Phoenix gas usage, smart meters etc.

S1oane

Sorry, for so many posts Folks but I've just moved house and juggling so many things, which I would be grateful for your advice on please.



Has anyone any experience of Phoenix (airtricity) gas?



In the month I have been in the property, the bills seem very high - even in comparison to oil in my old house.



What is considered average usage/cost for a three-bedroom semidetached home?


Silly question but is it as warm as Oil ie do the radiators heat up as hot (I've had them bled and the heating serviced since I moved in).



Anyone had a smart meter fitted to a gas household - I find the Phoenix (Airtricitygas) panel not very customer friendly quoting m3 of gas rather than anything meaningful.



Thanks :-)

jenny-wren

We got gas installed mid-January 2017. 3 bed poorly insulated semi (house is a work in progress!). We have an electric shower so the gas is used for heating the radiators (brand new) and providing hot water to the bathroom sink and to do dishes (a dishwasher is on the list for Santa!)

We have a Wave thermostat and can keep track of our gas usage in kW (you can put a price per kW into the App but Airtricity have two tier pricing so that function is essentially useless). We've used just under 9,900kW so far which Is more than I expected. However, we could easily have got through 100 litres of oil in a week when the weather was really cold.

I'm expecting our bills to drop significantly when the floors are properly insulated.

Hope this helps.

S1oane

Thanks Jenny that very useful and much appreciated.


I suspect my old radiators are the weak link, plus draughts from the chimney.


Really interested to hear other users comments about their monthly gas costs please.

tara747

I have Phoenix Gas for heating, cooking, hot water inc shower. I find it waaaay cheaper than oil.

Ticked

Sloane, 1 cubic metre of gas is 11 Kilowatt hours, or kWh. A kWh is a power use of 1000watts for one hour. Or, 1 watt of power for 1000 hours. Or, any combination in between, i.e. 500 watts for 2 hours. A kWh of electricity is approx 15p, a kWh of gas is approx 5p.
Your radiators are heated by water, doesn’t matter if the water is heated by gas, oil, electric or hamsters on a treadmill, it can’t go above 100C unless in a pressurised system. Shouldn’t ever need to be near boiling point, our oil boiler is set at 65C and it’s plenty hot enough. Go hotter, and there’s a good chance of someone being scalded by the water from the hot tap. Also, going hotter is unnecessarily wasteful of fuel.
Price of oil versus gas? Debatable, our annual oil bill is less than our sons gas bill, but that proves nothing, different properties and different use patterns. With an oil bill of around £500 per year, I’m in no rush to spend 2 or 3 grand to convert to gas, I’d never get a return on it. Well insulated house, well lagged pipes, thermostatic radiator valves, properly serviced boiler and sensible use keeps bills as low as possible.

ballyblack

I’m in no rush to spend 2 or 3 grand to convert to gas

I am in the same situation and any problems with my oil boiler I can fix myself,
( simple technology)

AS regards Gas boilers they are a expensive to replace and need maintained by a qualified engineer

Oil for me!

.

glentoran99

2 adults and 2 kids, 3 bedroom semi, I'm using £20 a wee at the minute and heat is pretty much on constantly

S1oane

Thanks all. Very useful and much appreciated. Happy Xmas 🎁🎅