steep gas bill, minimal heating use

wasted_legend

Hi there

We've recently moved to a new build 3 bed townhouse

Just received our first combined gas and electricity bill.
Seems a little on the steep side though the meter readings presented are correct.

According to our digital smart meter display gadget, if we have the heating on to a moderate 16-17 degrees for an hour costs around £1 per hour. Typically we'd have heating on to 16-17 for an hour in the nursing and few hours in the evening. It's seems like that's going to cost us something like £4-5 per day. Does this seem right?

I'd perhaps thought that being a new build it would be more efficient therefore not so pricey to have heating on gently. We're on e-on standard tariff at the moment. Very likely to be switching very soon. Thanks

Robin9

What are the actual meter readings and for how many days?

Robwiz

How much gas you use depends on how cold the house and circulating water are when the timer turns the system on. It has to heat the water up to the set temperature, so will burn at full power until it does. If you have a 15 kW boiler, that's going to be around 60p for the first hour each time it's switched on – if your boiler is more powerful then you will use even more.

Do you have thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)? Are they set appropriately for all rooms? If you have a lower setting in bedrooms and any rooms you don't occupy then it will reduce your gas consumption.

wasted_legend

The radiators are down in all the rooms less frequently used
meter went from 56 to 696 from early October till last week
thanks for the replies

CashStrapped

If we assume a period from the 6th of October to the 6th of January (which is 93 days), using your meter readings we can estimate you have used around 640 units of gas (696-56).

So we divide 640 units by the number of days 93 which works out at 6.88 units per day on average for that period. This is not out of the ordinary from in my view. This depends on a huge number of variables, insulation, thermostat temperature, draughts, windows etc.

So taking that figure of 6.88 units (on average) per day (assuming you have a metric m3 meter) this works out as 77kwh per day. Using a gas cost/rate of around 3.5p per kwh this works out at around £2.70 per day.

So for the 93 days your usage cost would/should have been around £250 based on all the assumptions above. That is the Gas bill only.

The big assumption is that your meter is a m3 and not ft3 as that can change the calculations a lot.

Anyway, that is a rough guide, hope it helps.

Cardew

CashStrapped wrote: »

If we assume a period from the 6th of October to the 6th of January (which is 93 days), using your meter readings we can estimate you have used around 640 units of gas (696-56).

So we divide 640 units by the number of days 93 which works out at 6.88 units per day on average for that period. This is not out of the ordinary from in my view. This depends on a huge number of variables, insulation, thermostat temperature, draughts, windows etc.

So taking that figure of 6.88 units (on average) per day (assuming you have a metric m3 meter) this works out as 77kwh per day. Using a gas cost/rate of around 3.5p per kwh this works out at around £2.70 per day.

So for the 93 days your usage cost would/should have been around £250 based on all the assumptions above. That is the Gas bill only.

The big assumption is that your meter is a m3 and not ft3 as that can change the calculations a lot.

Anyway, that is a rough guide, hope it helps.

Agree with your calculations, however as it is new build property it will be a metric(m3) meter.


Whilst gas @ 3.5p/kWh is obtainable, he is on Eon Standard tariff paying quite a bit more. 4.358/kWh in my area(Midlands) and 14.186p/kWh electricity.


There is also the daily standing charge(DSC) for both gas and electricity to be considered. 31.50p gas and 26.02p electricity


He could save a lot by switching tariff.

wasted_legend

I certainly will be switching. Combined bill of £410 but managed to get that down to £374 after contesting electric readings. Gas bill makes up £311 on its own. They told me a monthly direct debit I'd be looking at around £150 pm. I paid less than that with 3 not energy conscious student types before in an old house with rubbish heating. Certainly shall be doing some homework.... Thanks for all replies

saveallmymoney

That usage is not to far off my 4 bed 1970's detached, a new build townhouse should be way better than that, something seems odd.

matelodave

It's always easier to find out what is using all the energy and when it's being used if you read your meter regularly. It's too late when the bill comes in because you've already used it.

Try reading your meter daily for a few weeks and checking what might be using it. What sort of boiler have you got system with a tank or a combi.

Don't forget long hot showers can use a lot of water and a combi is usually flogging it's heart out whilst the water is being heated. so the boiler is going full bore for the whole duration of your shower.

Don't rinse stuff in hot water, use cold water for rinsing & washing your hands, short draw-offs reduce the efficiency of a combi especially if there's a long pipe run between it and the tap.

I've been trying to teach my wife that pulling through two or three gallons just to get a pint of hot water not only wastes water but leaves two or three gallons of hot water sitting in the pipework to get cold.

zeupater

Hi All

A major element has been overlooked so far .... It's a new house where only 56units of gas had been registered on the meter before early October. That really leaves the question as to when the property was completed ... chances are that a considerable amount of the gas consumed between October & last week has simply been consumed in evaporating water from the structure ....

Looking at quarterly usage would provide little useful information in the short-term, therefore I'd suggest taking gas meter reading at least weekly for a while and see whether the situation has changed - don't forget to compensate for variations in outside temperatures as it's likely to be colder at the moment than the average Oct-Jan ...

HTH
Z

wasted_legend

The property was completed the week we moved in. The sales reps took the readings. And we signed for them. They took the readings the after our first weekend in,. I didn't think to double check or question the readings myself at the time. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on it all. My indoor digital display gives us an idea of costings per day and certainly a colder night means It's harder work for the boiler. It's a huuuuge combi cylinder if that helps. Thanks for all the help and replies