Questions regarding switching

77588p

When I went on Moneysupermarket to compare costs it pulled through my Octopus usage from my address. This is also backed up on my bills too.

We have an electric vehicle but rarely charge from home as my wife gets free usage at work.

amanda1024

Rather than switching, which won’t necessarily save you money, I’d suggest trying to get on top of your usage. Can you see the half-hourly usage in the Octopus app? Or there are apps like loop that can be more timely. Try turning everything off to check whether there’s anything using electricity that shouldn’t be. Why does the hot water need to be on all the time? Would there be any way to reconfigure it so the gas boiler was heating the water? Or improving the insulation round the tank then having the hot water turned on for short periods - perhaps making use of a time of use tariff (depending on your general pattern of usage).
In terms of other tariffs- I’ve saved quite a lot on Octopus’s tracker tariff, but it does need keeping an eye on in case prices shoot up.

MultiFuelBurner

77588p said:

When I went on Moneysupermarket to compare costs it pulled through my Octopus usage from my address. This is also backed up on my bills too.

We have an electric vehicle but rarely charge from home as my wife gets free usage at work.

So rather than this guesstimate which is what that is.

What were the readings when you moved into the house and date and what are the readings today.

Take them from the actual meters.

If you can provide that information then a clearer picture may form.

MattMattMattUK

77588p said:

The display does show both radiator and water however I still dont think the water is controlled from here. Here is a picture.....

That is the boiler and it has capability for hot water and the tap symbol and radiator symbol show both are running. Can you find the control unit as well please?

Robin9

I would like to think that the Gas reflects the insulations standards of a newly built house.

Electric is more than just the water heating.  Lets go through the usuals - electric showers, cooking, underfloor heating in bathrooms, American fridge/freezer,  multiple fridges/freezers,  lots of fish, exotics, non-LED's, garden pond pump stuck. 

It's time for some detective work -  lots of readings, keep a diary.

QrizB

77588p said:

The boiler we have is a Vaillant Home Regular 15. It means nothing to me to be honest. I did try googling a user guide once and it seemed to read that it was for heating only but I may be way wrong!

It will be described as a heat-only boiler because it isn't a combi boiler or a system boiler, both of which do more than just heat water. However, when used with a hot water storage tank it's quite capable of providing hot water. That's how most traditional boilers (including mine) work to provide hot water.

Qyburn

77588p said:

The boiler we have is a Vaillant Home Regular 15. It means nothing to me to be honest. I did try googling a user guide once and it seemed to read that it was for heating only but I may be way wrong!

It can do hot water as well but that depends on how it's plumbed in. To clarify you need to check pipework at the hot water cylinder, and also look for controls. If the boiler's setup to heat the cylinder there will probably be a cylinder thermostat and either two two-port valves or one three-port to control where the boiler output goes to heating, water, or both.

We can help identify stuff if you put up pictures.

Keep_pedalling

If your smart meter is working and you have opted for 30min readings you bills will show your usage for every half hour slot on every day of the month. Have you actually looked at the bills?

On a separate point even though you don’t charge your car at home very often the fact that you have an EV means you can take advantage of one of their EV tariffs.

77588p

Qyburn said:

77588p said:

The boiler we have is a Vaillant Home Regular 15. It means nothing to me to be honest. I did try googling a user guide once and it seemed to read that it was for heating only but I may be way wrong!

It can do hot water as well but that depends on how it's plumbed in. To clarify you need to check pipework at the hot water cylinder, and also look for controls. If the boiler's setup to heat the cylinder there will probably be a cylinder thermostat and either two two-port valves or one three-port to control where the boiler output goes to heating, water, or both.

We can help identify stuff if you put up pictures.

Many thanks for this...

What pictures would you need? I am useless that this!!

Qyburn

77588p said:

What pictures would you need? I am useless that this!!

Start at the hot water tank. What pipes and cable go to it. We can take it from there. If it was installed solely for electric heat there would just be two pipes, cold feed to the bottom and hot water out at the top.

For the boiler to heat the tank there'd be two more pipes, one above the other. 

For electric heater there will be cables to one or more immersion heaters, boiler heat will have a thermostat as well.

A modern unvented cylinder will be a bit more "gadgety" and the functions less obvious, but functionally it still need those connections.

Also photos of any switches or timers you use to control the system. Or any that might be related but which you don't change because the function is unknown.