Help with Gas Consumption

Matts_Mum

It's like this, i moved into a flat on 1st December. It's a 2 bed flat built over 4 garages, so it is totally detached. It has a little loft insulation but not much, and no cavity wall insulation.

There is a combi boiler to service 8 radiators. The heating is on for no more than 5 hours a day. I have one shower a day (not a power shower) and do the washing up about 5 times a week. There is just me in the house. The thermostat is in the inner hall, the warmest room in the house & is set to 20 degrees Celcius.

According to my meter I have consumed £810 worth of gas since 1st December. It's been very cold in the flat, sometimes not even reaching 55 degrees F. I'm petrified of turning the heating up & sit on the sofa with a hot water bottle & a duvet, or else turn the heating off & go to bed.

I'm with Scottish Power on their quarterly cash package and each KWh costs 3.909p

Is my consumption 'normal' for this type of property?

HappyMJ

Well you haven't said how many kWh £810 represents but for 4 and a half months £810 doesn't seem too bad. By my very rough calculation it's about 140kWh per day. Over 5 hours...assuming an hour or two in the morning and 3 to 4 in the evening that'll mean the heating will be on for almost the entire period bringing the house up to temperature. I'd say it's OK. Expensive tariff but reasonable usage.

Things that you can do to bring the usage down is to turn off many of the 8 radiators. There is as you say only you in the house. Try heating just the room you are in and maybe the bathroom as well. You don't need to have heating in the second bedroom and you don't need to be heating the kitchen or the hall way. You can also consider turning the thermostat down to 18 degrees. If it's cold when you get in from work then time it to come on a little earlier so the house is warm when you get in. You could also skip the morning heating period altogether. It'll be chilly but you should really busy yourself getting ready for work...you'll warm up quick enough.

notbritishgas

When you moved in on 1 Dec did you take the meter reading? I hope so!
What are the readings you are using to work out the £810 cost.

macman

Tell us your actual kWh usage in this period, and what tariff? ££'s billed tell us nothing about your actual usage. Do you have a metric or imperial meter, and are you being billed on the correct one?

MillicentBystander

HappyMJ wrote: »

Well you haven't said how many kWh £810 represents but for 4 and a half months £810 doesn't seem too bad. By my very rough calculation it's about 140kWh per day. Over 5 hours...assuming an hour or two in the morning and 3 to 4 in the evening that'll mean the heating will be on for almost the entire period bringing the house up to temperature. I'd say it's OK. Expensive tariff but reasonable usage.

Things that you can do to bring the usage down is to turn off many of the 8 radiators. There is as you say only you in the house. Try heating just the room you are in and maybe the bathroom as well. You don't need to have heating in the second bedroom and you don't need to be heating the kitchen or the hall way. You can also consider turning the thermostat down to 18 degrees. If it's cold when you get in from work then time it to come on a little earlier so the house is warm when you get in. You could also skip the morning heating period altogether. It'll be chilly but you should really busy yourself getting ready for work...you'll warm up quick enough.

:eek: Crikey, I live in a large 4 bed (extended) semi and our annual gas bill isn't anywhere near that amount! Yes, the OP has just gone through 4.5 of the coldest months of the year but £810? Living alone in a 2 bed flat? Nah, it's ludicrously high imo. Maybe talk to the landlord (if it is rented, of course) about cavity wall insulation? Underfloor insulation given there are (i suspect unheated) garages underneath and the loft really needs to be uprated on the insulation front. But the first thing to do is look at getting on a cheaper tariff.

PS I would agree with all the suggestions you have made in your post. 8 radiators on all the time in a single occupancy dwelling is asking for trouble, especially in such cold weather.

Ecodave

Good advice from MilicentBystander. A lesson to learn in relation to choosing where to rent/buy, think of how heat can leak out the property. A flat such as yours over an unheated space (probably) with no cavity wall insulation and little loft insulation, would have to be very cheap for me to live there.

Unless you are in love with the place, I would consider moving.

HappyMJ

MillicentBystander wrote: »

:eek: Crikey, I live in a large 4 bed (extended) semi and our annual gas bill isn't anywhere near that amount! Yes, the OP has just gone through 4.5 of the coldest months of the year but £810? Living alone in a 2 bed flat? Nah, it's ludicrously high imo. Maybe talk to the landlord (if it is rented, of course) about cavity wall insulation? Underfloor insulation given there are (i suspect unheated) garages underneath and the loft really needs to be uprated on the insulation front. But the first thing to do is look at getting on a cheaper tariff.

PS I would agree with all the suggestions you have made in your post. 8 radiators on all the time in a single occupancy dwelling is asking for trouble, especially in such cold weather.

It's only £40 a week. I know plenty of households topping up prepayment meters more than £40 a week. As prepayment tariffs are exactly the same as the standard tariff as the OP is on it's a fair comparison. It uses the same amount of gas having one person in a house with 8 radiators as it does having 6 people in a house with 8 radiators.

So what should the bill be?

MillicentBystander

HappyMJ wrote: »

It's only £40 a week. I know plenty of households topping up prepayment meters more than £40 a week. As prepayment tariffs are exactly the same as the standard tariff as the OP is on it's a fair comparison. It uses the same amount of gas having one person in a house with 8 radiators as it does having 6 people in a house with 8 radiators.

So what should the bill be?

But that's crazy for a 2 bed flat with with one occupier! We have 12 radiators and a 20+ years old boiler and paid less than £500 in 2012 on EDF's Fixed tariff with at least one family member in the house at any time so, yes, it's ludicrous consumption even allowing for the higher tariff prices on the SP deal the OP is on. But maybe we are talking at cross purposes here - we both agree that the OP is wasting gas by having all 8 radiators on so that's what I am getting at? I don't think the OP is suggesting there is anything wrong with the meter?

Matts_Mum

Thanks guys. I am not in love with the place, and I'm looking for somewhere else.

The meter reading I took when I moved in was 8013 & the one last night was 8673. I have worked that out to be 20745.66 KWh.

The landlord won't do anything about the insulation, but it's a conditionm of my tennancy that I provide a receipt for all utilities before I get my deposit back.

I am being billed as if I have an imperial digital meter. I will double check this when I get home.

MillicentBystander

Matts_Mum wrote: »

Thanks guys. I am not in love with the place, and I'm looking for somewhere else.

The meter reading I took when I moved in was 8013 & the one last night was 8673. I have worked that out to be 20745.66 KWh.

The landlord won't do anything about the insulation, but it's a conditionm of my tennancy that I provide a receipt for all utilities before I get my deposit back.

I am being billed as if I have an imperial digital meter. I will double check this when I get home.

:eek::eek: We used approx half that in the whole of 2012 in a 4 bed, 10 room semi. I think you need to look elsewhere.

HappyMJ

Matts_Mum wrote: »

Thanks guys. I am not in love with the place, and I'm looking for somewhere else.

The meter reading I took when I moved in was 8013 & the one last night was 8673. I have worked that out to be 20745.66 KWh.

The landlord won't do anything about the insulation, but it's a conditionm of my tennancy that I provide a receipt for all utilities before I get my deposit back.

I am being billed as if I have an imperial digital meter. I will double check this when I get home.

That condition is unenforceable. The contract is between you and the utility provider. If you don't pay the bill they come running after you...not the landlord. If your deposit is lodged with the TDS which it should be they will release it to you even if you don't have receipts.