejive

My humble view of combis is simple..in a flat or small house,fine..in a family house..no good. I am a great believer in stored hot water. The whole combi=efficiency argument is largely a lie.

smjxm09

For starters your meter flies around at a similar speed to mine.

Don’t change the boiler unless it is dying a slow death and actually needs replacing. First consider fitting TRV’s to your radiators as this will stop some rooms getting too hot while the hall remains cool.

My new combi boiler together with new controls including TRV’s is saving me around 20% in gas bills, which is around £80 per year. That means it will take me around 30 years to breakeven over the cost of the boiler and associated work. I doubt that the boiler would last that long so it will never pay for its self.

Out of interest we have a 42Kw combi boiler in a 1990 small 4 bed house, which is well insulated.

The thermostat is always on but varies the temperature 6 times a day depending whether we are in or out or sleeping. The temperature range for the house is between 15c ( overnight) to 20C ( evenings)
In the last 30 days we have used 91m so that is 3m a day.

smjxm09

C_Mababejive wrote: »

My humble view of combis is simple..in a flat or small house,fine..in a family house..no good. I am a great believer in stored hot water. The whole combi=efficiency argument is largely a lie.

Having used one now for nearly 2 years in our 4 bedroom, two bathroom house, the main issue I have with a combi is that I have to run the tap for maybe 10 seconds before the water starts to run hot. This is because the water heads from the boiler to where the old tank was before heading back downstairs to the kitchen. The advantage for me is that there is no pilot light burning 24/7. All hot taps seem to be at mains pressure and that there is an unlimited supply of hot water as it never runs out.