7500 Gas units in a month. Can it be right?

markin

Is the annex rad able to turn off the thermostat? Or is it running 24/7 trying to do it, is it set to frost setting or 81c?

berol

Coffeekup said:

berol said:

We recently moved into a house that is around 15 years old. The house has an annex over the garage which has its own boiler, however we only ever have one rad turned on in one room in the annex. The main house is 5 bed (3,000 sqft). Our bills seem crazy for gas. We are using 7400 kwh / month (£288). Is this possibly a mistake or is it just because its a larger house with an annex. Is there a way to find out?

What was the reading when you moved in and when did you move in? What was you reading last month? Gas Hobs? Gas fire? Left the annex boiler on a few times and forgotten about it? Family off for 2 weeks over the holidays so heating on 24/7? Guest's round!

With the fuel prices going up, people are waking up to how much there using.
I for example a few years ago used an average of 1800 kWh of gas across December's over 8 years (60 a day), Dec just gone, really cutting back I used 800 units (26 a day) same house too, I could say I've saved over half on my gas bill then, but because the prices have gone up I'm no better off than I was last year.

Is your usage correct? It Could well be its a big house, we've also in the coldest season of the year (although currently it's been quite mild) people have their heating on a number of hours a day, I work with some one who keeps their heating on to keep their cat warm whilst they work. 

We leave it on all the time day and night as BG told me it costs more to turn off at night and on in the morning again. Maybe it would be cheaper to heat my office in the annex with an electric oil rad instead?

QrizB

berol said:

We recently moved into a house that is around 15 years old. The house has an annex over the garage which has its own boiler, however we only ever have one rad turned on in one room in the annex. The main house is 5 bed (3,000 sqft). Our bills seem crazy for gas. We are using 7400 kwh / month (£288). Is this possibly a mistake or is it just because its a larger house with an annex. Is there a way to find out?

3000 sq. ft, is 3x the size of my house, and I'm currently using about 1200kWh/month. 7400 certainly sounds high but not outrageously so. It's unlikely that your annex is solely to blame for your high bill. You could try turning the annex boiler down to its frost protection setting for a month (or a week, or even a few days) and see what effect that has on your gas use.

You've said you're running your heating continuously. Despite what BG told you, that's unlikely to be the most efficient option. What heating controls do you have? What temperature is your thermostat set to?

theoretica

berol said:

Coffeekup said:

berol said:

We recently moved into a house that is around 15 years old. The house has an annex over the garage which has its own boiler, however we only ever have one rad turned on in one room in the annex. The main house is 5 bed (3,000 sqft). Our bills seem crazy for gas. We are using 7400 kwh / month (£288). Is this possibly a mistake or is it just because its a larger house with an annex. Is there a way to find out?

What was the reading when you moved in and when did you move in? What was you reading last month? Gas Hobs? Gas fire? Left the annex boiler on a few times and forgotten about it? Family off for 2 weeks over the holidays so heating on 24/7? Guest's round!

With the fuel prices going up, people are waking up to how much there using.
I for example a few years ago used an average of 1800 kWh of gas across December's over 8 years (60 a day), Dec just gone, really cutting back I used 800 units (26 a day) same house too, I could say I've saved over half on my gas bill then, but because the prices have gone up I'm no better off than I was last year.

Is your usage correct? It Could well be its a big house, we've also in the coldest season of the year (although currently it's been quite mild) people have their heating on a number of hours a day, I work with some one who keeps their heating on to keep their cat warm whilst they work. 

We leave it on all the time day and night as BG told me it costs more to turn off at night and on in the morning again. Maybe it would be cheaper to heat my office in the annex with an electric oil rad instead?

If BG really said that, they were wrong - and you could really be using 7500kWh a month, but don't need to.

How advanced a thermostat system do you have?  Set it to only heat when you want heat, and to the minimum. Don't heat over night, or rooms you aren't in at the time.  Close doors on rooms you are letting get cold.  Keep track of your readings daily for a while and see how your behaviour and changes affect the reading - you will need a bit of experimentation.

SuperHung

berol said:

Coffeekup said:

berol said:

We recently moved into a house that is around 15 years old. The house has an annex over the garage which has its own boiler, however we only ever have one rad turned on in one room in the annex. The main house is 5 bed (3,000 sqft). Our bills seem crazy for gas. We are using 7400 kwh / month (£288). Is this possibly a mistake or is it just because its a larger house with an annex. Is there a way to find out?

What was the reading when you moved in and when did you move in? What was you reading last month? Gas Hobs? Gas fire? Left the annex boiler on a few times and forgotten about it? Family off for 2 weeks over the holidays so heating on 24/7? Guest's round!

With the fuel prices going up, people are waking up to how much there using.
I for example a few years ago used an average of 1800 kWh of gas across December's over 8 years (60 a day), Dec just gone, really cutting back I used 800 units (26 a day) same house too, I could say I've saved over half on my gas bill then, but because the prices have gone up I'm no better off than I was last year.

Is your usage correct? It Could well be its a big house, we've also in the coldest season of the year (although currently it's been quite mild) people have their heating on a number of hours a day, I work with some one who keeps their heating on to keep their cat warm whilst they work. 

We leave it on all the time day and night as BG told me it costs more to turn off at night and on in the morning again.

Of course BG would say that, they get more money for more gas usage. Point in case.

RelievedSheff

To put this into perspective for you. You are using in 1 month what we use in 12 months in a 3 bed detached house!

You are using a huge amount of gas. 

Time to look at your set up and make a few changes to it. Have you got programmable thermostats? Have you got TRVS? Have you got a timer? (You really don't need to leave the heating in 24/7. Have a play with different times for the heating to come on and turn off while still leaving the house comfortable)

MWT

MWT said:

berol said:

We are using 7400 kwh / month (£288). Is this possibly a mistake or is it just because its a larger house with an annex. Is there a way to find out?

Nearly 250kWh a day is very high indeed.

I wonder if this is another case of a metric meter being treated as Imperial... ?

Take a look at the meter, it should tell you on there if it is reading in cubic metres (m3) or cubic feet, and similarly your bill should have a calculation for converting the meter reading into kWh, look and see if it has a 2.83 multiplier in there...

 @berol Do at least check these details before chasing all the other ways you might be using too much...

greatcapp

MWT said:

MWT said:

berol said:

We are using 7400 kwh / month (£288). Is this possibly a mistake or is it just because its a larger house with an annex. Is there a way to find out?

Nearly 250kWh a day is very high indeed.

I wonder if this is another case of a metric meter being treated as Imperial... ?

Take a look at the meter, it should tell you on there if it is reading in cubic metres (m3) or cubic feet, and similarly your bill should have a calculation for converting the meter reading into kWh, look and see if it has a 2.83 multiplier in there...

 @berol Do at least check these details before chasing all the other ways you might be using too much...

Absolutely this. I have just been refunded 2/3 of my bills from Sainsbury because they wrongly had my meter as imperial instead of metric.
Check the calculation on the bill & see if there is a calculation that includes multiplying by 2.83 in there. If therei s, then check to see if your meter is actually metric not imperial.