Smart meter gas looks way high

Graememac84

My smart meter with EDF says we are using 109kwh a day in Gas which seems really high.

Also we seem to be paying £284 a month to EDF.

Our boiler is old and needs replaced but it works well. The controller only allows two time window activations a day but it’s not on for long. Two hours for filling the hot water tank in the morning and two in the late afternoon. Heating is 2.5 hours in the morning and 3.5 hours in the afternoon.

Seems ridiculously high, can anyone offer advice?

RelievedSheff

Why are you heating your water for four hours a day?

An hour once a day should be ample!

Graememac84

Just thought that the radiators would cool down too much. It’s an old house

Graememac84

Sorry I read that wrong. The hot water tank I was told would take two hours to fill

Neil_Jones

First of all never mind what the smart meter inhouse display says and second of all never mind what you're paying to EDF direct debit wise.

You need to look at your meter, your tariff and how much gas you are using across a year. If you're paying £284 a month to EDF that suggests either you are either playing catch up with your utilities or you are on some ridiculously overpriced tariff.

Is this a combi boiler you have or is it an older "tank of cold water in the attic" type of boiler arrangement?

RelievedSheff

Heating the radiators and heating the water tank are two separate entities.

Do you have copies of your meter readings that you can supply so that people can check your usage for you?

Having lived in a big old draughty house previously I would say that we probably used more than 110kwh of gas at this time of year. Our winter gas bill for that house is pretty much the same as our annual gas and electric bill in our current house!

Graememac84

Neil thanks for the reply, yes we are on a high rate which assumes we will use 28000kwh a year. From the looks at our bill we have a lot in credit but we are expecting a hefty winter bill.

It’s a heat only boiler with a large hot water tank in the attic. Boiler is old but runs well.

Graememac84

So trying to find the meter reading on the gas meter and nothing is displayed. The only reading can be seen from the smart meter which is 3343.744 m3

Gerry1

You should be able to find instructions online if you search for the meter's manufacturer and model. You'll have to press a few buttons.... unless the battery is going flat !

Make sure your bill shows cubic metres; if it's wrongly classified as being an imperial meter it will be nearly three times as expensive. But 109kWh per day at this time of year and 28,000kWh/year isn't necessarily outrageous, especially with an old house and an old boiler. It's the DD that needs investigation.

Talldave

You give no indication of house size or age, so no comparison is possible.

Is the DD for gas and electric or just gas? What is your gas unit rate - mine is 3.13p per kWh inc VAT.

Does the hot tank have a thermostat? If so, the timing is less relevant as it will stop calling for heat once the thermostat is satisfied. But my 310L tank takes well under an hour to heat.

Old boiler is probably inefficient, but replacement is a big expense.

Graememac84

House is a semi detached three story four bedroom town house. Top floor has no heating. House is over 100 year old with mixed insulation in places where work has been completed to allow for insulation. Such as under their flooring. It has original double glazing which needs replacing. It has two large living rooms, one is part of an extension and is very efficient with heat. In total there are 8 radiators.

Planning on changing to a new system boiler in April.

Direct debit is for both gas and electric. The electric reading and use is very efficient. We are rather good at not wasting electricity