Boiler running costs

laurieshrimp

Hi
JUst wondered if there was any quick way to work out how much my boiler is costing me an hour to run.Really just need to know how many units its using as I can cost it from my bills.
I could be sad and record the meter reading then re read it again after an hour if the candle light lasts that long
thks
sad when you get down to this level but the xxxx cost of gas is terrible whichever rob dog we dont make any money sir supplier

jbainbridge

I'd probably take start / finish readings over a 24hr period and see what it costs per day. Of course you might have to avoid using gas hobs / fires.

Or if you have the boiler on all day record start and finish readings then you can get an average for the number of hours it was on.

The cost will of course vary according the weather and what you set the thermostat too (you do have one don't you?) ... ours is on all day today but the boiler is only firing up briefly as it is very mild outside.

[Deleted User]

laurieshrimp wrote: »

Hi
JUst wondered if there was any quick way to work out how much my boiler is costing me an hour to run.Really just need to know how many units its using as I can cost it from my bills.
I could be sad and record the meter reading then re read it again after an hour if the candle light lasts that long
thks
sad when you get down to this level but the xxxx cost of gas is terrible whichever rob dog we dont make any money sir supplier

Just make sure you are on the cheapest possible tariff and supplier, dont be on "standard " or prepay rates, eg First Utilitys gas kwhr rates are 3.7p /kwhr ( BG are over 5 p kwhr for standard tariff )

laurieshrimp

thanks for this I will give it a go.We do have a thermostat although I try and set at 10C and put a padlock cover over it !!!!
Old skiing pants are great but get a bit sweaty. Still 2 much information there
thks again

laurieshrimp

Hi
I set the boiler to run full blast for an hour.It used 0.41 of a unit on the meter I tired working out the cost excluding standing charge just to get an idea of the sort of cost.I could then tell the family and hopefully we'd buy some more candles and put on another jumper.I tired following the logic in the bill as below but ended up with silly numbers.Anyone help thanks
Estimated Meter reading: 07-12-2013 2608
Units used 21
Calorific value 38.9
Kilowatt-hours used 657
Pence per kilowatt-hour 3.987
Estimated Meter reading: 07-12-2013 2608
Customer's Meter reading: 31-12-2013 2678
Units used 70
Calorific value 39.1
Kilowatt-hours used 2200
Pence per kilowatt-hour 4.268
Total cost of gas used (excluding VAT) £120.09
Standing charge from 01-12-2013 to 07-12-2013 £1.04
Standing charge from 08-12-2013 to 31-12-2013 £4.12

molerat

0.41 units on an imperial meter is around 13 kWh x 4.268p = 55p + vat = 58p. Heating the house from cold uses a lot of gas as it is going flat out to bring the temperature up.

Please check your meter to see if it is metric or imperial. The energy companies often have this incorrect in their system, being charged for an imperial will cost you almost 3 times what it should. The meter will have cu ft or cu m / m3 on the front. You are being charged for imperial.

matelodave

What else do you use gas for?. The boiler wont (or shouldn') run full blast all the time, the thermostats will regulate the temperature and so it's probably only turned on for between 4-8hrs in a day depending on your heating & hot water needs and timer settings. The boiler itself should only be burning for 25-50% of that time depending on how cold it is, your thermostat settings and how much hot water you use
.
Try reading the meter daily for a week or so and you'll get an idea of what it's average daily consumption is, divide that by the length of time it's one (how many hours a day does the timer switch it on) and you'll get an idea of it's average hourly consumption.


I'd doubt that cooking (if you use a gas cooker) will make a lot of difference unless you are into daily roasts with all the trimmings - if so take a kwh or two off your daily consumption

laurieshrimp

Thanks for all the help given by others. Really great. So it appears the boiler costs about 60p an hour to run. The only other thing we have on gas is a gas fire in the living room.
We tend to have the heating on from 5.30 to 7.30 in the morning and 3.15 to 8.15 in the evening. After 8.15 we just use the fire in the living room, rest of the house warm enough.
Weekends heating on most of the day if cold set at 15c
We also have solar thermal for hot water not sure how effective that is.
Sadly the meter is imperial had hopes of a big pay out but not to be
Once again thanks to all
shrimpie

penrhyn

Gas fires, especially open front ones can be very inefficient and it might be more economic to run the heating a little longer.

Have you insulated the loft, lagged the hot water tank and excluded drafts?

Norman_Castle

I set the boiler to run full blast for an hour.

Hourly costs for the boiler will change depending on heat needed in your home. The first hour will use much more than the following hours.