Are Typical Domestic Consumption Values (TDCVs) actually typical in real life?

nik_k

We recently moved from a 2-bed flat in a converted house (not particularly energy efficient) to a new build 3-bed house (supposedly rated B (84) on its EPC).  Both properties are GCH, gas hobs, electric ovens.

I religiously take meter readings on a monthly basis, have done this for a few years now.  Therefore I have plenty of historical data from our 6 years in the flat.  In the 408 days between 1/1/19 and 13/2/20, we used 511 units of gas, which equates to 5,690 kWh.  This is approx 14 kWh per day (or 5,090 kWh per annum).

Having moved into our new house, I'm somewhat shocked by our gas consumption!  In the 26 days between 8/2/20 and 4/3/20, we used 163 units of gas, which equates to 1,806 kWh.  This is approx 69 kWh per day.  A similar period last year, while we were in our flat, saw us use 501 kWh in 27 days, so approx 19 kWh per day.  I'm a bit perplexed that we've used over 3 times as much gas in our new house.

Looking at the Ofgem site, they reckon the TDCV for Gas for a Medium usage property is 12,000 kWh per annum, or approx 33 kWh per day.  Is this realistic in others' opinions?  If so, I might have to do some adjusting to our budget spreadsheet in terms of our energy usage!

Gerry1

Have a look at the Rogue Meters thread and the one by Matthaus73.  Does your meter light up and show a 'b' on the display?  If so, the battery is failing.

matelodave

Have you taken into account that you'll use a lot more gas in a bigger house and that you might not have the heating set up in the same way.

Don't forget that the heating season is still upon us and that you might well have had some benefit from a another flat either below, above or beside you, whereas in a house you could have up to four external walls, an extra floor, possibly more windows, a hall, stairs and landing even a roof space that you might not have had before as well as an extra bedroom and even another bathroom.

Is this new place in a more exposed position than the flat and bear in mind that there'll still be a lot of moisture in a new build that has to be dried out so your present heating consumption will more than likely reduce as the weather warms up and the building dries out

Most people use around 65-70% of their energy between November and March and the rest of it throughout spring summer and autumn. You really need a bit more time to sort it all out and learn how the heating works and the building responds.

12,000kwh a year is an average which means that some people could use far less and other will use far more - yours will be different to most other people.

Likewise just because 12,000 is the average, that's not what you'll use every day - you use more in winter than the summer. I use 16% of my annual consumption in December, and about 4% in June which, based on the 12000 average equates to nearly 2000kwh or 62kwh/day in December and 480kwh or 15kwh a day in June. You need to work out your own profile by reading your meters regularly

MWT

You will be using proportionately more gas right now so well above your annual average.

As a comparison, we will use around 14,000 kWh over a year which averages around 38kWh/day, but right now we are using around 66kWh/day.

So the daily amount falls dramatically as we move away from the need for central heating to be on.

... and yes, heating a house is always going to be more expensive than a flat, lots more places for you to lose heat in a house...

nik_k

Gerry1 said:

Have a look at the Rogue Meters thread and the one by Matthaus73.  Does your meter light up and show a 'b' on the display?  If so, the battery is failing.

I'll take a look just to be sure!

nik_k

matelodave said:

Have you taken into account that you'll use a lot more gas in a bigger house and that you might not have the heating set up in the same way.

Don't forget that the heating season is still upon us and that you might well have had some benefit from a another flat either below, above or beside you, whereas in a house you could have up to four external walls, an extra floor, possibly more windows, a hall, stairs and landing even a roof space that you might not have had before as well as an extra bedroom and even another bathroom.

Is this new place in a more exposed position than the flat and bear in mind that there'll still be a lot of moisture in a new build that has to be dried out so your present heating consumption will more than likely reduce as the weather warms up and the building dries out

Most people use around 65-70% of their energy between November and March and the rest of it throughout spring summer and autumn. You really need a bit more time to sort it all out and learn how the heating works and the building responds.

12,000kwh a year is an average which means that some people could use far less and other will use far more - yours will be different to most other people.

Likewise just because 12,000 is the average, that's not what you'll use every day - you use more in winter than the summer. I use 16% of my annual consumption in December, and about 4% in June which, based on the 12000 average equates to nearly 2000kwh or 62kwh/day in December and 480kwh or 15kwh a day in June. You need to work out your own profile by reading your meters regularly

Thanks for this helpful advice - I know that no 2 houses are the same, I was simply wondering what was 'average' for a 3-bed house.  I also realise it's too early to know what the real consumption will be.  However, it's not particularly cold, so I can't see that the heating is working particularly hard right now.  Definitely something I'll keep an eye on as the months progress...

nik_k

MWT said:

You will be using proportionately more gas right now so well above your annual average.

As a comparison, we will use around 14,000 kWh over a year which averages around 38kWh/day, but right now we are using around 66kWh/day.

So the daily amount falls dramatically as we move away from the need for central heating to be on.

... and yes, heating a house is always going to be more expensive than a flat, lots more places for you to lose heat in a house...

Again, good advice, thanks!  I was thinking that the house might actually work out similarly to the flat, based on the fact we were top floor (top floor of a converted house - there were 2 flats, ground floor and top floor) and the attic wasn't at all well insulated.  However, it seems that even doubling the consumption of the flat to equate to the whole 'house' would have meant that we were well under average in terms of consumption.

Robin9

Nothing odd in your gas consumption - mine is 1800kwh (down from 2200 kwh in Dec) 1970 brick built house.  There's big differences between flats and houses and even more for bungalows. 

Your gas use will plummet in the summer and 10-12000 kwh for the year looks likely.

Talldave

FWIW I consider EPCs to be useless works of fiction particularly when it comes to the stupid energy costs they quote.

Our large house is running at 1200kWh a week at the moment (coldest winter week was 1500kWh) but come summer that'll be 150kWh per week.

Houses are in a different league to flats as others have said. When we were in a flat, hardly any heating was required due to being insulated by other flats on four sides.

RelievedSheff

nik_k said:

We recently moved from a 2-bed flat in a converted house (not particularly energy efficient) to a new build 3-bed house (supposedly rated B (84) on its EPC).  Both properties are GCH, gas hobs, electric ovens.

I religiously take meter readings on a monthly basis, have done this for a few years now.  Therefore I have plenty of historical data from our 6 years in the flat.  In the 408 days between 1/1/19 and 13/2/20, we used 511 units of gas, which equates to 5,690 kWh.  This is approx 14 kWh per day (or 5,090 kWh per annum).

Having moved into our new house, I'm somewhat shocked by our gas consumption!  In the 26 days between 8/2/20 and 4/3/20, we used 163 units of gas, which equates to 1,806 kWh.  This is approx 69 kWh per day.  A similar period last year, while we were in our flat, saw us use 501 kWh in 27 days, so approx 19 kWh per day.  I'm a bit perplexed that we've used over 3 times as much gas in our new house.

Looking at the Ofgem site, they reckon the TDCV for Gas for a Medium usage property is 12,000 kWh per annum, or approx 33 kWh per day.  Is this realistic in others' opinions?  If so, I might have to do some adjusting to our budget spreadsheet in terms of our energy usage!

Don't forget that a new build house will still be going through it's drying out process. Evapouration causes a cooling effect so your heating is effectively working harder to keep the house to temperature. The drying out should have finished after about 18 months and assuming there are no defects causing the cold, then you should notice a marked improvement next winter.

We live in a new build 3 bed detached property. We moved in last April so had the benefit of a summer to help with the drying out process. We are on target to use 6000kWh of gas and 2000kwh of electric for the 12 months which is in line with what the EPC suggested we would use.

victor2

nik_k said:

I religiously take meter readings on a monthly basis, have done this for a few years now.  Therefore I have plenty of historical data from our 6 years in the flat.  In the 408 days between 1/1/19 and 13/2/20, we used 511 units of gas, which equates to 5,690 kWh.  This is approx 14 kWh per day (or 5,090 kWh per annum).

Having moved into our new house, I'm somewhat shocked by our gas consumption!  In the 26 days between 8/2/20 and 4/3/20, we used 163 units of gas, which equates to 1,806 kWh.  This is approx 69 kWh per day.  A similar period last year, while we were in our flat, saw us use 501 kWh in 27 days, so approx 19 kWh per day.  I'm a bit perplexed that we've used over 3 times as much gas in our new house.

Are you sure the old house didn't have an imperial meter, measuring 511 hundred cubic feet of gas in 408 days, which will multiply your kWh figure by 2.83? Your 5,090 kWh per annum then becomes 14,400 kWh, which sounds much more realistic for GCH, but, as has already been said, flats can use very little heating if surrounded by other flats.