£65 Gas bill in less than 3 weeks in a cottage!

MerseyLad

I have recently moved into my first house.

It's a small, quaint, 2 bedroom cottage. It has 6 radiators in total and a gas fire and the hob on the cooker is gas. It is a 200 year old cottage with old style small windows (single glaze).

Admittedly, it's been freezing since we moved in and so the heating has been on each night. Most nights with the fire too.

British Gas have billed us from 4th Feb to 21st Feb at £65!!!

The meter reading was submitted by us when we moved in and BG took a reading themselves on the 21St.

We have used 126 units in 18 days.

From advice from various friends and family (along with one who is a gas engineer) we set Our boiler to be on pretty much constantly and control it via the thermostat. We initially tried setting it up to come on at various times in the day (but it either didn't work as i planned or the house was too cold). So now it's on from 5:30am until 11pm and when we go out or are in bed I turn the thermostat to 15 degrees. Of a night I have it on about 22/23.

I'm curious to know how you all do it? How do you keep a nice temperature (we initially were having to wear jumpers and slankets)

Thanks in advance.

ML

beecher2

I'm sure you wouldn't need jumpers (though isn't it normal to wear a jumper indoors?) if you put the thermostat down a couple of degrees which would save you some money.

MerseyLad

Helpful reply. :think:

Ive just done a metre reading to see where we are up to now.

Since the billing date of the 21st until now its £19.49. In 6 days!!!!

Florence_1

Try turning the heating off at night as once you are sleeping you will not notice it. It is also alot healthier not to have the heating on.

good_advice

Hiya, it sounds about right to me. Gas and electric is expensive and going up often.
If it helps - I paid £14 85 for gas and £12.45 electric = £27.30 for the last 9 days. 3 bed well insulated semi and we only have the CH on for about 5 hours per day.

Have you phoned your supplier to ask if you are on the cheapest tariff?

Nada666

£26 per week is hardly expensive for heating. Remember the heating bill is £0 per week when the heating is not on.

£112 is well below the national average (when extended to account for summer bills). As long as you are paying this without scrimping and receiving the benefits of warmth then you should not worry - with four walls exposed to the elements etc.

Of course, if you are still paying this in summer just for water or whatever then you can start panicking.

missindecisive

never have the heating on at night, you shouldnt need it on if you have thick enough duvets. turn thermostat down to 19/20 and wear a jumper on colder days. Get the boiler and fire serviced and checked.

Woody76

Hi

Sounds about right to me too. We are on prepayment meters so abit different but at this time of year we use about 20-25 pounds a week of gas and we have heating on for 2 hrs in am and 3 in pm in a well insulated 3 bedroom house. We have the fire on aswell if its really cold but this is a rough average.

Sorry but gas is expensive

Woody x

Nada666

Note that if the cottage is not well insulated then having the central thermostat at 22 or 23 is probably far too high and wasting money - you'd be better setting it as 17 or 18 and having the fire on - sit close to the fire when you want to snuggle down.

macman

You are quoting 'units'. but we don't know what sort of unit-is your meter imperial or metric? An imperial unit is about 2..83 times the size of a metric unit. Having the heatiing on all night at 22/23C will of course be hideously expensive at this time of year, as it will be firing most of the night when thermal loss is at it's greatest. Each 1C increase in the temp setting can put 10% on your heating bill.
I think, this being your first house, that you're simply not aware of the cost of domestic heating and energy. £3.24 a day for gas in the winter is not expensive. That's under £100 for the month in a property that is probably very poorly insulated, and has the heating up high almost 24/7. Remember that once spring comes, the heating will go off and your usage will plummet. A massive part of your annual gas usage will be in the coldest 2 months.

Dunroamin

Are you running your heating all night and in the day when you're at work? If you are, I'm surprised it's as low as it is.