It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Albermarle · 7 November 2022 at 3:33PM

michaels said:

Ibrahim5 said:

Newish really. More people, 6 large bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3 gas fireplaces, high ceilings. It's our gas usage that is high. Do a lot of cooking too. Wasn't really a problem when gas was 3p/kWh. Just a question of buying a newer boiler and replacing showers. Maybe worth doing now.

I think also people have very different ideas of what is a comfortable temperature. We like 21 degrees plus in the day and 15+ at night, there are people at home all day and every room is used regularly. There are 5 of us who like decent length showers twice a day.

(We are running the house cooler this year, it is saving lots of gas but imho it no longer feels warm and welcoming as you come through the front door)

Others I am sure would find that too hot and excessive bathing. We are all different and all have to pay for our choices.

As it is so mild for the time of year, it is not necessary to have the heating on very much, even if you are the 'warm house' type. So it is a bit difficult to tell if any energy saving measures taken are working or not.

Roger175 · 7 November 2022 at 3:56PM

michaels said:

Useful. I am kind of suspicious of how well the insulation in our 10 year old extension was done. Do you have any tips on how to check (as you say it is all hidden when finished)?

Traditional lofts are relatively easy to check and incidentally one of the easiest and most cost effective way to improved your house's insulation. Places to check are where the insulation meets the wall plate (ie right in the back of the slope). The insulation is often left short here, however be careful not to block cross-flow ventilation in older roofs where breathable felt has not been used. If you're topping up insulation, make sure the second layer is laid in the opposite direction to the first layer which really helps to prevent cold spots. Furthermore, quilt type insulations should not be compressed. A layer of 150mm insulation which gets compressed to 100mm only performed as good as a 100mm layer.
One quick tale - I recently visited a newish (8 year old) property to do a Party Wall Act survey. The owner had never been in the loft. When I went upstairs, I immediately noticed a very large dark area on the ceiling which clearly had mildew on the surface, this spanned over two bedrooms. Upon going into the loft, I found the whole area had no insulation over it, the plasterboard was completely bear - the insulation was actually there but had been thrown to one side by a plumber who had done some last minute alterations and failed to put it back. The ceiling was obviously so cold, that condensation had caused mildew, yet this poor owner had been living with that for 8 years. This was a large national housebuilder and had a Building Control completion certificate and an NHBC certificate.

MallyGirl · 7 November 2022 at 4:16PM

Albermarle said:

Ibrahim5 said:

We live in a larger house and although careful with energy use still use 30000kwh gas and 4000kwh electric. High energy prices make downsizing look more attractive. Just need to get rid of the younger generation who are happily resident here.

It is not just the size of the house, but its design/age. Your usage is pretty much double the poster above, who lives in a 5 bed detached.
So either you have a pretty large house, or it is an older one maybe, with high ceilings, solid walls, not fully double glazed, open fireplace etc ?

Yep - all those things here.
Despite turning off radiators in rooms we don't use and switching off every electrical device that is not in use we used 24,667kWh gas and 7,655kWh electric in the last 12 months. My office and the bathrooms have electric UFH which I suspect accounts for a lot of the electric.

westv · 7 November 2022 at 4:56PM

trevjl said:

When I was a kid we had a bath every Sunday night whether we needed it or not !!!!!!

Our "bath night" was Sunday and we all used the same water one after the other!

cobson · 7 November 2022 at 5:01PM

Roger175 said:

Upon going into the loft, I found the whole area had no insulation over it, the plasterboard was completely bear -

Sea_Shell said:

Won't anyone think of the polar bears!!

😉

I think Roger must have been thinking of the polar bears....

Albermarle · 7 November 2022 at 6:36PM

westv said:

trevjl said:

When I was a kid we had a bath every Sunday night whether we needed it or not !!!!!!

Our "bath night" was Sunday and we all used the same water one after the other!

I can just about remember the tin bath downstairs in front of the fire. Not sure often I went in it though. Often people would have a bath at the local swimming pool ( not in the pool

but in an attached building)

LHW99 · 7 November 2022 at 8:23PM

cobson said:

Roger175 said:

Upon going into the loft, I found the whole area had no insulation over it, the plasterboard was completely bear -

Sea_Shell said:

Won't anyone think of the polar bears!!

😉

I think Roger must have been thinking of the polar bears....

Do they like showers too?

Beddie · 8 November 2022 at 2:17PM

Silverbullet036 said:

All this chat got me wondering what our yearly usage was too. Looked it up for Nov 21 to Oct 22

Electric is 1597 kwh
Gas is 5717 kwh (boiler is 18 years old now)

I know my shower lasts a max of 2.5 minutes because I timed it many many years ago out of interest, and if anything its quicker these days. My wife takes a little longer but not much because the hot water makes her skin flaky.

If we want to turn on the heating we will turn the thermostat up to whenever it 'clicks on' (if its over 15 then its warm enough not to need it anyway) We have never seen the point of having the house at a certain temperature. Never in 35 years of marriage have we ever had heating on overnight.

My figures are broadly similar, new combi boiler last year which I think has saved quite a lot of gas compared to the old one.

Gas - estimated annual usage: 5566.37 kWh

Electricity - estimated annual usage: 1672.47 kWh

4 bed 90s detached with one occupant.