How much should a gas central heating system cost to run?

Woody67

I have searched everywhere but really want an idea of what the hourly cost of a gas boiler should be to run in a fairly typical 3 bed semi. I have looked at various brands which list a kwh of 28-30 but surely that equates to a cost of around £1.40 for an hour, people on one topic were complaining about an electric boiler costing less than that!

j2011

I have looked at various brands which list a kwh of 28-30 but surely that equates to a cost of around £1.40 for an hour

But the boiler does not burn 28-30kWh of gas continuously. It modulates (switches off and on) depending on the temperature.

allisonw

In the cold winter I was using 140 kWh of gas a day, rough cost £4.20 a day.

Just now 80 kWh so £2.40 a day.

Next winter it will probably cost me £5.00 a day so I am saving up for that.

Cardew

Most boilers these days for a 3 bed semi are combis. The main reason for their high power output is that it is needed to heat the hot water for baths, showers etc.

As said above, when heating radiators the boiler modulates(turns down the wick!!) and also simply switches off and on.

The bottom line is that gas costs less than a third the price of electricity. Granted that the efficiency of a gas boiler has to be considered, but gas CH is much cheaper than electricity.

The average gas bill consumption in UW was always quoted as 20,500kWh pa - say £700. It has now been reduced and perhaps £550 would be average.

spinningsheep

Since I have had my new combi fitted, a Baxi Duotec 28kw running 10 radiators and a towel rail, we are using approx £1.75 a day, and approx 51kwh per day, heating is on for 6 hours a day, plus hot water for washing and dishes etc.

theblooray

Wow spinningsheep that sounds brilliant. Do you have your boiler temperature set to max? I'm spending about £3 a day. That's £90 a month which seems high to me. 3 bed terraced house. Double glazed. Combi boiler. I probably use the heating for about 3 hours a day. Not a lot of cooking or showering either. It should definitely cost lesser than £1.75 surely? I'm comparing my usage with yours. I use half as much as you do.

macman

Tell us your average daily kWh usage and meaningful advice can be given. Otherwise you might as well ask 'what does it cost to run a car per day?'
£90 per month in the depths of winter is not high. It won't be an average of £90pm throughout the year-once the heating goes off in a month or so your consumption will drop hugely.

spinningsheep

Hi theblooray, nowhere near MAX, we run the central heating flow on 60-65 degrees depending on the weather and the hot water is set to about 45. That cost and use has gone up this winter as weather was colder, I am guessing approx £5 per day for the cold spell but we did have the heating on from 5am to 11pm set on 19 on thermostat, boiler does not tend to fire much once the house gets up to temp, it just comes on for 15 20 mins every so often to top up the heat, being an old end of terrace need to warm the bones of the old girl before you seem to retain any heat!

theblooray

Spinningsheep, many thanks for the very prompt response. Just the answer I'd wanted.

Macman...... Talk about stating the obvious! I'm fully aware of the drops in gas usage once summer kicks in. No point arguing with you further. Spinningsheep has got solved my query. I'm out

macman

Who's arguing? You said you are paying £90pm. You are not, you are paying £90 pm for probably 3 months of the year. As I said, £90pm in the coldest 2 or 3 months is not that high for a 3 b/r property.

macman

spinningsheep wrote: »

Hi theblooray, nowhere near MAX, we run the central heating flow on 60-65 degrees depending on the weather and the hot water is set to about 45. That cost and use has gone up this winter as weather was colder, I am guessing approx £5 per day for the cold spell but we did have the heating on from 5am to 11pm set on 19 on thermostat, boiler does not tend to fire much once the house gets up to temp, it just comes on for 15 20 mins every so often to top up the heat, being an old end of terrace need to warm the bones of the old girl before you seem to retain any heat!

Your hot water tank 'stat should be set to a minimum of 60C in order to avoid the possibility of legionella developing in the tank. 45C is far too low for safety.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/legionella.htm