High Gas usage. What can we do as renters?

siranderu

2 of us living in a 2 bed bottom floor 1920s ex council flat/maisonette. It's EPC D, no cavity insulation, no floor insulation, ceiling is very thin, old double glazing, poor fitting external doors.

Gas cooking, heating and hot water from a pretty new A rated combi boiler. Hot water and radiator temperatures both set to 50C.

We used 9.99 kWh of gas per day for July and 51.15 kWh per day in January.

Obviously that January gas figure is large for the size of our household. I generally have the thermostat set to 17.5C in the day so it's never on in the summer and usually pops on in the morning in winter and then keeps it at that temp until about 11pm when it's set to 10C. I did start setting it back to 10C after my girlfriend left for work and then back up when she got back as I have no issues just wrapping up during the day but beyond that I'm not sure what we can do?

My strategy for winter is to seal the house as best as possible and to get a small compressor dehumidifier to help with drying clothes. I'm thinking I'll manually turn down the valves on the radiators in rooms that get less use (living room only in evening, kitchen set very low etc.) I'll do the external doors with adhesive draught strips and I believe there is a port for a vented tumble dryer that is wide open, so I'll cover that somehow.

But to be honest the real headscratcher is the summer usage. The heating hasn't been on for months so 10kWh per day for cooking, washing up and showers seems very high no?

BUFF

hot water for showers etc?
does your boiler have a pre-heat function where it keeps a small tank of water hot for instant use? If so, switch that off.

Bark01

Where are you getting your usage from? is it actual or estimated?

Get a smart meter, you cant see 'live' gas usage like you can with elec but you can see it every 30mins. That'll show you when its being used and help you pinpoint any problem times.

siranderu

BUFF said:

hot water for showers etc?
does your boiler have a pre-heat function where it keeps a small tank of water hot for instant use? If so, switch that off.

I have no idea how I would check that. Its a BAXI 600. I've checked the manual but can't find any indication of pre heat.

Bark01 said:

Where are you getting your usage from? is it actual or estimated?

Get a smart meter, you cant see 'live' gas usage like you can with elec but you can see it every 30mins. That'll show you when its being used and help you pinpoint any problem times.

Usage is from actual meter readings. I've requested a smart meter from Octopus multiple times over the years but they've never arranged an install.

Ultrasonic

Do you have a combi boiler or a hot water tank? If it's a combi boiler you'll be able to reduce the gas usage for showers by reducing how long the hot water is on for.

Alnat1

OP said combi and CH & HW both set to 50C

Ultrasonic

Alnat1 said:

OP said combi 

So they did  .

10 kWh per day for gas could probably be reduced then.

The way I shower to minimise gas use is as follows. Have water on to initially rinse/get wet but then turn water off while applying soap/shampoo. Then turn water on again just long enough to rinse off again. I think this typically uses around 1.5 kWh per shower.

How often showers are taken obviously makes a difference too.

BUFF

siranderu said:

BUFF said:

hot water for showers etc?
does your boiler have a pre-heat function where it keeps a small tank of water hot for instant use? If so, switch that off.

I have no idea how I would check that. Its a BAXI 600. I've checked the manual but can't find any indication of pre heat.

It might be in the setup menu for installer rather than user. Do you have uSense?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiJsruKEslI

siranderu

BUFF said:

siranderu said:

BUFF said:

hot water for showers etc?
does your boiler have a pre-heat function where it keeps a small tank of water hot for instant use? If so, switch that off.

I have no idea how I would check that. Its a BAXI 600. I've checked the manual but can't find any indication of pre heat.

It might be in the setup menu for installer rather than user. Do you have uSense?

No we don't have uSense. I suspect pre heat is not enabled. The boiler only comes on for heating or when hot water is needed and it usually takes about 20 seconds for the DHW to come up to temp.

sandy700

I am using approx 11 kWh a day at the moment for showers and hot water and cooking and don't consider it excessive.
Have been using that amount for the past 32 years in the summer when the heating is not switched on.

Works out about 4 kWh each for 2 showers and then the rest, 3kWh, for cooking and hot water for the dishes.

Ultrasonic

siranderu said:

Obviously that January gas figure is large for the size of our household. I generally have the thermostat set to 17.5C in the day so it's never on in the summer and usually pops on in the morning in winter and then keeps it at that temp until about 11pm when it's set to 10C. I did start setting it back to 10C after my girlfriend left for work and then back up when she got back as I have no issues just wrapping up during the day but beyond that I'm not sure what we can do?

Do you ever find that the heating comes on at a point that you don't actually feel cold, or that you feel positively warm rather than simply comfortable when it switches off? If you do then you might find switching the heating on and off manually saves energy vs relying on the thermostat. I know it's unusual but this is what I do and find it works for me. It also accounts for the fact that how warm I may want a room will depend on my activity levels.