Just moved...

djrenegade_2

Hi

I have just moved from a very warm, yet small, 2 bedroom townhouse where I very rarely had to use the GCH.

On saturday, I moved in to a much bigger 3 bedroom semi-detached house which was previously empty for a few months.

I have had to use the heating alot already, all day saturday and sunday whilst moving and now set on a timer for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening.

The new house uses one of those British Gas pay as you go gas meters and so far, we have used around £35 in gas, (thats 6 days)!!

Is that right?

We have contacted our previous supplier (Southern electric) to continue with them but it takes a few weeks for the gas supply to change over apparently so have to stay with British Gas in the mean time.

Why have we had to top this up so much so far?

good_advice

Yes, I think that would be about right.
I too live in a 3 bed semi, for the last 7 days I have used £18.33 worth of duel fuel. My CH is on for 3 hours a day. I am on a good cheep fixed tariff.

You said your Ch is on for 6 hours, you have a expensive pay meter. It also depends on area and tariff.
It also depends on how many radiators you have. I have 7 med to small.

I see the £35 is for just gas. What about electric?
Prehaps you need to turn down the heating a bit?

macman

Are you referring to a PPM? If so you need to obtain your own key/card for it, the existing one may have debt on it that is being taken off when you top up. You can check the debt applied when you scroll through the display menus.
You can't switch suppliers until you have registered with the existing suppliers first.
A PPM costs the same as the supplier's standard tariff.
If the house has been empty for months then it will take a few days for the whole structure to warm up.

ic

As above, if you're using somebody else's card, you could now be paying off their debt. https://customerservices.npower.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/116/~/how-can-i-check-how-much-debt-is-on-my-prepayment-meter%3F

djrenegade_2

To answer previous replies:

good advice - At a best guess, we have around 8 radiators in the house. I looked at the electric meter last night and we seem to have only used about 5-6 pound since Saturday which is great, although we are rarely there through the day so this is just from lights in the evening, TV & sky box in the evening, intermittent kettle and microwave use etc..

I have also turned down the dial on the GSH system (which I believe controls gas flow?) but left the temperature on the thermostat at around 20-25 degrees.

macman - Yes it is a PPM, and I spoke to british gas the day before I moved in to tell them that the new property has their meters and has a gas card/electric key alread in the meter, they assured me that there is no debt on these and advised me to continue to use these until I get sent my own from my new provider.

ic - See above, was assured that there was no previous debt and advised to continue to use card/key.

macman

Very poor advice from BG then...
There is a huge cost difference between 20C and 25C on your room 'stat, 25C could add 50% to your heating bill over 20C, and is far too hot. As a rule of thumb, each 1C increase can add 10% to consumption. Living rooms will be OK between 19C and 21C for most people.
The control on the boiler does not alter the gas flow, it alters the temp on the CH flow side.
Forget about your microwave and Sky box, what costs you is heating and hot water.

good_advice

I think having the CH on for 6 hours on high will be taking a good part of your bill. 18c -20c is quite high enough. We have had to learn to live with a cool house, you will adapt if you want to.

Is your new house insulated with cavity walls filled and loft?

I can give an example. My house has had the Ch on 7.10 am - 8.10 am this morning - so far. Windows and back door open part of the day. I like airing the house. The temp in here now is 21.0C
The Ch will come on again 6 - 8pm tonight.

Our radiators are 5 out of 7 controlled by number on each one. I put them on 3, then check every now and then that they are still on 3.

I should point out we do have a small coal/wood fire but it only gets lit every few days. Last time was Tuesday.

Wywth

djrenegade wrote: »

ic - See above, was assured that there was no previous debt and advised to continue to use card/key.

Who advised you this? :eek:

djrenegade_2

Wywth wrote: »

Who advised you this? :eek:

British Gas, though so did Souther Electric which is the provider we were previously with and switching back to, I have now received the electric key from Souther Electric but am just currently using up all credit on the current British Gas one before I top up my new Southern Electric one. However, was told the gas card would take a few weeks and to use the current BG one for now.

And as advised by macman and good advice, I will turn the thermostat down to between 18-20 degrees and will no doubt see the different on the gas meter.

I still dont fully understand the control on the boiler though, it is numbered 1-7 and macman says this controls the temperature on the CH flow side, what does this mean and what should this be on? I think its currently on 4 or 5.

Thanks.

macman

It controls the temp of the water entering the CH circuit. Not the gas flow.