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

Cardew

You have now opened 3 threads on exactly the same problem.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3699153

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3690465=

All this does is create a duplication of effort from those trying to advise. There must be 20 posts on metric v Imperial gas units because on the latest two threads you didn't state what type of gas unit.

In the other thread you state a bill for £207 in 45 days,(here £207 in 35days)

becksfaz

Have you got the loft properly insulated to current standards (270m)? If not, that's the first thing to sort out, as it's the biggest source of heat loss.
I'm not sure - it's a rented house, how do I find out about this?
NB: from your earlier post: even a 2C increase requires a great deal of extra energy. Wisdom has it that turning your 'stat down just 1C can take 10% off your heating bill.
Can't turn it down lower than 18 - I think that's pretty low (it's lower than all of my friends) considering I've young children.
Stop running the CH on constant and switch it off at night-it's not necessary and is greatly increasing your consumption.
Won't the temperature get too low though in my children's bedrooms?
And won't the boiler have to work harder in the morning to bring the house temperature back up?

becksfaz

We weren't actually away for 3 days over xmas, just not in the house as much that's why I didn't turn it off all together, just turned it down. The boiler was installed in 2003 when the extension was built.
Cardew - I'm sorry about the threads. I'm new to this. I made a mistake on the useage it was over 45 days. Apologies again for any confusion.

macman

Insulation-look in the loft?
Young children do not need higher temps than anyone else, How do you think most of us survived childhood before central heating? For babies the recommended temp is 16C. Unless it's very cold outside, the room temp is unlikely to drop much below that at present.
Last point-no, it's not. It takes more energy to maintain a constant temp than heat to that temp from cold. Please see any of the hundreds of other threads on this topic. The longer the boiler is on, the higher your bills will be. Running it overnight is just burning money, as the heat loss then will be at it's greatest.

becksfaz

macman wrote: »

if your DD is correctly set, it will take you through the winter with the credit on the account that should have built up in the summer.

I think this also may be a reason for my panic - as we moved in to the house in the summer (but was with another energy supplier until 21st sept) I haven't built up much credit. At the moment I am £133 in debit.

becksfaz

macman wrote: »

Insulation-look in the loft?
Last point-no. It takes more energy to maintain a constant temp than heat to that temp from cold. Please see any of the hundreds of threads on this topic.

Okie dokey, thank you.

spinningsheep

Hi Becksfaz, we are in our first winter with a new central heating system, so we too have had to get to grips with it also. We tried the on 24/7 method, and even in this mild winter we have had so far, our usage shot through the roof and to be honest the house did not feel much different than when we ran it on timer. So, I turned the boiler up a bit from 60 to 70 degrees, which I know will mean it doesn't condense as much but will be on for a shorter time, so it's swings and roundabouts (once again thanks for the help to fellow MSE ers). I know you cannot turn the temp down on the boiler as you said, and looking at the spec of your boiler it would appear that it isn't a condensor boiler either. As for the kids bedrooms, they will heat up rather fast as should the rest of the house when the heating kicks in. Just trial it for a week and see if the consumption falls away. I cannot see that it wouldn't. Let us know how you get on.

becksfaz

Thank you everyone, I know I've caused a little frustration to all you experts on here (with my different threads etc) but I really would like to thank you all for your help. I appreciate your advice. Decided to try it on a timer for a week from now and see how it goes. Question now is - what time to put the timer on?!?! Argh!

macman

Try it to come on about an hour before you get up, and to go off half an hour before you go to bed. The exact times are not important, adjust to what you are comfortable with The point is that you will not be heating your house for an unnecessary 7 hours or so each day, so your consumption will drop dramatically.
If you are in debit by £133 at present then your DD is set far too low, you should have some credit (say £150+) at the start of winter.

DevilsAdvocate1

becksfaz wrote: »

Have you got the loft properly insulated to current standards (270m)? If not, that's the first thing to sort out, as it's the biggest source of heat loss.
I'm not sure - it's a rented house, how do I find out about this?
NB: from your earlier post: even a 2C increase requires a great deal of extra energy. Wisdom has it that turning your 'stat down just 1C can take 10% off your heating bill.
Can't turn it down lower than 18 - I think that's pretty low (it's lower than all of my friends) considering I've young children.
Stop running the CH on constant and switch it off at night-it's not necessary and is greatly increasing your consumption.
Won't the temperature get too low though in my children's bedrooms?
And won't the boiler have to work harder in the morning to bring the house temperature back up?

I have 3 young children, and even when they were babies I did not have the heating on all the time. It is a myth that running the heating all the time is cheaper than running it for just a few hours a day. At the moment, mine is on for 1 hour in the morning and 1 in the evening. If it starts to feel cool after the children have gone to bed we snuggle up inside a blanket.

My thermostat is also in the hall. The hall is the coldest room in my house because there is not a radiator in there and there is a draft from the front door. I have put a thick curtain up over the inside of the door to help with the draft. If I put the thermostat on 18 then the system never reaches 18 quite simply because the hall is never at that temperature. So I have it set to 15. When it says that the temperature is reached in the hall it feels warm enough in the other rooms to not to have to wear any cardigans or jumpers, so I know that it is higher in other rooms. I haven't checked to see what the temperature actually is in the other rooms. My kitchen is often too hot, but that's due to cooking. Yesterday I had the back door open when I was cooking as it was too hot!

We are considering having draft excluders put at the bottom of every door. Our old doors had them fitted (there are little brushes we bought from a DIY shop), but as we've replaced the doors they no longer have the excluders.

If it turns very cold and snowy, then I will put the heating on for longer. Most of the time we are in the living room and it seems daft heating the whole house when we are all in one room.

When my children were small there was a constant warning to keep children cool and not let them get too hot. Personally, I would put an extra blanket or two on the cot which can be removed easily if the baby gets too hot rather than heating the whole house up.

I don't think you should be focusing on what your friends are doing. What works for them is clearly not working for your house. There could be any number of factors. Plus, do they actually have their heating on continuously, even when they are not in?

HTH.