Does my gas usage sound about right?

pg2114

Hello all,

I live in a three bedroom semi-detached house with a gas boiler, gas fire and gas oven.

I'm on the NPower Save Online 20 tariff and currently pay £30.00 per month for gas. During November, my first 882kWh are charged at 6.021p and any additional are charged at 2.732p.

I have been experimenting with the boiler and have found that an hour of heating and hot water uses approximately 1.5m³ of gas, which is about 17kWh. I believe that means that if I were to use my heating and hot water for two hours each day, I would use about £57.00 per month.

To be honest, I'm all very new to this, but it does sound very expensive to me and I am rather worried that I will end up with a debt with NPower. Does this sound about right to you?

Thank you very much,

Peter.

macman

You're not seriously expecting to heat a 3-b/r semi (plus hot water and cooking) for £30pm (or just £360pa)? £57 pa does not sound particularly expensive in the winter months-and your gas bill will of course fall dramatically once the CH is off in the spring.
If you are using £57 and paying £30 p then you will indeed build up a debt during the winter, so it's better to update your meter reading and adjust your DD now.

keystone

Agree with macman and you should probably repost this in the Utilites Forum as well or ask a mod to move it.

Cheers.

pg2114

macman wrote: »

You're not seriously expecting to heat a 3-b/r semi (plus hot water and cooking) for £30pm (or just £360pa)?

I telephoned NPower when I moved into the property and they suggested £30.00 per month for gas and £50.00 per month for electricity based upon the previous tenants. Unfortunately, I have no idea whether the previous tenants froze to death or had the heating on permanently! :undecided

Thank you,

Peter.

macman

That sounds completely the wrong way around-your gas bill should be much higher than your leccy bill in a gas CH property-unless the previous tenant's were running a cannabis farm in the loft?
This highlights the importance of taking your own regular meter readings and working out what your DD should be in order to avoid debt. Don't rely on your supplier, who hasno idea of your energy usage.

KimYeovil

And it is silly to talk about having the heating on for two hours each day (especially if you are meaning an hour in a morning and an hour in the evening.) You also have to look at how much your heating costs once it is up to speed - that is, what is your consumption during the third and fourth hours? Unless you are in a single-glazed paper-walled bungalow on a wind-swept hill...

pg2114

macman wrote: »

That sounds completely the wrong way around-your gas bill should be much higher than your leccy bill in a gas CH property-unless the previous tenant's were running a cannabis farm in the loft?

I have just checked with them again and they are definitely taking £30.00 per month for gas and £50.00 per month for electricity. Apparently that's in line with the previous tenants, who seemed to use a ridiculous amount of electricity.

KimYeovil wrote: »

And it is silly to talk about having the heating on for two hours each day (especially if you are meaning an hour in a morning and an hour in the evening.)

It's currently on 7:00am until 8:00am and 7:00pm until 8:00pm. Do you not think that's sufficient?

Thank you,

Peter.

pimento

I live in a 4 bedroomed house and have a gas boiler for heating and hot water. My gas bill is paid by direct debit and is £30 a month. (British Gas).

pimento

macman wrote: »

That sounds completely the wrong way around-your gas bill should be much higher than your leccy bill in a gas CH property-unless the previous tenant's were running a cannabis farm in the loft?

My electricity direct debit is £50 a month.

ginvzt

i live in a 4 bedroom house, gas boiler, hot water cylinder. Over last 12 months we paid about £1000 for gas. (~24500 kW, October 2009 to October 2010). The electricity consumption was about 4300 kW.

(Yes, we are replacing the boiler as soon as we the house belongs to us)

latecomer

pg2114 wrote: »

It's currently on 7:00am until 8:00am and 7:00pm until 8:00pm. Do you not think that's sufficient?

Doesn't really matter what other people think - if that makes the house warm enough for you then thats all that matters.

What you could do is check the meter readings at the start of the week and then again at the same time the week after to give a rough estimate of what you use in a week. Obviously it will change throughout the year but should give you an idea of what you are using.