how much gas is average??

HappyMJ

If you have the patience I would be testing the meter yourself. Make the house cold.....then turn the thermostat up to max get a stopwatch and see how much gas units are used in 6 minutes you will need to read all the red digits then multiply it by 10 to get the usage for an hour. Then multiply by 11.4kWh to get how many kWh are used in 1 hour. Then come back here and post the figure. You will also need to post the boiler model you have. The figure should be about the same as the boiler rating.

carolwat

she mentioned something about we probably have a 38kw boiler. I have no idea. I will try what you suggest though. I can do that now because it is bloody cold lol So I turn it up to the max degrees for 6 minutes and do meter readings before and after. Here I go down that awful cellar lol

HappyMJ

carolwat wrote: »

she mentioned something about we probably have a 38kw boiler. I have no idea. I will try what you suggest though. I can do that now because it is bloody cold lol So I turn it up to the max degrees for 6 minutes and do meter readings before and after. Here I go down that awful cellar lol

The 38kW is for hot water it will probably be 24kW for heat for the central heating. It's a lovely 17 degrees outside here so you may need to open up the windows so the boiler doesn't reach temperature too quickly.

macman

carolwat wrote: »

Yeah she said I would get the money refunded if the meter was faulty but its a risk isnt it. What if it isnt faulty and I am using that much.

I told her the thermostat was on the first floor and although it was set at 19.5 degrees during the day it didnt actually come on because its warmer upstairs. Told her im sitting downstairs cold but she said the thermostat takes the temperature from the whole house so it probably was coming on. I thought thermostats only took the temperature from where they were sited which is why you should be careful where you place them. How on earth can a thermostat one floor up know the temperature in the living room and if it was switching the heating on then I wouldnt be so bloody cold. She told me to have it switched to off during the day and that having it on from 14:55 to 10:30 at 20.5 was a long time to have it on. Felt like telling her where to go but I held my tongue whilst she asked for yet more money each month.

So ill turn it off completely during the day and monitor my daily usage and see if it drops from 17 units per day.

Thank you everyone.

But you are not using 17 units per day average-the 17 unit per day average is based on her analysis of the last billing period only. 1582 units/90 days = 17.
But that is your consumption over the coldest quarter-your average consumption when annualised (and based on approx 30,000kWh pa) should be far lower-more like 7 units a day.
And the higher rating of your boiler (how could she know?) means that it produces heat/hot water more quickly-that does not directly increase your consumption-it just means that the house comes up to temp more quickly.
Given the possibility of £1250+ pa gas bills, £90 is a gamble worth taking.

carolwat

HappyMJ wrote: »

If you have the patience I would be testing the meter yourself. Make the house cold.....then turn the thermostat up to max get a stopwatch and see how much gas units are used in 6 minutes you will need to read all the red digits then multiply it by 10 to get the usage for an hour. Then multiply by 11.4kWh to get how many kWh are used in 1 hour. Then come back here and post the figure. You will also need to post the boiler model you have. The figure should be about the same as the boiler rating.

OK ive tested the meter.

Start reading 9664 695
end reading 9664 868

difference = 173 x 10 = 1730 x 11.4 kwh = 19722

the boiler is a worcester and the only thing I can see on it Greenstar 37CDi Combo

Please tell me something is wrong, ive never wanted something to be wrong so much lol

macman

Well she was right about the boiler anyway-just wrong about everything else!
It's a combi, not combo.
Your usage is 0.173, not 173 (figures in red are decimals). So the hourly usage is 19.72kWh.

carolwat

It definitely says Combo on it. I thought that odd too

is that a normal hourly usage then please?

macman

Yes, seems about right, but it won't be running flat out for all that time-it modulates down.

carolwat

so its correct then, im using all that gas. wow think a move is definitely on the cards as its soooooooo much higher than anywhere else ive lived when ive had the heating on pretty much all day on other houses and not paid this much. Thank you all very much for your help.

carolwat

Can I just check m understanding please.

If im using 19.72 kwh per hour to run my heating and the unit cost is 3.552 after the first however many units are used at 8.165 is it costing me around 70p per hour to run the heating or have I got that totally wrong.