My gas is £10 per day! What can I do?

DavidA

macman wrote: »

Next, get the loft insulation sorted out to 300mm. It's a half-day job, and will cost nothing like £500. The sheds regularly do offers on loft insulation.

Who/what are the sheds?

I think earlier in this thread it was established that the tank had appropriate insulation.

ianto11

50Twuncle wrote: »

Just how many of you - turn your heating on in October and off in April - relying on room thermostats to switch the pump on and off ?
No wonder you are using £300 of energy every month
Try manually switching ON the heating when it gets cold (say 16 degrees c) and OFF (by default) the rest of the time - that way, you may get closer to my bills of £30 per month (dual fuel)
Our house is a well insulated, double glazed, 3 bed semi that is warm all year round

So if you turn it on @16...what temp do you allow it to get to before you turn it off ??
Why don't you just set the stat at the temp you're comfortable with, and "by default" heating will be off if temp is greater

DaveTheRave100

Have you thought about switching to a tariff with a higher standing charge? Usually high standing charge = low unit rate and vice versa.

Think of your standing charge like the line rental on your phone bill, and you unit rate like paying for minutes.

Might help, might not. At any rate, you should definitely shop around and do a switch if you haven't already!

merchcon55

Sheds = B+Q, Wickes, Homebase, Screwfix, etc... The big DIY places. Also the builders merchants like Travis Perkins.

You need to take some measurements of how large your loft is - does not have to be centimeter perfect. Rough idea of how many square metres you have, so you know how much insulation to buy.

Don't forget to insulate the underside of the hatch - put the insulation in plastic first and seal it shut. This way when you open the hatch you don't get bits of insulation getting into your eyes.

I got a handyman to do it for me - i helped him carry all the materials up - but let him get on with it. Did not cost me much and I would rather someone do it as I don't like breathing in the dust, etc...

If I judge by my home, one of the biggest areas that is making your house cold will be the floors. Of course putting down carpet or flooring (laminate for example) would greatly cut down your drafts - but this comes at an expense.

Take the time to slowly seal all the skirting boards to the floorboards - then inspect each floorboard simply by putting your hand where they meet - you will easily feel drafts - do the best you can to seal these cracks and gaps.

Old windows are a problem. As a temporary solution - say on the bottom half, just get some big pillows and place them as tight as you can against the window - at least at night if you don't want to block out daylight. It may not look pretty, but it will help.

As mentioned the "snakes" to cut down drafts on all doors (internal as well as external) are a cheap and quick solution. For your external doors - and I am not sure if this is the correct term - you may need a joiner to "square the door". This can help with drafts - but sometimes, they can wind up fixing one issue, but cause another issue - it's a tricky one.

DavidA

merchcon55 wrote: »

Sheds = B+Q, Wickes, Homebase, Screwfix, etc... The big DIY places. Also the builders merchants like Travis Perkins.

Thanks for the detail. This is really helpful. Although with enough time and energy i could get this done myself I'd prefer to get an expert in and address the points you mention. I think I'm going to point them to your list as a place to start!

DaveTheRave100

macman wrote: »

LCD failure is a known and common fault on the CM927. Contact Honeywell and ask nicely, they may supply a replacement FOC. Nothing to lose.
Next, get the loft insulation sorted out to 300mm. It's a half-day job, and will cost nothing like £500. The sheds regularly do offers on loft insulation.
Ditto insulate the hot tank. £10 and will take 5 minutes.

Are they still doing free loft insulation? I seem to remember a load of companies offering to do your loft & cavity walls for free a few years ago. Something to do with government funding?

MeterMan

I can see from the image that you boiler is on in the picture. Is your hot water set to constantly on? Set it to timed. An hour in the morning and an hour in the evening.