High gas bill and house takes ages to heat up

macman

Make and model of timer/boiler would help. Are you talking about a built-in timer or an external programmer? If the latter, it's just a straight switch using the existing wiring.
If you can do simple electrical wiring, it's a quick DIY job. If not, you'll need an electrician/RGI.

VfM4meplse

ali-t wrote: »

I bought expensive heaters but then got 2 of the circa £20 ones from B&Q and they keep the place toasty.

Can you give us and idea how much they cost to run? (Your average daily usage, unit cost and bill over a given time)?

ali-t

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Can you give us and idea how much they cost to run? (Your average daily usage, unit cost and bill over a given time)?

I haven't a clue. They are 2kw heaters that don't make any noise. I think they may be called convector heaters and I figured they would be cheaper to run than heating the whole house. My rooms are huge and the upstairs living room is 80 square feet with open stairs going to a fairly open plan downstairs so a lot of open spaces to heat.

olly300

becciboop wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Can anyone tell me how I go about replacing the timer for the boiler as its broken? Sick of waking up in the freezing cold of a morning!

Where is your timer? Is it on the boiler or is it on a wall in your hall?

If it's on your boiler:
1. Find out the make and model of the boiler by looking on it.
2. See if there is manual for the boiler as it will tell you how to replace the timer and indicate whether you can do it. (If you can't find it google to see if you can find a manual.)
3. If it's not possible to do it get a plumber in and get them to do it for you.

Also did you work out the BTU of the radiators required to heat each room? I've lived in properties were the timer was broken briefly and this makes no difference if the BTU of the radiators is at the minimum or below the minimum to heat the property so it feels warm.

becciboop

olly300 wrote: »

Where is your timer? Is it on the boiler or is it on a wall in your hall?

If it's on your boiler:
1. Find out the make and model of the boiler by looking on it.
2. See if there is manual for the boiler as it will tell you how to replace the timer and indicate whether you can do it. (If you can't find it google to see if you can find a manual.)
3. If it's not possible to do it get a plumber in and get them to do it for you.

Also did you work out the BTU of the radiators required to heat each room? I've lived in properties were the timer was broken briefly and this makes no difference if the BTU of the radiators is at the minimum or below the minimum to heat the property so it feels warm.

The timer is next to the boiler on the wall and is a really old fashioned one. Its a floor standing mexico boiler, haven't worked out the BTU yet I don't know the size of the rooms, need to get a tape measure. Radiators seem fine for the size of the rooms though, just by looking at them.

Ectophile

ali-t wrote: »

I haven't a clue. They are 2kw heaters that don't make any noise. I think they may be called convector heaters and I figured they would be cheaper to run than heating the whole house. My rooms are huge and the upstairs living room is 80 square feet with open stairs going to a fairly open plan downstairs so a lot of open spaces to heat.

A 2KW heater uses 2 units of electricity an hour. A unit costs about 13p these days. So 26p per hour when turned on.

It may be less if the heater has a thermostat and is switching on and off.

macman

2kW electric heaters will only be cheaper because they'll produce far less heat. Per kWh, they'll be about 3 times more than gas.

daro2096

becciboop wrote: »

We actually dont have it on of a morning, the timer is broken. So we turn it on about 6pm and then off at 10pm. Of a weekend it is on more as we are in the house more, say 2 hours in the morning and then 4 hours in the evening. I will have a look at the BTU calculators.

Try leaving your boiler on and control your heating from the thermostat.