Gas being eating at alarming rate, please advise!

thegct

Hey all, I recently received my cold weather payment which I put straight onto my gas meter.
I've only had the heating on for 7 hours a day to try and make it last as long as possible, however after just FIVE days it has eaten all the credit!
I am adamant that this is not the norm.
What I'm wondering is what the possible problem could be, and how I should go about getting it rectified.

In a little more detail

• Rented property
• Newish Combi-Boiler
• Water and heat dials both set to middle
• Thermostatic radiator valves turned off in the 2 unused rooms
• All other radiator valves on middle setting
• NO debt on gas meter
• Gas cooker and hot water barely used (usual usage approx £5 a week)

All help appreciated as I cannot afford to pay this much money out each week, just to keep the house at a basic minimum of acceptable warmth.

ormus

how much gas/money are you using each day then?

Apricot

7 Hours per day seems like quite a lot - are you home all day? Im in work all day so mine usually doesn't go on until 5-ish and is then off by 7 as the flat has warmed up nicely by then.

mchale

princessleah_ wrote: »

7 Hours per day seems like quite a lot - are you home all day? Im in work all day so mine usually doesn't go on until 5-ish and is then off by 7 as the flat has warmed up nicely by then.

Heating only on for 2 hours a day, I WANT TO MARRY YOU, her indoors has it on for 12hrs a day. :j

thegct

Yeah the house is always occupied other than weekend so the heating being on for that long isn't really that bad.

But excluding cooking/water usage that makes £4 per day, and that's just for a comfortable temperature not a sauna.

moo2moo

£4 a day equates to £120 per month (winter only). Assuming your heating is off for 6 months of the year and only using £5 a week (£20 a month)

£120 x6 = £720
£20 x 6 = £120

Total annual gas spend = £840 averaged over the year is £70 per month. Thats pretty darn cheap, I'm paying way more that that with the heating on for an hour a day. The only way to reduce it is to reduce the time your heating runs.

rachbc

also your heating will be working harder to get up to temp in the current cold - hence the cold weather payment

andrew-b

Yep heating systems have their work cut out at the moment keeping us warm. We've got ours on from 6:30am till 10:30pm at moment rather than the usual few hours in morning and evening (though i'm in all day).

It was mentioned on news last night of further cold weather payments so that may help you..don't know how much though.

Keep your doors and windows shut except for maybe 10-15 mins in the morning to shift any condensation and don't open doors unnecessarily for going out to bin etc, keep internal doors closed to keep heat in the rooms your using and out of those your not, close curtains at dusk (leave closed in rooms your not occupying), cover draughts under doors with a rolled up sheet/blanket. Just a few things you can do straight off as well as wearing extra layers of clothes (several thin layers better than one thick one usually) and blankets. Hot drinks and meals and keeping active helps with feeling warm too.

If it's still a problem after the current exceptional cold weather then need to look into getting your landlord to fit more insulation and carry out any draught proofing as necessary.

Stay warm!

keith969

andrew-b wrote: »

Yep heating systems have their work cut out at the moment keeping us warm. We've got ours on from 6:30am till 10:30pm at moment rather than the usual few hours in morning and evening (though i'm in all day).

Same here... and I've got thermal underwear on!

DVardysShadow

ormus wrote: »

how much gas/money are you using each day then?

Never mind the money. How much gas.

ormus

uk gas bill average for a 3 bed semi is, 834 quid per annum.