Gas & Electric usage seems high - is my boiler set correctly? Need advice please!

khampson

Hi, I have my gas and electric with e.on online v3, my tarriff is a online saver, I had a new boiler fitted 6 weeks ago and had to set the temps my self, My bill is currently £80 a month for gas, however I don't use gas for cooking I use electric, in 2 months I have used nearly 6000 kwh, I have the heating on for about 6 hours a day only, My heater temp is set to 70 degree's and my water is set to 55 degree's, but am I running my boiler at the wrong tempratures? I know its been very cold recently but is this the reason for using so much gas??

Also I have a electric shower, Is it cheaper to have a shower considering I am paying £0.18p a unit for electric and £0.025p a unit for gas? I know that shower uses less water however the unit price is higher

I am currently using about 280kw of electric and 3000kwh of gas per month £51 for electric and about for gas (on second rate now for gas 0.025p a kwh £76 (total £127) all this is for 2 people living in a 3 bedroom semi-detatched house built in 1930.

This is my first home so not sure if I am currently using what others people would be using, I am currently paying £80 a month to e.on and I know because I've only been with them 2 months I have been using the higher unit rates that companies use for the first so many units and I am in a very cold winter, I am at work all day 7:30 to 4:30, My partneris out for about 4 hours a day, same time as me, I do have a bath every night after work and my partner has a bath every other day, so is my usage inline with everyone else? are my boiler settings correct and is there any other ways I can cut my usage down?

I do use electric for cooking, but at the current rate I am using gas and electric I have very little spare money, is it just the time of year and me changing to e.on in October? and will it even its self out when the warmer weather does eventually come?

Regards Keith

dogshome

Hi khampson - Doing rough Annual figures from the data in your post, you are using 3024 Kwh of Elect a year, which is low average
However the Gas comes out to 21,600Kw a year, which is a bit high so I would suggest that you examine the standards of Loft Insulation/Double Glazing in the house, also look for drafts coming from the outer doors

In the summer you Elec consumption will drop by appx. 20%, and your gas by appx. 80%

Your annual Elec D/D payment of £51 looks a bit high, and though there is not enough detail to judge the gas D/D, it could also be a bit high.
I suggest you punch the annual Gas & Elec Kw figures above into a couple of Switch sites, and see what comes up - If it was me I would avoid n'power and First Utiility when switching

pothole50

khampson wrote: »

Also I have a electric shower, Is it cheaper to have a shower considering I am paying £0.18p a unit for electric and £0.025p a unit for gas? I know that shower uses less water however the unit price is higher
Regards Keith

Regarding the shower mine is a 7.5kw and my unit price with BG is now 0.0744p so approx 0.011p/min usally 5min shower so about 5.5p, your rate of £0.18p a unit seems high can you change your tariff or supplier.

khampson

pothole50 wrote: »

Regarding the shower mine is a 7.5kw and my unit price with BG is now 0.0744p so approx 0.011p/min usally 5min shower so about 5.5p, your rate of £0.18p a unit seems high can you change your tariff or supplier.

I've only just swapped my gas and electric to e.on compare the market and money saving and both came in saying the tariff with e.on was the cheapest, I am paying 16.98p for the first 900 kw of electric and then it drops to 7.98p a unit for the rest including vat, and my gas is 5.5p for first 2550 the it drops to 2.51p a unit.

I have the thermstat installed on the hall which is always cold and the heating kicks in at 13 degrees, are my temp settings on my boiler ok or doesn't that matter?

Keith

khampson

dogshome wrote: »

Hi khampson - Doing rough Annual figures from the data in your post, you are using 3024 Kwh of Elect a year, which is low average
However the Gas comes out to 21,600Kw a year, which is a bit high so I would suggest that you examine the standards of Loft Insulation/Double Glazing in the house, also look for drafts coming from the outer doors

In the summer you Elec consumption will drop by appx. 20%, and your gas by appx. 80%

Your annual Elec D/D payment of £51 looks a bit high, and though there is not enough detail to judge the gas D/D, it could also be a bit high.
I suggest you punch the annual Gas & Elec Kw figures above into a couple of Switch sites, and see what comes up - If it was me I would avoid n'power and First Utiility when switching

No I am only paying £80 a month dd for both the £51 is my current usage for electric

Keith

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Keith

You're doing exactly the right thing in looking at ways to cut back on your energy usage and we may be able to help with this.

We have an Energy Efficiency team who specialise in helping customers reduce their usage. I would have a chat with them.

Tell them about your property and the appliances you have. They will be happy to advise of ways you may be able to cut back.

Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful tips to help you reduce your usage.

Check out our website, too; particularly the interactive house and energy fit campaign. More useful tips here. :cool:

As dogshome says, pop your details on to one of the comparison sites. This will list out all the tariffs available, both with us and the other suppliers. Make sure you are on the best deal for your circumstances.

Hope this helps a little Keith and good luck with the savings. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc

khampson

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hi Keith

You're doing exactly the right thing in looking at ways to cut back on your energy usage and we may be able to help with this.

We have an Energy Efficiency team who specialise in helping customers reduce their usage. I would have a chat with them.

Tell them about your property and the appliances you have. They will be happy to advise of ways you may be able to cut back.

Ask for a copy of a booklet called '100 ways to save money by saving energy.' It's free and contains lots of useful tips to help you reduce your usage.

Check out our website, too; particularly the interactive house and energy fit campaign. More useful tips here. :cool:

As d!ogshome says, pop your details on to one of the comparison sites. This will list out all the tariffs available, both with us and the other suppliers. Make sure you are on the best deal for your circumstances.

Hope this helps a little Keith and good luck with the savings. Give me a shout if I can help further as will be happy to do so.

Malc

thanks Malc, can you give me the number to ring e.on team, I will give them a call and see what they say

Keith

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Happy to Keith.

Just drop an email to the address in my Profile and I'll give you the number.

MSE don't like me posting phone numbers on the Forum.

Malc

dogshome

Hi khampson - Sorry I misunderstood the Direct Debit figures in your post.

So you are paying a £51 D/D for Elect which as I said seems a bit high, but tariffs vary from area to area.

However this leaves only £29 for your Gas D/D, which with a consumption of 3000Kwh in a winter month is way, way too low
4 winter months, Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb, @ 3000 makes 12,000, then say 2000 each for Oct & April makes 16,000, then plus 600 each for May/ June/July/Aug makes a total of 18,400kwh, which even ignoring the price of your Prime units will cost £38 a month.

If you are underpaying on the gas, E.on will eventually demand a BIG rise in the D/D to pay for what you use plus something to pay off the debt - I strongly advise you apply your Annual Gas & Elec Kwh consumption figures to your Eon tariff to check your D/Debit levels