£400 gas bill this quarter!!

machofairy

Money_maker wrote: »

What was your useage?

200+ units. We are on npower.
From the school hols in Dec up to the end of the cold spell in mid Jan, we had it on most day ...either central heating or gas fire in living room.

in_spired2

I just had to submit a meter reading and got the bill - it was about £185 to cover from early/mid december until now. Our heating is "on" (timer) from approx 6.30 am to 11.30pm every day. It is controlled by a room thermostat though, which is set at 15 degrees overnight (afaik, it rarely comes on during the night, but I did hear it a few times during the really cold weather), 17.5-18 for most of the day, and was set around 21 during the cold spell at xmas time. I think the heating was on overnight a few times. Radiators on in 6 rooms, a very cold hallway, and on low in a draughty and cold utility room. I live in an old, damp, poorly insulated 3bed semi, so I have to say that £400 seems a bit expensive for the quarter unless you've either not got a thermostat or you've got it set high or you've got a LOT of radiators on. My boiler is less than 2 years old, and I have TRV's and a programmable room stat - my gas bills were much higher before this. If I was only heating my house a few hours a day most of the time, and then all day for just a few weeks like you did, I'd have expected a cheaper bill. (but all houses and heating systems are different, and we all have different lifestyles and comfort levels)

Do you have a room thermostat, or how do you control your heating? How old is your boiler? Also, have you draught-proofed your home as much as you can? I've got door curtains up, draught-excluders at the bottom of the doors. Also, been wearing layers so that the lower temperature is not uncomfortable.