Why am I using so much gas

Old_Grey_Mare

Petriix said:

It's a shame that you didn't dispense with the tank altogether when you got the new boiler and go for an on-demand setup. That's vastly cheaper to run in most cases and far harder to get wrong.

We were told a combi boiler wouldn’t really be suitable for our house.

jennifernil

Old_Grey_Mare said:

jennifernil said:

Fitting a new thermostat for the gas heated water is not complicated as it will directly replace the old one.   I would have thought this was a simple job for an electrician, maximum 20 minutes, but I am amazed that you should have to wait several months to get this done!

We also have a vented HW cylinder, if yours is like ours, the immersion heater heats the water at the top quickly so the thermostat may switch it off before the whole tank of water is hot.   It is really only intended to be a back up should the gas boiler fail.

When using the gas boiler the water heats more evenly and as heat rises and its thermostat sits lower down, it will continue heating the tank completely  and you will have a larger quantity of hot water.  Water in a well insulated HW tank will stay hot for a long time.

Yes my cylinder sounds like yours. When the immersion was used the water wasn’t that hot and didn’t last long so now I understand a bit more about it, it makes sense.

my husband fitted an electronic thermostat which ran off a controller so in order to fit a mains thermostat, a 2.5ml mains cable needs running from the tank all the way to the boiler which is quite a long way. He’s already got the landing floorboards up and drilled a hole in the kitchen wall even though the electrician said he would do it when he could.

Do you really need such a heavy cable?      The cylinder thermostat will not take much power as it is only sending a signal to the boiler to switch on or off, and then most likely it is the boiler that sends a signal to the pump and possibly motorised valve to operate.

What sort of other controls do you have on your system?

xeny

Old_Grey_Mare said:

I don’t know what I’m doing wrong with this quote thing🙄

I work in IT for a living and use a wide variety of different forums. The quoting arrangement here is the worst I've ever tried to use.

EssexHebridean

Old_Grey_Mare said:

pochase said:

You are been charged cubic feet units, what does your meter show, m3 or ft3 on the meter itself?

Just been to have a look. It shows ft3.

Sorry about all the questions. I’ve never had much to do with the practical side of things but my husband has now got dementia so it’s a steep learning curve for me. Serves me right but better late than never.

Please don't take this the wrong way OP, but in combination with

Old_Grey_Mare said:

jennifernil said:

Fitting a new thermostat for the gas heated water is not complicated as it will directly replace the old one.   I would have thought this was a simple job for an electrician, maximum 20 minutes, but I am amazed that you should have to wait several months to get this done!

We also have a vented HW cylinder, if yours is like ours, the immersion heater heats the water at the top quickly so the thermostat may switch it off before the whole tank of water is hot.   It is really only intended to be a back up should the gas boiler fail.

When using the gas boiler the water heats more evenly and as heat rises and its thermostat sits lower down, it will continue heating the tank completely  and you will have a larger quantity of hot water.  Water in a well insulated HW tank will stay hot for a long time.

Yes my cylinder sounds like yours. When the immersion was used the water wasn’t that hot and didn’t last long so now I understand a bit more about it, it makes sense.

my husband fitted an electronic thermostat which ran off a controller so in order to fit a mains thermostat, a 2.5ml mains cable needs running from the tank all the way to the boiler which is quite a long way. He’s already got the landing floorboards up and drilled a hole in the kitchen wall even though the electrician said he would do it when he could.

...this makes me quite incredibly nervous. Can you call the electrician and explain the situation with your husband and ask whether he can fit you in as an emergency do you think? 

Old_Grey_Mare

jennifernil said:

Old_Grey_Mare said:

jennifernil said:

Fitting a new thermostat for the gas heated water is not complicated as it will directly replace the old one.   I would have thought this was a simple job for an electrician, maximum 20 minutes, but I am amazed that you should have to wait several months to get this done!

We also have a vented HW cylinder, if yours is like ours, the immersion heater heats the water at the top quickly so the thermostat may switch it off before the whole tank of water is hot.   It is really only intended to be a back up should the gas boiler fail.

When using the gas boiler the water heats more evenly and as heat rises and its thermostat sits lower down, it will continue heating the tank completely  and you will have a larger quantity of hot water.  Water in a well insulated HW tank will stay hot for a long time.

Yes my cylinder sounds like yours. When the immersion was used the water wasn’t that hot and didn’t last long so now I understand a bit more about it, it makes sense.

my husband fitted an electronic thermostat which ran off a controller so in order to fit a mains thermostat, a 2.5ml mains cable needs running from the tank all the way to the boiler which is quite a long way. He’s already got the landing floorboards up and drilled a hole in the kitchen wall even though the electrician said he would do it when he could.

Do you really need such a heavy cable?      The cylinder thermostat will not take much power as it is only sending a signal to the boiler to switch on or off, and then most likely it is the boiler that sends a signal to the pump and possibly motorised valve to operate.

What sort of other controls do you have on your system?

It was the electrician who advised about the cable. My husband thought the same as you. I’m sorry, I don’t know about the other controls. We have a panel in the kitchen which looks like something from Cape Canaveral. My husband was an electronics engineer all his working life.

Old_Grey_Mare

EssexHebridean said:

Old_Grey_Mare said:

pochase said:

You are been charged cubic feet units, what does your meter show, m3 or ft3 on the meter itself?

Just been to have a look. It shows ft3.

Sorry about all the questions. I’ve never had much to do with the practical side of things but my husband has now got dementia so it’s a steep learning curve for me. Serves me right but better late than never.

Please don't take this the wrong way OP, but in combination with

Old_Grey_Mare said:

jennifernil said:

Fitting a new thermostat for the gas heated water is not complicated as it will directly replace the old one.   I would have thought this was a simple job for an electrician, maximum 20 minutes, but I am amazed that you should have to wait several months to get this done!

We also have a vented HW cylinder, if yours is like ours, the immersion heater heats the water at the top quickly so the thermostat may switch it off before the whole tank of water is hot.   It is really only intended to be a back up should the gas boiler fail.

When using the gas boiler the water heats more evenly and as heat rises and its thermostat sits lower down, it will continue heating the tank completely  and you will have a larger quantity of hot water.  Water in a well insulated HW tank will stay hot for a long time.

Yes my cylinder sounds like yours. When the immersion was used the water wasn’t that hot and didn’t last long so now I understand a bit more about it, it makes sense.

my husband fitted an electronic thermostat which ran off a controller so in order to fit a mains thermostat, a 2.5ml mains cable needs running from the tank all the way to the boiler which is quite a long way. He’s already got the landing floorboards up and drilled a hole in the kitchen wall even though the electrician said he would do it when he could.

...this makes me quite incredibly nervous. Can you call the electrician and explain the situation with your husband and ask whether he can fit you in as an emergency do you think? 

It’s hard to explain but he does still know what he’s doing with electrics etc. I was more worried about my house being knocked about. I’ve put a stop to it and hopefully the electrician is coming next week. For now everything is off and we are using the kettle for hot water for washing. Luckily we have got an electric shower as well as a power shower.

EssexHebridean

Probably for the best. Back in the day my Nan knew what she was doing with making a cup of tea until the day she put the tea bag, milk and water all in the kettle together... I'm glad you've sorted the electrician to come sooner too!