How is my energy usage normal?

Section62

Abunting said:

with regards to the £215 bill, I’d absolutely dream about this price now! £670 is crippling! 

£610 is what they are estimating you need to pay going forward, but that will be an estimate based on previous consumption which included the Aga.

How close is the boiler to the hot water cylinder?  Is there a long run of pipes between them, and if so, are these well insulated?

QrizB

 That's for FWIW, when heating hot water only we use about 10kWh/day of gas.four people in a three-bed semi, one bath and a couple of showers every day.

Your 80kWh/day for water heating definitely seems excessive!

Mstty

You aren't the first person to come to the forums with big usage figures and well worth checking them against your bill and meter.

Stone walls generally don't compare to modern insulation so some research required there if you have funds for this.

What you will find here is good knowledge of how to save some energy and this is the perfect time to get to know your heating and hot water systems well before prices potentially go up further in October.

wrf12345

As an engineer I spent ages trying to work out how to get "free" hot water from the likes of solar panels but eventually concluded that the solution was simply not to use hot water! My combi boiler's hot water pipe is turned off via a mechanical tap so it is never drawn when the taps are turned on in the bathroom. This does mean a cold shower every day but this is most invigorating even in the winter and now is an ideal time to start (when the weather is warming up). I figure if people can survive arctic swimming I can survive a few minutes of cold water and there are supposed to be many medical benefits. Post shower, blood flow to the skin does, surprisingly, get you quite warm. Try it before you dismiss it.

QrizB

Abunting said:

I have gone from paying £215 a month for combined energy in 2020 to now paying a whopping £670 a month being with EDF- transferred from a bankrupt green network energy.
Granted, £60 a month is to cover the debt on our account, which is a position we haven’t been in before but this still means A basic payment to keep the lights on so to speak is £610 a month. 

So our annual gas usage is ……: just a tad under 60,000 khw per annum.

Can anyone give me any clues where I’m going wrong? Am I missing something?

A couple of things come to mind.

60000kWh/yr of gas will cost roughly £4600/yr, £385/month on the current capped variable tariff.

1. What tariff are you on? Have you taken a fixed rate with EDF?

2. You've given us your gas consumption, but how much electricity are you using? Could that be costing you £250/month?

Your boiler dates from 2005. That's new enough that it should have been quite efficient when installed, although this could have got worse over time.

3. Do you get your boiler serviced regularly? Were there any comments from the engineer after your latest service?

You say you're still using 80kWh/day heating water only.

4. How big is your hot water tank, and how far from the boiler? Is it well insulated? How many people in your household, and how many baths/showers each day on average?

Ultrasonic

wrf12345 said:

As an engineer I spent ages trying to work out how to get "free" hot water from the likes of solar panels but eventually concluded that the solution was simply not to use hot water! My combi boiler's hot water pipe is turned off via a mechanical tap so it is never drawn when the taps are turned on in the bathroom. This does mean a cold shower every day but this is most invigorating even in the winter and now is an ideal time to start (when the weather is warming up). I figure if people can survive arctic swimming I can survive a few minutes of cold water and there are supposed to be many medical benefits. Post shower, blood flow to the skin does, surprisingly, get you quite warm. Try it before you dismiss it.

I'm sure that would be unwise for at least some on health grounds. You may as well switch off your boiler if you never intend to use it. 

A shower with my combi-boiler typically uses about 2 kWh of gas for a cost of around 15p at current prices. The cost of the water increases the total cost for those on a metered water supply. I think most would take this cost over a cold shower. Ways to reduce shower costs are to reduce frequency of showers (every other day rather than every day is generally fine) and the length of time water is on when having a shower. Many including myself use a more stop-start approach: turn shower on to get wet but then off whilst applying soap and then back on to wash off.

markin

Is the gas aga pilot light still on?

Or in manual mode.

"you have an electric head on you BM valve if you turn off the power the valve will shut off if you want it to work with no power i.e. in a power cut you push the lever on the top of the electric head to the left and behind the stop so it doesnt return and the bm valve will be on manual"