Is 140kWh of gas a day normal?

ohdarn

Hi, we've recently moved house from a three bedroom 90sq/m terraced house with a 44year old back boiler to a three bedroom 120sq/m detached house with a Worcester Bosch combi boiler and smart meters.
I have the thermostat (located in the hallway) set to 20C and the timer on the boiler set to come on three hours in the morning and four hours in the evening.

The hob is also gas but the shower is electric.

According to the little smart meter device I'm using between 130-145kWh (averaging about £5) per day.

I thought it might be best to have the heating on all day but when we first moved in I tried that and we used 303kWh of gas.

The temperature in the house when the heating isn't on drops to about 14C so pretty chilly.

Admittedly we are having to change the loft insulation but even so, these figures seem quite high.

A lot over what my research suggested it would be.

When the prices shoot up I'm not sure what we'll do.

Is it possible there's a problem with the boiler or something like that or is this usage normal?

QrizB

It's quite a lot.

As your boiler is only on for 7 hours a day, that's an average of 20kW of heating. And I'm surprised by how quickly it loses heat.

A bit more info on the house, please. Approximate age, condition, location?

ohdarn

It's from 1910(ish)

The condition is fairly good, mainly cosmetic things need doing.
It does have full double glazing and doors.
The loft insulation was badly done so we're currently in the process of removing it.
It seemed that the previous owners got cold so the just kept adding extra layers of loft insulation.

It is at the top of a hill and does get the full force of the wind when it's blowing.

QrizB

Solid walls, or early cavity walls? Solid or suspended ground floor? Open fireplaces?

ohdarn

I'm not sure about the walls. Some of the house seems to have been added on and that part is cavity wall.
The ground floor is a mixture of solid and suspended although I'd say it's mostly suspended.
There's one gas fireplace although it needs attention before it's operated.

savers_united

140kwh is quite high but not unusual if you have a high number of large radiators and a property that takes a while to get up to temperature, high ceilings etc


Check for draughts, especially around doors and windows. Easy to replace worn seals, if its older DG they could be leaking. 

Check the heating system is correctly balanced, if its a condensing boiler your looking at ideally a 20 degree difference on the flow / return. If you can get the return below 50 degrees your efficency will be alot better. 

Have a play with the settings, if your looking to keep the heating on all day maybe a 50 degree output and 30-40 degree return is doable to maintain a constant background heat. That should give you 90%+ efficency. But ultimately if heat is escaping then you are literally throwing money out the window / door. 

theoretica

Take some readings through the day - each time the heating is set come come on or off. When you don't use heating or hot water it doesn't go up at all?  As a basic check that there isn't a gas leak - very unlikely, but checking is simple and won't hurt.

Coffeekup

ohdarn said:

I have the thermostat (located in the hallway) set to 20C and the timer on the boiler set to come on three hours in the morning and four hours in the evening.

According to the little smart meter device I'm using between 130-145kWh (averaging about £5) per day.

I thought it might be best to have the heating on all day but when we first moved in I tried that and we used 303kWh of gas.

Admittedly we are having to change the loft insulation but even so, these figures seem quite high.
Is it possible there's a problem with the boiler or something like that or is this usage normal?

I'd say it's about right for the amount of time your boiler is on, 15-20 kWh an hour. Especially if you house doesn't retain the heat. 

Cut back 2 hours of heating in the morning, 3 hours if heating before everyone leaves the house is a waste... 1 hour should be enough. Also change setting to 19C. In the evening cut it back to 3 hours if possible, by turning off an hour before bed. Potentially 3 hours less usage and 60kwh of less gas used.

Insulation is key, stopping draughts so heat is retained in the house longer once it gets to a temp you want.

You've also answered the age old debate heating on all day or just when needed. The answer is easier to see how prices have gone up.

rogerc446

Do you have TRVs (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) on the radiators?

It may also be worth investing in a smart thermostat and/or smart radiator thermostats (easy to fit if you already have TRVs, not so much if you don't) that you can adjust the temperature according to when you are at home based on geofencing etc..

ohdarn

rogerc446 said:

Do you have TRVs (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) on the radiators?

It may also be worth investing in a smart thermostat and/or smart radiator thermostats (easy to fit if you already have TRVs, not so much if you don't) that you can adjust the temperature according to when you are at home based on geofencing etc..

We don't have any thermostat valves on the radiators. Although at the moment I don't think any of the rooms would get warm enough for them to switch off 😁

Barmy_Army_92

ohdarn said:

Hi, we've recently moved house from a three bedroom 90sq/m terraced house with a 44year old back boiler to a three bedroom 120sq/m detached house with a Worcester Bosch combi boiler and smart meters.
I have the thermostat (located in the hallway) set to 20C and the timer on the boiler set to come on three hours in the morning and four hours in the evening.

The hob is also gas but the shower is electric.

According to the little smart meter device I'm using between 130-145kWh (averaging about £5) per day.

I thought it might be best to have the heating on all day but when we first moved in I tried that and we used 303kWh of gas.

The temperature in the house when the heating isn't on drops to about 14C so pretty chilly.

Admittedly we are having to change the loft insulation but even so, these figures seem quite high.

A lot over what my research suggested it would be.

When the prices shoot up I'm not sure what we'll do.

Is it possible there's a problem with the boiler or something like that or is this usage normal?

Very similiar to us. See my thread here; https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6332572/victorian-mid-terrace-central-heating/p1

The other night our bedroom, x2 adults and newborn, dropped from 18 degrees at 10pm to 14 degrees by 6am. And as stated in my thread we are a mid-terrace! 

I am playing around with dropping the boiler temperature etc at the moment, but there's only so far i can take this with existing radiators. The real problem is insulation and probably the poor windows at the front of my house.