Is my annual useage High?

closed

But it restricts the flow of hot water through the radiator, so (potentially) more heat will be directed to rooms that need it more, much like a trv or lockshield balancing.

becksfaz

closed wrote: »

But it restricts the flow of hot water through the radiator, so (potentially) more heat will be directed to rooms that need it more, much like a trv or lockshield balancing.

A family friend who is an experienced plumber came round last winter when we were having 'problems'. He set all the openings on the rads and played around with a few of the lockshields on the rads that don't have TRVs and said 'that will balance the system'. I'm guessing that's what you mean.

jimjames

What is your gas usage over the summer? If you are only heating water then it should drop. You may should find you can drop the times the boiler is on without impacting the water temperature.

We have 2 adults, 2 kids in 5 bed house. Boiler is on for approx 1 hr morning and 1.5 hrs evening over summer which gives enough hot water for all showers and washing/up.

Monitor your monthly usage and you may find ways to cut your consumption. Have the heating on minimum hours and then boost it on cold days rather than having it on all day. Our gas is approx 4 units per month over the summer and annual gas kWh is 21000.

becksfaz

Our boiler is a combi so it doesn't need to be on for hot water.
Yeah I'm going to try the timer way this year to start with when the cold is still mild. I'm hoping it's lower this year as I'm much more aware of our consumption now.
You say 4 units - is that metric or imperial?
I take weekly readings. Our gas consumption for Aug was 22 units (metric) which is 247 kwh and that's just cooking, showering, kids bathing (couple of inch) and one bowl of washing up a day.

fightyfish

from what i've read you dont have a room thermostat? sorry if i missed it i did skim read a bit
If that's the case then TRV's alone won't really help - they basically tell the control the radiators based on the air temp of the room but you dont have anything to cut the boiler off when your rooms hit the required temp. i have a simular set up in a rented house so symathise. best heating sessions would be to to use a timer if you have one - recommended times we give at work are between 6-8 hours depending on needs. a cheap alternative to a room thermostat you could consider may be to get a themometer and keep it in your main room. between 18-21C should be okay for most people so you can then manually shut off your heating when it gets to this. shut doors in unused rooms and place the TRV's down to 1. maybe use your suppliers energy efficiency team if they offer free advice or the energysavingtrust.
apologise for any spelling issues - i have had wine at this point

aelitaman

Some boilers (maybe all) will shut the flames down when the return temp of the CH water hits a certain temp. The pump will keep running though.

becksfaz

When you say room thermostat do you mean main thermostat? We have a main thermostat which is located in the hall.
I'm definately going to try the timed method at the start of the winter/towards the end and see how I go in the middle.
I think this year I'm much more aware of things and will get a duvet if I'm on the sofa rather than flicking the stat up.
The other thing I'm going to try is the lower the stat temperature. Even during the summer when it's been 24 degrees outside, my hall has been 17-18 which tells me it's a cold place. Going to reduce the stat as I'm guessing last year the stat will have called for heat when actually my rooms were probably at an ok temperature.
You say turn TRVs down to 1? Why would I do this? Surely it will make my rooms colder and I don't want that.

Our boiler never just runs on the pump - asked the BG engineer last winter when we had our service. We can't even reduce the water temp on our boiler. It's automatic. It's a sh**tty old thing!!! And what the BG engineer referred to as 'a gas guzzler!!!!'

CH27

Turning the thermostat down by a degree will save you money & you will hardly notice the difference.
Have you got thick curtains at the the windows & doors to stop draughts?
Do you have carpet or wooden floors? Carpets are much warmer.

becksfaz

Curtains in all bedrooms but no thick curtains downstairs. Landlord has vertical blinds fitted in lounge window, patio window and playroom. Horizontal blind in Kitchen. We (Hubby and I) have spoke about curtains but it would be expensive to put up all the poles and purchase the curtsins as they are very big windows. If it was 'our' house, wouldn't hesitate, but it's rented.
It carpet everywhere except kitchen which is that click floor. I ALWAYS have slippers on so not troubled by the cold floor in there.

CH27

Are planning on staying there long term?
If so you need to try to work out if the initial spend on thick curtains etc will be clawed back by what you save on the gas bill over time.