Gas CH bill sky high - Help is needed...

becksfaz

I posted on here last week about my heating and 'Cardew' kindly explained some things for me (sincere thanks by the way) but here I am again....
My gas bill for 5 weeks was through the roof at £207 and since then I've become totally obsessed (and I mean obsessed) with the heating, the radiators, the bloody gas units etc - it's driving my husband insane and I'm seriously going to crack up if I don't get sorted.
I have a baby and currently on mat leave so I have the heating set to constant and the thermostat set to 18. I have TRVs on the radiators ans although I think I know how they work, I'm still struggling. I turned the TRV's down since posting on here but have not noticed any change in the gas units I have used - why?
Now as an experiment to try and reduce my gas units I turned my thermostat down to 16 for 3 days (we were out lots over xmas visiting family so was a perfect time to do it) and only used 21 units of gas = 7 units per day. I then turned my thermostat back up to 18 for 3 days and have used 45 units = 15 units per day. Why does 2 degrees increase my useage so much???
Most of my friends have their central heating set at around 20-21 and aren't using as much gas as me - where am I going wrong?
I need 'an idiots guide' to helping me reduce my useage - I can't go through all winter like this - I will end up skint and in an asylum!

HappyMJ

You thermostat might not be accurate. In the lounge does it feel warm to you? Do you have a thermometer you can put on the coffee table to see the current temperature? Are you comfortable when the thermostat is set at 16 or does it feel a bit chilly? Are you closing the curtains and the doors to keep as much heat in as possible? When you were out for 3 days the heat probably stayed in more as doors weren't being opened as often letting all the heat out. I have no idea why your gas bill is £207 for 5 weeks. That to me would be more than 5,000kWh of gas or about 150kWh per day. That's a huge amount. Baby's room can be set at 16 at night (they need to be within the range of 16-20 and 18 is ideal but 16 is still fine) and you can turn all the other radiators off such as the ones downstairs and in the other bedrooms. That should cut your bill right down.

becksfaz

Sat in the lounge now and it feels warm - got baby's thermometer and it says 21 in here (yet just taken it from her room where it says 15 and it always say 15 even when heating kicks in?). She has a box room too. House felt a bit chilly when set to 16. When you say turn rads off downstairs and in other bedrooms - I take it you mean just at night? I try to keep all the doors closed downstairs but it's hard as my 3 year old is always in and out of the lounge to his playroom and vice versa. Bedroom doors and bathroom doors upstairs are usually open. I know I prob sound really stupid but we only moved in in the summer so it's our 1st winter here.

HappyMJ

That explains it then. You have set the thermostat to 18 in the hall which probably can't get to 18 (is the radiator in the hall fully open) yet the temperature really is 21 in the lounge. The boiler won't switch off as it's trying to bring the temperature in the hall up to 18 which it can't do. 21 is quite warm. You need to lower the temperature on the thermostat until the thermometer reads 18. Set at 21 for 24 hours a day 7 days a week will cost a lot and 150kWh per day sounds about right.

I just mean whenever you aren't using the rooms...at night...during the day when you are out (but you can use the thermostat for that) as often as possible. The more off time or low time the cheaper it will be.

15 for baby's bedroom is 1 degree lower than NHS recommends so you need to up the TRV by a little bit just move it up half a notch. Is the radiator warm? You could have a stuck valve (remove the TRV and knock the pin) or the radiator might need bleeding.

daveyjp

The hall is the worse place for a thermostat. It never gets warm as it has inadequate heating, is open plan and has a staircase so all the heat rises up. A far better place is the lounge.

becksfaz

I'm really sorry but I don't understand what you mean by "You have set the thermostat to 18 in the hall which probably can't get to 18 (is the radiator in the hall fully open) yet the temperature really is 21 in the lounge. The boiler won't switch off as it's trying to bring the temperature in the hall up to 18 which it can't do."
It must get to 18 cos the boiler stops after 5 mins (Cardew explained on a previous post of mine that this is what is meant to happen as the boiler is 'topping' up my heating.
I have 2 rads in the hall - one is on full and one is turned off.
I also don't understand what you mean about the boiler not switching off - the boiler kicks in approx every hour for about 5 mins and then kicks off again.
The babies radiator is set to full (it's not a trv that has numbers on it it's just a dial with a + and - sign) but room still says 15.
Now also we have a TRV with numbers on in our ensuite and last week I turned that to 0 - it still gets hot! ???

becksfaz

In response to daveyjp, my hall does get warm - I even put both rads on full to try and reduce the amount of times the boiler was kicking in but to no avail so that's why I turned one of them off again. Position of thermostat out of our control - it's a rented house so it is where it is. I've previously heard the hall is the correct place for a thermostat? No wonder I'm so confused with everything!

HappyMJ

You need to move the thermostat out of the hall. The lounge would be good. It isn't getting to 18 it's getting to 21 as you said in the lounge but the boiler doesn't know the temperature in the lounge it only knows the hall so keeps on trying to increase the temperature.

You cannot possibly have the boiler running for 5 minutes every hour yet use 150kWh per day. That's 6.25kWh per hour assuming you have a combi at 24 kW that's about 15 minutes per hour and if it were my 12kW conventional boiler that would be 30 minutes per hour. If it was just 5 minutes per hour your bill would be a third of what it is.

There is something wrong with the radiator in the baby's room if it isn't any higher than 15. Is the radiator totally hot from top to bottom?

becksfaz

I promise you - boiler kicks in for 5 mins or so and then goes off. Then 45 mins to 1 hr later does the same again. I've been a total headcase trying to get to the bottom of my useage. I've rung my landlord who doesn't understand it either - we have double glazing and cavity insulation.
I'm pretty tight when it comes to energy and costs - my gas useage from 4th aug (when we moved in) until 21st Sept (when we changed energy supplier) was only 26 units so I know it's heating related.
I've no idea what kind of combi I have - I've just looked at it now and it says Potterton Combi 80 - if that helps.
Yes the radiator does get hot all over but is hotter at the top than the bottom - most of my rads are.
What do you think about the TRV in my ensuite - is it broken?

HappyMJ

becksfaz wrote: »

I promise you - boiler kicks in for 5 mins or so and then goes off. Then 45 mins to 1 hr later does the same again. I've been a total headcase trying to get to the bottom of my useage. I've rung my landlord who doesn't understand it either - we have double glazing and cavity insulation.
I'm pretty tight when it comes to energy and costs - my gas useage from 4th aug (when we moved in) until 21st Sept (when we changed energy supplier) was only 26 units so I know it's heating related.
I've no idea what kind of combi I have - I've just looked at it now and it says Potterton Combi 80 - if that helps.
Yes the radiator does get hot all over but is hotter at the top than the bottom - most of my rads are.
What do you think about the TRV in my ensuite - is it broken?

It's a 24kW boiler. 5 minutes every hour would use 2kW per hour 24 hours in a day is 48kWh and 5 weeks is 1,680kWh costing about £60. As you are leaving it on 24/7 you can turn the temperature on the boiler right down to the lowest setting that will make it a 10kW boiler. It'll be on more but use less gas. You may need to turn it up again if it's freezing with snow and ice outside.

The TRV if set to zero and the radiator is still warm could be broken or just stuck. Try removing it (it's easy they just screw on) and seeing if the pin is being pushed up and down. The pin could just be stuck in the fully open position.

becksfaz

I don't understand kwh, just units - based on a gas bill I worked out I multiply my gas unit by 11 and then by 0.035p to work out my costs. Based on my readings and my calculations, this is my bill..... 12 units per 24 hours x 11 = 132. 132 x 0.035 = £4.62 per day. £4.62 per day x 45 days (which is how many days my bill was for) = £207.90! I wish so much it was £60. We had an engineer out to the boiler recently and he told me I coudn't change the temperature on the boiler - apparantly it's automatic.