Ridiculously high gas usage

Volatarei

Hi All,

I'm hoping that someone can point me in the right direction to resolve what I believe is a serious issue with our gas usage.

We are a couple living in a large detached 3 bedroom house, extended and with a conservatory.

We have an Alpha Etech Plus 33 boiler, a gas log burner, and a gas hob.

We have 14 radiators of various sizes, and a towel rail.

The boiler is set at 60 degrees for hot water, and 65 degrees for heating.

 

We never use the gas log burner, very rarely use the hob (3 times a week), and have the central heating on for 30 minutes in the morning, and between 4pm and 9pm in the evening. Between us we have 10 (10-15 minute) showers a week.

We have turned off all radiators except 4 downstairs, and 2 upstairs, which are all set at number 3 on the thermostats.

 

Currently, our gas usage based on the readings from our smart meter, is around 160kwh per day (58000kwh per year), and the usage ties in with when we have the boiler turned on each day (ie, there is no usage recorded when the boiler is not on).

Forgetting the cost of gas currently, I am surprised how we can be using 160kwh of gas every day, as most websites state that the average 4 bedroom household uses around 15000kwh per year (41kwh per day). This means we are almost 4x the usage of the average 4-bedrrom house!!!

Can anybody offer any advice on if you think this is a high usage level, and if so, why it is happening?

Who might I need to contact to run some tests?  Are there tests available even?

 

Many thanks in advance

Matt_OX4

First thing to do is check that your meter and bill are both using the same units. Your meter will either be in m3 or ft3 (stated on the meter itself), which is then converted to kWh.

But 160kWh per day of gas given how cold it has been recently is probably not completely out of the question, especially given the length of showers you have stated - now the weather has turned milder this should reduce considerably.

Volatarei

Matt_OX4 said:

First thin to do is check that your meter and bill are both using the same units. Your meter will either be in m3 or ft3 (stated on the meter itself), which is then converted to kWh.

Hi Matt,
Yes both are in kwh - it's a brand new smart meter, only 1 year old.

Mstty

We have just gone through a prolonged cold spell but yeas over £16.48 a day does sound excessive.

What temperatur did you house get to up and down and just because you only have 4 radiators on it may still be running full whack trying to meet the thermostat temps

How old is the boiler?

Effician

Volatarei said:

Currently, our gas usage based on the readings from our smart meter, is around 160kwh per day (58000kwh per year), and the usage ties in with when we have the boiler turned on each day (ie, there is no usage recorded when the boiler is not on).

Forgetting the cost of gas currently, I am surprised how we can be using 160kwh of gas every day, as most websites state that the average 4 bedroom household uses around 15000kwh per year (41kwh per day). This means we are almost 4x the usage of the average 4-bedrrom house!!!

You're using 160kwh every day throughout the year  or are you just using 160kwh each day over this cold spell & much less normally , 2 very different scenarios & very different daily averages over the year.

DeeQS

The recent cold spell we were using 100kwh a day. Today, where the outside temperature is 10c we will use no more than 20kwh.

You can't multiple 160kwh by 365. 80% of gas usage is in the winter. Your bill will have an estimated annual gas consumption number on it, where they calculate the season differences. What does that show?

alan_d

Your usage is high, but not ridiculously so.
We're in a 4 bed detached house with 'average' insulation and averaged 88 kwh/day over the last week during the cold weather. Highest day was 110kwh when everyone was home and heating was on in my (insulated) garage.

Was your 160kwh the daily average or the peak one day?

Volatarei

Thank you for the comments.
You are correct about the seasonal differences - I hadn't factored that in.
We haven't been with our current supplier for a full year (we were forced to join them when Utility Point collapsed).
The seasonal gas usage so far is showing as:
March-May - 2,539 kwh
Jun-Aug - 1,111 kwh
Sep-Nov - 4,319 kwh
17 days in Dec - 1,991 kwh

Total so far for 9.5 months = 9,960 kwh
Potential remaining 2.5 months usage based on trends - 8,549 kwh
Total yearly usage - 18,509 kwh

A lot less than my original post, however, considering we sit in 1 room, with the door closed, and the temperature at 18 degrees, with the rest of the house freezing cold, it still sounds like a lot, when other households use less, and have the heating on constantly.

The boiler is 2 years old.

Aylesbury_Duck

I agree with others, I think you're unreasonably extrapolating a daily rate from a particularly cold spell to provide an annual figure.

If you took a reading at 4pm and again at 9pm one day last week and multiplied that consumption by 24/5 and then times 365 the "annual consumption" would be stratospheric!

Looking at your habits, one obvious area to look at is a 10-15 minute shower every time.  That's a heck of a lot of hot water, and probably completely unnecessary.

alan_d

Based on those figures, average of 117kwh/day so far in December. That is a lot. At this point i'd be suspicious that the meter is not accurate.
This thread discusses this, if you were to turn off the gas for a while you could confirm the meter stops incrementing, then maybe check it after 1 hour of boiler on - and compare the usage vs the boiler's stated gas consumption (assuming it's running continually at full power, which is unlikely) - which would help establish if the meter is recording sensible figures or not.

[Deleted User]

Your meter will be annotated cubic metres (M3) or cubic feet (FT3). The calculations to convert units to kWh is different for each meter type. Check your meter against your bill.

If you want a meter independently checked then the supplier will arrange for your gas meter to be replaced. It is then sent off to SGS who will carryout lab-based flow checks. If the removed meter is found to be within tolerances, then you be charged for the meter replacement.