Unusually high gas usage of 43000kwh per year

jvjack

Electromagnetic fields (EMF) just adding to above. Maybe pointed out before but anyhow.

theoretica

giles007 said:

I am not in denial, quite clearly something is amiss and it am trying to get to the bottom of it. I have friends and family members with similar sized houses and not new efficient boiler systems that have no where near our gas usage

There are basically four possibilities:

1) You are using more heat than other people because you like doing so, while thinking what you do is normal, because it is normal for you. But the temperatures/times you keep things heated to are higher and longer than average for other people.

2) You are somehow wasting heat without appreciating it (how insulated is your water tank?).

3) You actually have a gas leak somewhere.  But unlikely as you had high usage both before and after the new boiler when that should have all been tested.

4) Your meter is reading wrongly.  The only real option for confirming this would involve getting a smart meter.

giles007

macman said:

If you want a meter test, then the replacement will be a smart meter: dumb meters are no longer available from any supplier..

we may have to go down that route -

You said in your post earlier that subject to me providing more information, the usage was staggering - having seen the usage and bills and with me providing a bit more information, do you think our usage now warrants the high annual kWh?

Do you think on average that people do heat their homes to 17 degrees and not any more? if so then it would appear that for every 1 degree above 17 the annual usage  goes up 10000kWh.

Something is clearly not average here having turned off the AGA and only seeing such a small relative drop in usage

Do you know the procedure for asking for a meter test? I guess I just request one from Shell Energy 

thanks in advance
 

MWT

chuwi said:

OK, just noticed the bit where the bill/statement does acknowledge the meter is imperial. I am not sure they take it into account though, but perhaps I now just as lost as the OP....

They take it into account on the first line of the details...

Units = 131 then they multiply by 2.83 to convert to cubic metres.

MWT

giles007 said:

Something is clearly not average here having turned off the AGA and only seeing such a small relative drop in usage

The underfloor heating set at 21C for long periods could well account for the high gas use all on its own, as it is going to keep the boiler running for a considerable portion of the time.

If you go ahead with the meter test, they will have to remove and replace the meter (with a smart meter) as it cannot be tested in-situ.

 

giles007

MWT said:

giles007 said:

Something is clearly not average here having turned off the AGA and only seeing such a small relative drop in usage

The underfloor heating set at 21C for long periods could well account for the high gas use all on its own, as it is going to keep the boiler running for a considerable portion of the time.

If you go ahead with the meter test, they will have to remove and replace the meter (with a smart meter) as it cannot be tested in-situ.

 

thanks for that , but a couple of things come to mind..

our annual usage was even higher without the UFH but with an older boiler

the UFH was not running when the AGA was on - but we could be swapping out 1 heavy usage for another (AGA for UFH)

will try and do some tests ..

however if the meter IS faulty and running at too fast a speed when we do use gas, it would make no difference doing any local testing, changing usage etc, we would never know

MWT

giles007 said:

however if the meter IS faulty and running at too fast a speed when we do use gas, it would make no difference doing any local testing, changing usage etc, we would never know

Given the age of the meter it is well worth getting it tested for sure, but I wouldn't focus too much on the 'average' usage figures you have seen as they do not really apply to your home or your use.

It is entirely possible that your meter is working correctly.

Coffeekup

giles007 said:

Usage.

Anyway I have the following usage 

04/08/2016 - 03/08/2017 First Utility 51825 kWh

17/08/2017 - 16/08/2018 First Utility 51113 kWh

Aug 2018 to Dec 2018 no data as no access to First Utility online account anymore

Dec 2019 to Sept 2020 house occupied by tenants, no gas usage data available

Sept 2020 to Aug 2021 patchy data as transferring supplier and gas was turned off during building work

Sept 2021 to Present - Usage based on customer reads submitted to Shell Energy (usage coloured into yearly for clarity)



So turning the AGA off mid December 2022 has not really made a huge dent if you compare the Winter month usages 21/22 and 22/23. Jan thru March this year is still very high usage

I see that your spring/summer usage goes down in line with the seasons, as does it go up with the colder months so all appears well. It's just the amount consumed that is on the high side.

What happened in August 22? Holiday for 2 week's?

What boiler do you have and ideally what size is it in kwh's? My guess it's at least 35kwh's which at 10p p/kWh it can cost you up to £3.50 an hour. 

Is it a combi boiler? Having a couple of teenagers in the shower for an hour each will certainly ramp up the kwh's used.

With the usage figures you provided I'd say nothing is awry. However becoming more aware, which you are doing will bring down your usage.
For example May and June 22 usage is still higher than July/August. Why ? We have similar day lengths yes we can get frost in May but soon as the sun is up (5am)  the frosts are no more . So my guess is your thermostat is kicking in for 30-60 mins at night when the temperature in the house may dip in the early hours to bring it up to the temperature you desire, or someone in the house is messing with the thermostat to make the boiler kick back in because they feel cold.
Then in July 22, usage drops by 50% which says to me summer temperatures are here, the thermostat no longer kicks in during the early hours.

Your December/January usage is high but you've reduced what you used on the previous December/January's. Again thermostat.
You said in a post earlier how you have it set, and at what temperatures it set at. If I recall you had it at 16° over night, so for all you know that's the boiler working for 3 hour's overnight whilst everyone is asleep and warm in bed. Maybe set it to 13° from 10pm-5am?

Again I can't remember exact numbers but you also had the thermostat set at 20° from 6-11am and another temperature between this and that time in the evening.
I know nothing about your homes occupants incomings and outgoings, but it seemed odd to me that when most are out at work/school etc the house is set to its highest temp of the day. When everyone is at home (I presume) for the evening is was set at a lower temperature.
Maybe have a re-think about when is the house empty and/or has the least amount of occupant's and set the temperature's down to a lower figure.

youravinalarrrf

giles007 said:

The CH and UFH are off overnight as soon as the lower temperature schedules kick in and would rarely, if ever, come back on before the next daytime schedules, as the temperature rarely gets down to the levels set for those periods

That's not what your earlier post suggested was actually happening (see highlighted text below).

giles007 said:

Heating and Schedules

We have a couple of UFH zones downstairs and they are set to 21 degrees from 6am to 11pm, then they are set to 17 degrees overnight

The rest of the house is controlled by 1 thermostat which is set to

20 degrees 6am to 9am

16 degrees 9am to 3pm

20 degrees 3pm to 11pm

16 degrees 11pm to 6am

Under Floor Heating

Installed over half of the downstairs. Its a separate manifold with water temperature set at 40c

If the CH and UFH are not being fully turned off overnight (ie no times set at all) your boiler will be kicking in automatically and be burning gas whenever the temperature falls below those minimum temperature levels you have set. Because you are asleep in bed you will probably not even be aware when it's happening and you may be surprised by how often the temperature drops below your temperature settings during the night.

The whole thing about reducing your consumption and costs is about shaving bits off your time and temperature settings.

Perhaps 17 degrees may ultimately prove to be too low for your overall comfort but it is a starting point and can always be increased if necessary.

I admit that I had my heating set to 18 degrees (occasionally 20 degrees) prior to the recent price hikes but a 1 degree reduction in temperature has made a difference to my usage and bills and the difference in comfort level is honestly hardly noticeable.

For a comparison government guidance for the minimum temperatures for all UK indoor workplaces is 16 degrees (or 13 degrees if doing manual work).

As others have said I think your fears and excuses for not having smart meters fitted are unfounded and I'm surprised Shell haven't insisted on replacing that old gas meter on age and safety grounds. When they do you will have no choice and it will be replaced with a smart meter as the old type meters are no longer available or fitted. It might be a good idea to force the issue and request that both gas and electricity meters are replaced with smart meters.

On another note if the press reports are to be believed you may well become an Ovo customer in the near future if the proposed takeover goes ahead.

Magnitio

You are using more in a month than we do in a year! However, we are in a smaller 4 bed detatched with two occupants. Your usage in June last year was very high considering it was so warm; were you using excessively large amounts of hot water e.g. filling an outdoor pool, multiple baths etc?