High gas bill - could my boiler be faulty?

Liamail

I'm recently moved house and my energy bills are much higher than I thought they would be. (and much higher than the estimated average amount suggested by the utility company).

I was wondering whether this sounds like there is something wrong with my boiler or I have just under-estimated usage.

I'm with First Utility - my usage in December and January for Gas alone was round about the 5000 KwH mark. (costing me about £170 per month). This is in addition to my electricity which is about the £60 per month mark. Back in September, before I put the central heating on, I was at about 1600 KWH per month. (£60)

We have 9 radiators throughout the house which are on for about 6 hours a day. There's 3 of us living here.

My boiler is quite old (12 years, Wosceter i28) but I figured if I ask a tradesman for advice they may recommend I replace the boiler so they can get the business.

Does this sound normal for a house this size or could it be my boiler isn't working properly?

CashStrapped

As with all these posts about "high usage", we need actual meter readings to be able to help.

So, please supply all your recorded meter readings over the last few months and the dates they were taken. Ignore any estimated readings.

It is entirely possible you have used that much. It is high usage, but there are many variable involved.

Twelve years is not that old for a boiler. My boiler is 35 years old and still chugs away perfectly. Although modern boilers will never last that long.

Anyway, back to my first point....meter readings and dates please!

Cardew

my usage in December and January for Gas alone was round about the 5000 KwH mark.

I take it that is 5,000kWh a month -10,000 for the two months?

Gas consumption depends on many factors:

Size of property.
Insulation standards
amount of hot water used e.g. baths/showers
Temperature of rooms.
Cooking with gas.

Frankly 1,600kWh a month without heating on is very high.

One thing to check is if your gas meter is Imperial(measures cubic feet f3) or metric(measures cubic metres m3) It is not unknown for metric meter units to be charged as Imperial meter units and thus be charged 2.83 times too much.

A metric gas unit is approx. 11.2 kWh. An Imperial gas unit is approx. 31.7kWh. So check your meter and bill.

jayson043

Sounds about right. Gas consumption in the winter is 3-4 times greater than the summer. No doubt a new boiler would be more efficient and also reducing your hours of heating.

Nada666

2,500 kWh for heating is not excessive. But only using an extra 900 kWh for heating is pretty strange - that's only one hour of a boiler going full blast - you aren't going to get six hours and nine radiators for 30 kWh a day.

You have to start reading your meter from day to day and week to week to see what you are using - your earlier readings must have included some sort of catch-up.

JamesMcKimm

yes, old boiler can increase your bills a lot. Lack of controls as well.
If you have new efficient condensing boiler , good room stat, programer, zone controls, thermostatic valves on your rads - all of that can reduce your bill dramatically. Try to seek advice from some local plumber

CashStrapped

Old boilers can result in higher bills but that model has a SAP efficiency of around 79-80%.

The savings based on replacing it with a modern boiler with 90% efficiency would not be cost effective. It could take 10+ years to recoup savings.

System

CashStrapped wrote: »

It could take 10+ years to recoup savings.

And then you might have to replace the boiler again. If your boiler works and there are spare parts available then replacing your boiler is the last thing that you should consider doing. My Ideal Classic boiler is 15 years old and my heating engineer reckons its good for a number of years yet.

macman

When was you boiler last serviced?
As above, you can expect a ten year period to recoup the outlay.

oramgepekoe

Liamail wrote: »

Back in September, before I put the central heating on, I was at about 1600 KWH per month. (£60)

This seems very high for a summer month. Are you heating water by gas and for how long each day?

What else is gas - cooking, gas fire?

Cardew

Nada666 wrote: »

2,500 kWh for heating is not excessive.

Whilst it is not clear, I think the OP means 5,000kWh a month. I did ask the OP for confirmation in post#3

I'm with First Utility - my usage in December and January for Gas alone was round about the 5000 KwH mark. (costing me about £170 per month).

£170 a month would be about what you would expect to pay for 5,000kWh - 1,600kWh costs the OP approx. £60