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

matelodave

nik_k said:

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.

If you were on the top floor then you would also have benefited from the heat generated by the flats below yours.

D_M_E

Another possibilty is that the wrong meter has been registered to your address.
Check the meter serial number with the one on the bill and make sure they match.
Had this happen in a new build estate - turned out the meter I was paying for was recording about treble my expected usage and was actually located at a property some distance from mine.
Took some sorting, that one did.

nik_k

RelievedSheff said:

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.

Ours is also a 3-bed detached, so maybe we'll have similar usage to you.  It's just the 2 of us, so nothing extraordinary about our usage.  Hopefully the drying out process will be aided by a warm Spring/Summer

nik_k

victor2 said:

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.

Yeah, the old flat was on a modern meter, so I am comparing like with like

nik_k

D_M_E said:

Another possibilty is that the wrong meter has been registered to your address.
Check the meter serial number with the one on the bill and make sure they match.
Had this happen in a new build estate - turned out the meter I was paying for was recording about treble my expected usage and was actually located at a property some distance from mine.
Took some sorting, that one did.

The consumption on the bill does match the consumption between my 2 readings, so it's not a case of being billed for someone else's gas, fortunately/unfortunately!

FreeBear

nik_k said:  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.

For comparison, 1920s three bed semi, gas consumption for heating/hot water for the same period was ~105 units or 1200KWh. But we have had a very mild winter, heating hasn't fired up too much, and I'm still fine tuning the "smart control". During the summer, I would expect gas consumption here to drop below 100KWh per month. I'm all electric for cooking, so your usage would be higher.