Extremely High Energy Bills

Bach_Off

I have been working hard to try and reduce my energy bills on a very large 4 bedroom house which had a poor EPC when I moved in. I have changed all if not most lights to LED's, installed a 3.6 kw Solar Roof Panel System, changed the bathroom radiators from electric to water heated and renewed the boiler to a Worcester Bosch Greenstar 30RI. The radiators downstairs have been replaced too. Lastly, the kitchen could only be heated using electric underfloor heating - now heated by two radiators. The only gas appliance used is the boiler for water/heating.
 
The EPC calculates my home as 289m2 - there are 20 radiators connected to the boiler and it is a four person home (4 showers/1 dishwasher & 1 washing machine daily).
 
The upstairs heating has it's own thermostat and is rarely switched on, even in winter.

Gas consumption is calculated at annual usage 59,852kwh (5375 units *1.02264 *39.2 / 3.6 if I have calculated that correctly).
Electric is 6014kwh with solar panels generation through the summer.

Checked my tarrifs - with Octopus energy with a competitive rate.

Are we just high users? Or are these typical costs for house with this square footage? Or do they seem unusually high?

 
Very grateful for any feedback.

Gerry1

Electricity seems very high for a gas user.  Instantaneous electric shower?  Immersion heater not left switched off?  Use the hot water tank instead.  As the washing machine is used every day, get a gas tumble dryer.

Bach_Off

Gerry1 said:

Electricity seems very high for a gas user.  Instantaneous electric shower?  Immersion heater not left switched off?  Use the hot water tank instead.  As the washing machine is used every day, get a gas tumble dryer.

Both showers are power showers rather than instant electric. Immersion heater is never used or switched on - only if there is a problem with the boiler. (I'm not sure what you mean re replacing the washing machine with a gas tumble dryer?)

Robin9

As you say a very large 4 bed - mine is also a 4 bed but only 8 rads. 

Only 2 of us - how many in your household ?

What insulation have you done ?-  cavity wall, loft insulation, double glazing.

matelodave

You should do your own monitoring by reading your meters regularly (at least monthly, but preferably weekly). In the end what you seem to have are some calculations, estimates or guesses none of which are going to help you get a handle on what is going on.If you dont monitor it you cant control it - set up a spread sheet.

As Gerry says, dont use electric showers, use your hot water from the gas boiler. Do something about the showers a as well, do you really really need four a day. If you do then make short that they are short and sweet, no more than five minutes (or less) and get an economy shower head or flow restrictor (10 litres/min for 20 mins = 200litres, 5 lpm for five mins = 25 litres then multiply it by four - see).
Sort out your use of other stuff, washing, drying, dishwashing etc - only use them when they are full as half loads cost the same as full ones. Dont waste water, dont let it run down the sink, learn to rinse stuff (including your hands) in cold water.

What about TV's, computers, gameboxes etc and any other stuff that gets left on and used indiscriminately.

What sort of thermostat/timeswitch have you got - get a programmable one to give yourself more control over heating times and temperatures. they arent expensive, they are easy to fit (especially wireless ones) and they can make a tremendous difference.

Theres a lot you can do without spending lots of money but you need to keep it under control

Bach_Off

Robin9 said:

As you say a very large 4 bed - mine is also a 4 bed but only 8 rads. 

Only 2 of us - how many in your household ?

What insulation have you done ?-  cavity wall, loft insulation, double glazing.

It is a four person house - It has loft insulation and is partly double glazed.

Talldave

We spent a year in a sprawling detached, single glazed cottage, where the boiler struggled almost 24/7 in winter to keep the place warm.  Even then we only used 54,000kWh gas for the year, and electricity consumption was under 3500kWh.

Now, we're in a large 5 bed detached house (but double glazed and insulated) and look to be heading for 42,000kWh gas for the year and 4800kWh electricity (dozens of halogen bulbs replaced so that'll be less in year 2).

So, your consumption does seem high-ish.

Bach_Off

matelodave said:

You should do your own monitoring by reading your meters regularly (at least monthly, but preferably weekly). In the end what you seem to have are some calculations, estimates or guesses none of which are going to help you get a handle on what is going on.If you dont monitor it you cant control it - set up a spread sheet.

As Gerry says, dont use electric showers, use your hot water from the gas boiler. Do something about the showers a as well, do you really really need four a day. If you do then make short that they are short and sweet, no more than five minutes (or less) and get an economy shower head or flow restrictor (10 litres/min for 20 mins = 200litres, 5 lpm for five mins = 25 litres then multiply it by four - see).
Sort out your use of other stuff, washing, drying, dishwashing etc - only use them when they are full as half loads cost the same as full ones. Dont waste water, dont let it run down the sink, learn to rinse stuff (including your hands) in cold water.

What about TV's, computers, gameboxes etc and any other stuff that gets left on and used indiscriminately.

What sort of thermostat/timeswitch have you got - get a programmable one to give yourself more control over heating times and temperatures. they arent expensive, they are easy to fit (especially wireless ones) and they can make a tremendous difference.

Theres a lot you can do without spending lots of money but you need to keep it under control

The figures quoted are not estimated - this is my actual consumption for the past twelve months and I submit regular - usually monthly readings.

As per my earlier reply - we have power showers not electric (they draw from the hot water storage tank). Four showers is one per person per day.

Your comments re dishwasher/washing machine usage are plain common sense and that is actually what we do anyway. There is one TV used in the living room for about 3 hours in the evening and a 40w TV in the kitchen which is on a lot - calculated cost is £36 a year at the most. Don't use games etc. Have a desk top PC which is used a lot - 20w rated - again it's going to be about £36 a year and yes the timers/thermostats are programmable.Hot water is left on constant (by recommendation of the gas fitter) and heating tends to be put on in the evening.

Re the gas heating/hot water, possibly might be helpful to hear from someone with a similar sized square footage/number of radiators for cost comparison?

Gerry1

RFenton said:

Gerry1 said:

As the washing machine is used every day, get a gas tumble dryer.

I'm not sure what you mean re replacing the washing machine with a gas tumble dryer?

Replace the electric tumble dryer with a gas tumble dryer if the existing washing machine and tumble dryer are both used every day.

Bach_Off

Talldave said:

We spent a year in a sprawling detached, single glazed cottage, where the boiler struggled almost 24/7 in winter to keep the place warm.  Even then we only used 54,000kWh gas for the year, and electricity consumption was under 3500kWh.

Now, we're in a large 5 bed detached house (but double glazed and insulated) and look to be heading for 42,000kWh gas for the year and 4800kWh electricity (dozens of halogen bulbs replaced so that'll be less in year 2).

So, your consumption does seem high-ish.

This sort of comparison is really helpful. Do you mind me asking how many of you there are? Yes, ours was full of halogen bulbs replaced for 4w LED - they had fit 33 of them in the kitchen alone! I have wondered if we had a gas leak somewhere but a) I think I'd smell it and b) turned everything off for an hour and no movements on the meter so that rules it out.

nadsat

The gas looks very high. Are you sure you've got that right? The Octopus bills should tell you the annual usage in kWh if you've been with them for a year.
We have a large 5-6 bed Victorian semi with gas central heating and hot water (16 rads and an old but solid Valliant) and a gas hob and our annual usage is 30,000 kWh gas but electricity is our main problem at 9,000 kWh, much higher than yours, but we have a lot of appliances and computers -  2 fridge freezers, and an electric oven, and dishwasher/washing machine/tumble dryer in daily use. Several LCD TVs. And one electric shower... Sometimes room electric heaters to supplement gas heating (or when it's not on). I've just switched to Octopus Tracker tariff - see my thread on this https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6143270/switching-which-of-these-companies-would-you-choose
I would be happy to get our electric down to 6,000kWh....