Bills not going down despite using less

RedFraggle

Where is the thermostat?

markin

Clearly the is a problem, But its likely the rads are under sized, Turning the boiler off by setting the stat to 0c will just mean it has to work a full pelt to catch up when you allow it on and is terrible for efficacy.

Its very rare for a boiler itself to be under sized, And surely the gas engineer would try to sell some upgrades? But just to be sure, what model is it and how large is the house in feet or meters? Double glazed?

Spoonie_Turtle

With the stat at 30 and the rooms never reaching anywhere near it means the heading is always on, trying to reach that temperature.  That's going to use a heck of a lot.

Also you've not said why there are two electricity rates when she has gas heating and hot water?  That's making all your daytime electricity use way more expensive than it needs to be (unless they're charging the single rate for both readings).

michael079

Spoonie_Turtle said:

With the stat at 30 and the rooms never reaching anywhere near it means the heading is always on, trying to reach that temperature.  That's going to use a heck of a lot.

Also you've not said why there are two electricity rates when she has gas heating and hot water?  That's making all your daytime electricity use way more expensive than it needs to be (unless they're charging the single rate for both readings).

I have no idea why there are two rates. She can't tell me anymore because she has dementia. I always had a prepaid meter when I had my own flat so I'm not familiar with it. I also don't know how they calculate it but they do ask for both rates, day time and night time when I enter the readings 

Robin9

michael079 said:

Also you've not said why there are two electricity rates when she has gas heating and hot water?  That's making all your daytime electricity use way more expensive than it needs to be (unless they're charging the single rate for both readings).

I have no idea why there are two rates. She can't tell me anymore because she has dementia. I always had a prepaid meter when I had my own flat so I'm not familiar with it. I also don't know how they calculate it but they do ask for both rates, day time and night time when I enter the readings 

Have you downloaded a bill yet - that will give info re the rates and tariff ?

PS Have you POA ?

michael079

Robin9 said:

michael079 said:

Also you've not said why there are two electricity rates when she has gas heating and hot water?  That's making all your daytime electricity use way more expensive than it needs to be (unless they're charging the single rate for both readings).

I have no idea why there are two rates. She can't tell me anymore because she has dementia. I always had a prepaid meter when I had my own flat so I'm not familiar with it. I also don't know how they calculate it but they do ask for both rates, day time and night time when I enter the readings 

Have you downloaded a bill yet - that will give info re the rates and tariff ?

PS Have you POA ?

It says bill pdf unavailable. Yes I have POA

Robin9

Perhaps an older pdf ?

macman

1) Get off E7 and switch to single rate. You are paying a huge surcharge for electricity usage that is probably 90% on peak rate. E7 is typically midnight to 7am, not much use to you. You can work out the percentage used on peak and cheap rate just by comparing the opening and closing meter reads across the two registers. Running a fan heater 12 hours a day on peak rate E7 is insane: it'a tariff designed for night storage heaters and an immersion heater.
2) get in a local independent GSR RGI who has a clue, not a BG 'gas man'. Someone who can do a proper examination of the entire install and recommend a solution. If the 'stat is set to 30C then the rads should be red hot, so something is badly wrong.

michael079

macman said:

1) Get off E7 and switch to single rate. You are paying a huge surcharge for electricity usage that is probably 90% on peak rate. E7 is typically midnight to 7am, not much use to you. You can work out the percentage used on peak and cheap rate just by comparing the opening and closing meter reads across the two registers. Running a fan heater 12 hours a day on peak rate E7 is is insane: it'a tariff designed for night storage heaters and an immersion heater.
2) get in a local independent GSR RGI who has a clue, not a BG 'gas man'. Someone who can do a proper examination of the entire install and recommend a solution. If the 'stat is set to 30C then the rads should be red hot, so something is badly wrong.

Thanks. I will get off E7 and get someone else from GSR that you mentioned to check it all.

The radiators are red hot, so I don't understand what's wrong the house isn't that big. 2 rooms downstairs and 3 bedrooms upstairs but only one used as my mum is downstairs.

I blocked the chimney last year and windows are closed so very confusing why it doesn't heat up properly. 

[Deleted User]

Homes are like leaky containers. If you want to reduce the cost of heating then you need to look carefully at where the house is losing heat.  To me, the need to augment GCH with electric fires suggests very poor home insulation. 

By way of example, my wife and I have our GCH on continuously and our annual usage is <5000kWh/year. I post this not to boast but to make the point that a well insulated home saves on heating costs.