Huge Gas Bill

Lapchien

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Then we are down to 2 other areas of possibility.

• The meter you see supplies someone else {as well as / instead of} you
• The initial reading was in error
• The boiler is running when you think it isn't

What kind of property do you have? Is it possible the meter you read is not in fact yours? Can you turn your boiler off and confirm that the reading remains constant over 24 hours? Do daily readings tend to confirm your rate of consumption?

First - thanks for all of your comments, I'll try and clarify a few points and let you know what I've done over the last few days.

The property is a 1930's 3 bedroom detached house. The loft has been converted into a 4th bedroom with en-suite. The house is upvc double glazed, although there is still the original wooden door from the lounge to the garden. Until a few days go there was a draft coming through. There are 2 open fireplaces, and the chimneys have been capped off with pepper-pot caps.

I had Transo come out to test the meter, the guy said it was running a smidgen rich, he adjusted it. He commented that 'there was something wrong somewhere with that bill'.

In the 10 days since the reading given to BG I've used 3 imperial units of gas per day.

I spoke to BG and they worked out 3 units per day going back to my date of occupancy, and agreed to deduct £100 from the bill. So I can breath - for a bit. 3 units still seems a little high. Most of the rads seem hotter at the top than at the bottom. I had a gas engineer out on Saturday, he said that the boiler was okay.

I've switched off a coupe of rads and locked down the rooms until next year. There's only 2 of us sharing, 2 of the 4 bedroom rads have been turned right down. I've (the gas engineer) set the boiler thermostat at 6 (it goes 1 to 9).

I've added the electricity to my BG account, switched to web-saver and fixed monthly DD of £75 p/m for gas, and £36 p/m for electricity.

I've also dug out a few jumpers and added a throw to my bed.

I guess that's about all I can do for now? Does anyone know if a gas fire in the lounge could heat most of the house efficiently and reasonably cheaply, or I could remove the chimney cap and burn smokeless fuel..?

Thanks
Lapchien

Cardew

3 imperial units a day is a lot lower than the 7 you were using.

Have you checked that your meter reading was correct - see post #20? Is it the old style dial meter?

greenbee

Lapchien wrote: »

Most of the rads seem hotter at the top than at the bottom

It looks as if there is sludge in the system. Rather than pay for a powerflush, you can do this yourselves, so get a DIY book out of the library and read it carefully. I've done this myself and it was dull and time-consuming, but effective. Oh... and every time we refilled the system there was always one radiator we'd forgotten to close the bleed valve on :rolleyes: so rags/old towels are a good idea.

Although it didn't look as if much sludge was coming out of the system, when you think about the volumes of water involved, it was probably quite a lot. I did this a couple of years ago and put inhibitor in the system afterwards, and it's been fine since.

It is important to rinse the system three times after it has been cleaned, as the cleaner is corrosive, so leaving traces behind could result in leaks. If you have any radiators that are on their last legs, this will, unfortunately, find their weak points - I know of a number of people who have had to have rads replaced when they've sprung leaks while being cleaned.

Otherwise you're on the right track - block draughts (layers of blinds and thermally lined curtains, plus draught excluder from DIY shops works), wear more clothes and keep moving...

Lapchien

Cardew wrote: »

3 imperial units a day is a lot lower than the 7 you were using.

Have you checked that your meter reading was correct - see post #20? Is it the old style dial meter?

The meter only has 1 dial, plus 4 digits. I really thought the meter reading was wrong, even at BG the first time I spoke to them, they confirmed that a reading 7 days earlier than mine was within 1 unit of my reading!

Lapchien

greenbee wrote: »

It looks as if there is sludge in the system. Rather than pay for a powerflush, you can do this yourselves, so get a DIY book out of the library and read it carefully. I've done this myself and it was dull and time-consuming, but effective. Oh... and every time we refilled the system there was always one radiator we'd forgotten to close the bleed valve on :rolleyes: so rags/old towels are a good idea.

Although it didn't look as if much sludge was coming out of the system, when you think about the volumes of water involved, it was probably quite a lot. I did this a couple of years ago and put inhibitor in the system afterwards, and it's been fine since.

It is important to rinse the system three times after it has been cleaned, as the cleaner is corrosive, so leaving traces behind could result in leaks. If you have any radiators that are on their last legs, this will, unfortunately, find their weak points - I know of a number of people who have had to have rads replaced when they've sprung leaks while being cleaned.

Otherwise you're on the right track - block draughts (layers of blinds and thermally lined curtains, plus draught excluder from DIY shops works), wear more clothes and keep moving...

When you say it was effective, how so? Hotter rads and less gas used?

ALIBOBSY

We had something like this on the radiators when we first moved in. We found that it was in fact a problem with the thermostats on the radiators. If you take them off there is a "pin" in side that needs to smoothly slide in and out. A quick spray with WD40 and a push in and out with the old magic finger worked wonders.
Worth a try, it can't hurt. It sorted our system out when we first moved in (at least until the boiler blew up 6 years later lol).

ali x

THRIFTY_GIRL

Lapchien wrote: »

First - thanks for all of your comments, I'll try and clarify a few points and let you know what I've done over the last few days.

The property is a 1930's 3 bedroom detached house.

I had Transo come out to test the meter, the guy said it was running a smidgen rich, he adjusted it. He commented that 'there was something wrong somewhere with that bill'.

In the 10 days since the reading given to BG I've used 3 imperial units of gas per day.

I spoke to BG and they worked out 3 units per day going back to my date of occupancy, and agreed to deduct £100 from the bill. So I can breath - for a bit. 3 units still seems a little high. Most of the rads seem hotter at the top than at the bottom. I had a gas engineer out on Saturday, he said that the boiler was okay.

I've added the electricity to my BG account, switched to web-saver and fixed monthly DD of £75 p/m for gas, and £36 p/m for electricity.

We are in a 1950s 3 bed detached. Our gas bill for the last year was about a £1000 including cooking so this seems quite reasonable if you have a gas cooker.

greenbee

Lapchien wrote: »

When you say it was effective, how so? Hotter rads and less gas used?

The whole radiator heated up once the sludge was out. I'm not sure about the size of the bills as I wasn't checking them that closely back then - this was a couple of years ago. However, looking at my records, my gas usage has gone down consistently year on year, so I must be doing most things right...clearly none of the changes I'm making each year are making things worse!

THRIFTY_GIRL wrote: »

We are in a 1950s 3 bed detached. Our gas bill for the last year was about a £1000 including cooking so this seems quite reasonable if you have a gas cooker.

I'm in a 1950s 3 bed semi (next door is mosly unoccupied - they appear to be in residence for random days, but not that often) and my bill is less than half yours... Heating, hot water and hob are all gas. The hob uses very little, the hot water not that much, it's the heating that makes the difference. I read my meter regularly (sometimes weekly) so have a fairly good view of what's using the gas...

THRIFTY_GIRL

greenbee wrote: »

I'm in a 1950s 3 bed semi (next door is mosly unoccupied - they appear to be in residence for random days, but not that often) and my bill is less than half yours... Heating, hot water and hob are all gas. The hob uses very little, the hot water not that much, it's the heating that makes the difference. I read my meter regularly (sometimes weekly) so have a fairly good view of what's using the gas...

I think you're right there greenbee. as you've probably seen, I'm quite new to the 'reading the meter' and monitoring usage. I do however notice a considerable drop in costs in the summer. I think the disparity in our bills/costs shows how much catching up I need to do to reduce my bills:rolleyes:

Were your bills always this low??? Any tips most welcome:o

greenbee

THRIFTY_GIRL wrote: »

I think you're right there greenbee. as you've probably seen, I'm quite new to the 'reading the meter' and monitoring usage. I do however notice a considerable drop in costs in the summer. I think the disparity in our bills/costs shows how much catching up I need to do to reduce my bills:rolleyes:

Were your bills always this low??? Any tips most welcome:o

My bills have always been fairly low, but my supplier's graphs show reduced consumption year on year.

Have a look on the OS board, as there is a 'Preparing for winter' thread which can be quite useful. Also on Green & Ethical there is one about reducing energy costs.

Just to clarify, I have plenty of loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, and metal windows. Last year's snow was handy, as I could see that the only place snow was melting was round the window sills (although that could be because I keep the place quite cool!). My biggest problem (hopefully to be sorted this year) is that the patio is level with the damp course, so I do get a small amount of damp if I'm not careful.

I have a single-skin single-storey utility room at the back of the house - I've put new doors on this and insulated the room and walls. The utility room window has also been replaced with a plastic double-glazed window, as has the side window in the kitchen. The aluminium patio doors have also been replaced with plastic double-glazed french windows. As each of these changes has been made I've noticed a huge difference in how warm the house feels.

All my windows have blinds (some bought, others home made) as well as curtains (on the north side these are all thermally lined). This, together with fitting various types of draught excluder was the first improvement I made, and definitely made a difference compared to the thin curtains I had originally. Both the front door and the utility room door also have thick curtains.

I have moved and replaced most of the radiators - so that they are in more sensible places for heating the room. The modern radiators are smaller and have higher heat output. My downstairs loo was always cold and damp, so when I was going through the major upheaval of doing the kitchen I put a small radiator in there, which really makes a difference.

I put a new condensing boiler in three years ago as I needed to move the old decrepid one. I also have TRVs on all the rads, and a room thermostat (although as you can see from discussions, there are issues with room stats). I have balanced the radiators, and check regularly to make sure that they are heating up properly. If they are cold at the top they will need bleeding. Cold and the bottom may well be sludge, which is a more tedious task to sort out!

I adjust the hot water timing through the year - in the summer I find it doesn't need to be on for long, but in the spring/autumn it needs longer as the water coming in and the house are both colder. Once the heating is on, that helps to keep the temperature up. I mostly have showers rather than baths, and the towel rail is on a low heat to dry the towels rather than heat the bathroom as this can cool the hot water significantly. (I hope to put a separate radiator or underfloor heating into the bathroom when it comes round to doing that).

At this time of year the heating is on a timer (nothing to stop me turning it on or off if the timing doesn't suit though) but for limited hours as I don't want it to be on for long if I'm not here and the curtains are open. If I'm working from the office I can be out from 6am to 10pm, so I just need enough heat to stop the house feeling cold and damp when I get in. So the radiators are also all on low.

My study (2nd bedroom, as it is south-facing) and bedroom (also south facing) have the radiators on very low (although as I sit still so much when I'm in the study I do feel the cold more there!). The hall and kitchen radiators are higher (and I do think that a landing radiator would improve the system, as the hall one heats the stair well at the moment). The sitting room radiator is on low unless I'm in there. The spare room (north facing) is on the frost setting. Any rooms not in use have the doors firmly closed so that I don't lose too much heat to them.

I have just had a woodstove installed (last week) which has stopped the draught down the chimney, and certainly makes things feel more cosy. It'll be interesting to see whether it makes much of a difference to my gas bill.

I don't have the house particularly warm - I wear layers and keep active rather than sitting working in a t-shirt, but I don't let myself get uncomfortably cold.

The best way to get yourself into good habits is to read your meter regularly and think about what might have made a difference.