Leaking radiator- gas bill usage

Cheryl2010

Hi,

This may be a really silly question but would a leaking radiator raise my gas usage?

We moved into our home late July 2023 and a few weeks later we noticed the pressure consistently dropping in the boiler (some times several times per day) to the point we wouldn't have hot water etc. We called British gas out and the engineer said something about the water level in the boiler and worked some magic and it has been great since.

We have our heating on all the time but controlled by a thermostat at a constant 19-20 degrees, but our gas bills seems very expensive but as we are on smart meters, it is taking actual usage readings.

We decided last night to move to a timer instead so the temp in the house has dropped to around 14 degrees today (lucky me whilst trying to WFH) and I have noticed one of our radiators has a small but very consistent leak.

I have arranged for British gas to come out and repair, but could this leak have contributed to our gas bill being so high?

I am assuming the leak was been dried quite quickly when the heating was on all the time which is why we haven't noticed it before. 

Thank you 

Netexporter

 but could this leak have contributed to our gas bill being so high?

Unlikely, unless you are wading about in wellington boots. It has been quite cold recently.

FreeBear

Unlikely that a water leak would be the cause of a high gas bill.

As you haven't been in the house for more than six months, you don't know what the typical consumption should be like. The level of insulation, number of cold draughts, and the length of time you have the heating on will all affect the gas consumption. If you download the Bright app (others available), and assuming you have a smart meter with 30 minute updates, you should be able to get a picture of when and how much gas is being used.

Cheryl2010

Ah damn- here I was hoping for an excuse to turn the heating back on! 

Thank you- shall get the leak fixed, and just throw my oodie on for comfort.

Qyburn

Cheryl2010 said:

We have our heating on all the time but controlled by a thermostat at a constant 19-20 degrees, but our gas bills seems very expensive but as we are on smart meters, it is taking actual usage readings.

We decided last night to move to a timer instead so the temp in the house has dropped to around 14 degrees today 

There's a clue there. The fact that your house cooled down so much shows that in the past your heating would have been working hard keeping it up to 20°C. 

GrubbyGirl_2

Consider only heating the rooms you are using so instead of having the whole house at 19/20 just heat the rooms you're in.  I am home all the time so have the heating on 19 during the day at 21 in the evenings. I turn off the bedrooms and rooms not being used during the day I also turn the heating down in the hallway and keep doors shut. at night I turn down the radiators in the living rooms and up in the bedrooms. That may help.

EssexHebridean

You could also look at setting the thermostat so that the set temperature drops from an hour before you go to bed at night to half an hour before you get up in the morning - you may well even find that a cooler house overnight gives you a better night's sleep as well (and not just because you won't be lying awake worrying about the gas bills!)

Ours is set at 18.4 for a couple of hours first thing, drops back to 14 while the house is empty during the day, then back to 18.4 (which I usually over-ride to 18.8) while we're sitting about in the evenings. It then drops back to 14 from about 9.30pm. 

mexican_dave

All good tips! Don't forget to read your property's EPC, available for free(£0) on https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate and see if there are things you can do to improve energy efficiency - not that this has any bearing on your problem!!!

Spoonie_Turtle

Cheryl2010 said:

… but our gas bills seems very expensive but as we are on smart meters, it is taking actual usage readings.

Are you sure it's definitely sending readings, and that they're being used for billing?  If you haven't already, check your bills to see what they say against the readings.

From the other responses it seems there's not likely anything amiss, but always good to just be sure.

FreeBear

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Cheryl2010 said:

… but our gas bills seems very expensive but as we are on smart meters, it is taking actual usage readings.

Are you sure it's definitely sending readings, and that they're being used for billing?  If you haven't already, check your bills to see what they say against the readings.

And also check to see what units they are charging you for. It is not unheard of an old imperial meter to be replaced with a metric, and the supplier continues to bill for (100s) cubic feet - They did it to me...

mexican_dave

FreeBear said:

And also check to see what units they are charging you for. It is not unheard of an old imperial meter to be replaced with a metric, and the supplier continues to bill for (100s) cubic feet - They did it to me...

Yes FreeBear that happened to me too, from memory in rough terms this error increases the bill by a factor of three! Obviously incorrectly. Part of the problem here is well-meaning consumer groups have over the decades asked for simpler billing and got it. Back in the day these sorts of errors could be picked out on your energy bill, but not anymore. My first action now is to see if your meter has labelling that says what units it measures, might be text on the face of an "old fashioned" dial or maybe a label. Take a photo if it is and send it to your supplier, to fix your bill. Then send it to your the network provider think that's Centrica (anyone?) and request a modern metric meter.