Faulty boiler causing high gas bill. Who pays??

StuMan

So I've posted on here recently about a huge gas bill.
It's a long story.

But...
One of the original suggestions from edf was that it may have been a boiler fault.
If that is true and a fault in the boiler caused this, would I be liable for this or would it be the landlord?

Thanks

Stu

System

StuMan wrote: »

So I've posted on here recently about a huge gas bill.
It's a long story.

But...
One of the original suggestions from edf was that it may have been a boiler fault.
If that is true and a fault in the boiler caused this, would I be liable for this or would it be the landlord?

Thanks

Stu

The landlord is responsible for your boiler but I struggle to understand why any supplier could, or would, suggest that you might have a faulty boiler. Unless your heating has been on 24/7 - which I suspect you would have noticed - most boiler faults result in the boiler showing a fault code or failing all together. I doubt that your Landlord is going to pay you back for gas used.

molerat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5786631
Have you been taking daily / weekly reads ?

StuMan

but I struggle to understand why any supplier could, or would, suggest that you might have a faulty boiler.

After I filed my initial complaint about our bill. (35000kwh of gas in less than 8 months)
They ruled out a faulty meter and gas leak.... And said this.

The next logical step would then be to look at the age and efficiency of your appliances, is it possible an old boiler could have developed a fault? One way of checking this would be to take 2 readings approximately 2 hours apart to get a baseline reading, then put the heating on for 2 hours and read again. A normal functioning boiler will not use a great deal at this time of the year as the both the normal room temperature and the outside temperature will be similar if not higher than the thermostat setting for the heating so for example, if the temperature without heating is 20!!!730; and the heating is set to 22 !!!730;, the boiler will only need to make up 2 !!!730; whereas in the winter, if it’s 0 !!!730;, the boiler needs to make up 22 !!!730; to get the right temperature. A faulty boiler would most likely still use a lot of energy at this time of year however this could depend on the type of fault – a thermostat fault could prevent the boiler from ever reaching the temperature setting of the heating so rather than cutting out and firing up again when the temperature drops, it could continue to heat. A water leak within the boiler or heating system could also have a similar effect. Of course if you have a brand new boiler, this will not explain the spike.

CashStrapped

1) What are the dates and meter readings used to calculate that bill. Include the tariff rates.

2) Give us the name/make and model number of the boiler. We can check it's efficiency and that will give us an indication as to how much gas you can be expected to use.

3) Is there an indication in the property when the boiler was last serviced? The landlord should be getting it done every year.

4) What settings do you have for the boiler and or any other controls i.e thermostat etc

5) Is it a combi boiler? Or is there a hot water tank where the hot water is stored? If so, is this insulated with a jacket of foam?

StuMan

Cheers mole rat. I have now.
I'd like to keep this specific.

Ignore my other thread.

All I want to know now is....
Let's say its a broken boiler that's to blame for huge gas usage. Is the landlord liable or am I??

CashStrapped

If you go through the questions I asked, we can determine if there is an issue, or if you have an old but inefficient boiler.

System

StuMan wrote: »

Cheers mole rat. I have now.
I'd like to keep this specific.

Ignore my other thread.

All I want to know now is....
Let's say its a broken boiler that's to blame for huge gas usage. Is the landlord liable or am I??

You are responsible for the gas used by your boiler. There is no way that a Landlord can be held responsible unless you have reported that there is a problem and the Landlord has elected to do nothing about it. The Landlord is not under any legal obligation to have the boiler serviced each year; he is legally obliged to provide you with a Gas Safety Certificate. That said, most responsible landlords will have their boiler serviced annually.

The two most likely faults that could result in higher than normal usage are not related to the boiler. They are a failed thermostat or a stuck heating zone valve. In the case of a failed thermostat, the boiler would either not come on at all or stay on 24/7. In the case of a stuck zone valve, the heating would not shut off. I suspect that you would notice well before you received a bill from a supplier.

CashStrapped

What hengus says is correct.

If you just want the answer to your hypothetical question, that is not a problem.

But, quite often people come on here looking for a certain answer to a certain question only to realise, after a few questions, that the issue is not what they originally assumed it to be.

There could be a number of reasons for your high bill. A "faulty" or inefficient boiler is just one of them.

System

CashStrapped wrote: »

What hengus says is correct.

If you just want the answer to your hypothetical question, that is not a problem.

But, quite often people come on here looking for a certain answer to a certain question only to realise, after a few questions, that the issue is not what they originally assumed it to be.

There could be a number of reasons for your high bill. A "faulty" or inefficient boiler is just one of them.

To put this into context, the OP’s original post covered the period March to December 2016. Contributors to the forum came up with a lot helpful suggestions when the concern was first posted.

CashStrapped

Ahh, I appreciate that. I saw the link, but I thought it was in regard to a similar scenario with a different OP, rather than re-typing the questions.

There are still a number of scenarios I think the OP should explore.

First, establishing the age of the boiler. This would at least give some indication as to whether the usage is within the realms of the boilers indicated efficiency. If the thing is ancient, but well maintained, then the usage is at least possible.

Although comparisons are not often helpful, my boiler is around 40 years old, and super inefficient. But, even a colder winter produces annual use of around 29,000kwh. Only the coldest winters have tipped it over 30k. That is a 3 bed semi with single glazed leaded windows.

So in my mind there is something still amiss.

Secondly, they mention that it is a flat. Is it a conversion? Flats are notorious for incorrectly assigning meters, new builds and existing house to flat conversions alike. The OP could be paying for someone else's flat, or worse, if badly converted, someone else could be using their supply i.e two flats on one supply.

Does the mprn number on the bill match the meter?