At my wits end over my gas consumption

Housework*Fairy

Very long, very sorry.

Another bill has come in from EDF and my direct debit has been increased again to £233 a month.

I have a bill for the last 12 months and it shows
Electric: 6313 kwh split
Gas: 33702 kwh split

I'm currently on EDF blue price promise 2014.
Electric: 12.33p per unit and standing charge of 18p per day
Gas: 3.805p per unit and standing charge of 25p per day.

On gas I have the central heating (including water) and a gas hob.

We are generally out of the house from 8.30am to 4.30pm but in most of the weekend.

I have my heating on constant at 16-18 degrees (will turn it up if it's cold or if we're warm, I turn it down). We did try and have it on timed in January after I got a shock bill but the house was permanently freezing and didn't seem to warm up before it went off. Also, the pilot light in the boiler would often go out meaning the heating wasn't on when we came home.

The hot water setting on the boiler is also on all the time.

The gas hob gets used for a couple of hours per week. Usually I cook on the microwave, electric oven or slow cooker. We do have lots of electrical appliances; LCD TV's, tumble dryer, phone chargers, x-boxes etc etc. I also bought a fan heater (2kwh) in the hope it would cut down on needing to have the heating turned up, but although it has made the electric use go up by 8kwh per day, it has made naff all difference to the gas I use.

However EDF tell me I am 'normal' use for electric but 'high' use for gas.

Having spoken to other mums at school I am not unusual in having the heating set to constant so I can't understand what I am doing to use such a large amount of gas.

In 12 months the gas charges have been £107 per month (before standing charge and VAT). Electric has been £66 (before standing charge and VAT).

My direct debits have gone from being £117 in 2012 (leaving me with a large debit balance) which was then put up to £171 in January 2013, and now after this bill has gone up to £233. I know this is to pay off the debt (which is now £650!!!). They say my average monthly usage is £179.

I live in a 3 bed semi (one room is a box, and we don't have radiator on in that room). There are 2 adults and 2 children. 6 working radiators in house. The loft has insulation and we have cavity wall insulation.

I feel the cold easy and have had my thyroid tested but it came back as normal.

I've been with EDF for about 5 years now so can't understand how they can keep getting the DD so wrong.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

JC_Derby

Personally id turn the heating off when your not in the house. (if you're fighting a losing battle keeping the temperature up - don't fight it). Why pay to heat the house for 40 hours a week when its not required?
Have it set to come on an hour before you get in and if required up the thermostat when you get in for an hour. If you feel the cold then im afraid to reduce your bill, you need to wear more layers.

DUTR

Housework*Fairy wrote: »

Very long, very sorry.

Another bill has come in from EDF and my direct debit has been increased again to £233 a month.

I have a bill for the last 12 months and it shows
Electric: 6313 kwh split
Gas: 33702 kwh split

I'm currently on EDF blue price promise 2014.
Electric: 12.33p per unit and standing charge of 18p per day
Gas: 3.805p per unit and standing charge of 25p per day.
snip

I've been with EDF for about 5 years now so can't understand how they can keep getting the DD so wrong.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Don't like the look of the standing charge rubbish, £5.40 per month for leccy and £7.50 for gas?
Have you plugged the consumption figures into a comparison site? As when I put my consumption figures in EDF doesn't feature on the 1st page or two.

Housework*Fairy

I've just put them into Uswitch and NPower shows cheaper by £137 a year (£11 a month) which is a drop in the ocean and unfortunately I am stuck with EDF as I don't have £650 to pay off the debit balance that has accrued since my January bill.

I shall just turn the thermostat down by a couple of more degrees and try cut down on electric consumption to try and compensate for the gas. I'd just like to know how many KWH of gas an average user would use.

*in January when we put it onto timed (5 hours per day) quite often we would come home and the pilot light was not lit, so we'd then have to re-start it thus the house hadn't warmed up.

admania

Hello There

I don't know what information you're putting in on uswitch but I can assure you there isn't a tariff out there which would cheaper for you to switch to than the Blue Promise April 2014 tariff that you are currently on.

Adam

katsu

So, step 1 get someone out to service the boiler and see if they can fix the pilot light problem?

Regardless of your heating issues, why on earth are you keeping your water hot all the time? I heat my water morning and evening using the timers.

Check the thermostat on your hot water tank and turn it down to 60 degrees C.

We are a couple heating our house all evening, water twice a day and a burst of CH in the AM. Our bills are around £50 a month for G&E.

Cardew

Housework*Fairy wrote: »

I'd just like to know how many KWH of gas an average user would use.

.

The 'official' average annual UK consumption is 16,500kWh gas and 3,300kWh electricity.

Your consumption is double the average which for 3 bed semi with cavity wall and loft insulation is really high. Using your figures that is £2,217 pa.

Your set temperature of 16 -18C is low, unless the thermostat is in a cold hall - when it is no indication of the temperatures in the living rooms. Not many people will sit around with the temperature at 16 - 18C.

Clearly you shouldn't have the heating on while you are out, or indeed in bed. A boiler working properly should bring the house back up to a reasonable temperature if it is timed to come on, say, 30 minutes before you get in from work or up in the morning.

Clearly EDF are not at fault, it is your high consumption.

On the subject of the boiler pilot light going out, this might well be a faulty thermocouple, which is a simple job to replace.

Housework*Fairy

admania wrote: »

Hello There

I don't know what information you're putting in on uswitch but I can assure you there isn't a tariff out there which would cheaper for you to switch to than the Blue Promise April 2014 tariff that you are currently on.

Adam

I've put the figures up there ^^ which I have taken from the last 12 months worth of bill. It's showing NPower will save £137 a year which is 'only' saving me £12 a month. As I said earlier even if it were saving me 50% I still don't have £650 to pay off EDF so that I can switch

Housework*Fairy

katsu wrote: »

So, step 1 get someone out to service the boiler and see if they can fix the pilot light problem?

Regardless of your heating issues, why on earth are you keeping your water hot all the time? I heat my water morning and evening using the timers.

Check the thermostat on your hot water tank and turn it down to 60 degrees C.

We are a couple heating our house all evening, water twice a day and a burst of CH in the AM. Our bills are around £50 a month for G&E.

Re the water - to be honest I don't know why we do that. I just have always had it set to all the time. Would this make a massive difference, do you think?

Housework*Fairy

Cardew wrote: »

The 'official' average annual UK consumption is 16,500kWh gas and 3,300kWh electricity.

Your consumption is double the average which for 3 bed semi with cavity wall and loft insulation is really high. Using your figures that is £2,217 pa.

Your set temperature of 16 -18C is low, unless the thermostat is in a cold hall - when it is no indication of the temperatures in the living rooms. Not many people will sit around with the temperature at 16 - 18C.

Clearly you shouldn't have the heating on while you are out, or indeed in bed. A boiler working properly should bring the house back up to a reasonable temperature if it is timed to come on, say, 30 minutes before you get in from work or up in the morning.

Clearly EDF are not at fault, it is your high consumption.

On the subject of the boiler pilot light going out, this might well be a faulty thermocouple, which is a simple job to replace.

Yep - the figures are right - all in front of me in black and white. And yep I know it's my high consumption and not EDF, that's why I am frustrated about my gas consumption. I just couldn't see a way to use it less without freezing to death.

admania

Just to clarify though you must be putting in the details incorrectly into uswitch, there is no current tariff from the 6 major companies that could come close to comparing with blue plus price promise april 2014. I put your consumption details in myself and it's showing npower is £109 per year more expensive.