Cost of heating Victorian Student house

coldwar

Hi, I am after some advice. I have recently moved out of my house and am renting it to students. They are complaining about the cost of the heating, saying it is so high there must be a problem. I dont think there is a problem but i am looking for some examples to back up my point of view.

The house is a very large 3 bedroomed (2 reception) house (built 1900), semi detached, solid brick construction, 9 Radiators, 10-15 year old combi Boiler but its serviced every year (in Jan) and have been told be the plumber its in very good condition.

It uses a pay as you go gas meter, (i prefer this as the student cant disappear without paying the bill) and the running cost when i was there was about 60 pence an hour to have the central heating on. The bills are 0 in the summer months, but once the heating goes on it starts chewing though the money. I used to have it on for 4 or 5 hours a day in winter and it used to be 20-25 a week. However I was in Australia for a month last year though the real cold snap we had.
Anyway the girls are running at about 35-40 a week, they say they dont have it on much (but I dont know if i can believe them, after all when I lived there i had my housemate sneak it on regularly).

Are they just moaning? Is there any information you could point me to that i could show them that says what the are using is not unreasonable? They have called the gas supplier who has told them they are currently using 5 units and they would be expected to only be using 3 units per day... got this info second hand so not sure what was said exactly.

I am trying my best to be a good landlord so I am getting the boiler serviced again next week (as its due in a month anyway) but i am expecting it to be passed as in good condition as its been serviced regularly and updated when required. I am just looking for advice maybe from students or people that live in such houses. Wouldnt you expect to pay high prices in Winter when the bills are near 0 in the warmer months.

I had it all double glazed three years ago.There is insulation in the roof but I have started a project to add extra. Any advice would be great.

Premier_2

coldwar wrote: »

...Are they just moaning? ...

Yes .

Cardew

In a non cavity walled house, in the sort of temperatures we have been having £35-40 a week on a pre-pay meter tariff is to be expected.

Servicing a 10-15 year old boiler(which is mandatory in a rented house) will not affect running costs as there is virtually nothing to adjust that affects running costs.

One of the problems with a student house is that the bedrooms tend to be used as sitting rooms(lounge). Bedrooms normally have radiators that are sized to get the rooms two or three degrees lower than the lounge. So to get them up a higher temperature they tend to have the the heating on maximum in the rest of the house.

Also students are often in the house much longer than people who go to work.

mrschaucer

Show willing and get them lots of insulation in the loft, then it's really up to them. (Hot water bottles, lots of blankets, thermal underwear ...) I don't see what else they can expect YOU to do about THEIR use of fuel.

michael50

How many students are in the house.

£35-£40 between them shouldnt be that much in this current cold snap and averaged over the year it would obviously be a lot less.

markharding557

Are they on the lowest tariff for gas pp?probably ebico

Pincher

I would have a look at the unit rate they are paying, maybe you can switch them to a cheaper rate.

The rental market is a bit like Dante's Inferno, except the lower you go, the colder it gets, because, at the bottom, they can't afford to switch the heating on at all; and they have no insulation either. But the rent is dirt cheap, they gasp as they die of pneumonia.

By my calculation, your students are enjoying nine hours of heating a day, at 60p per hour. Luxury, sheer luxury.

As the price of heating goes up, your tenants will be able to afford 8 hours next year, 7 the year after, etc. I'm afraid you have to make up your mind where on the ladder you want to be. I try to be as far from the wailing and gnashing of teeth as possible.

KimYeovil

markharding557 wrote: »

Are they on the lowest tariff for gas pp?probably ebico

Don't be silly.

markharding557

KimYeovil wrote: »

Don't be silly.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Farway

It may also be the students have never paid or seen the price of fuel when living at home, maybe the real world is a big shock?