Please help - understanding my heating / hot water system

QrizB

Fishandchips80 said:

QrizB it is a Victorian 4 bed detached, so is big enough, and I have three little ones here. So usage has always been relatively high. I knew that moving into an old house we’d see a rise in our bills, but I wasn’t expecting quite that much (and certainly not when we’re not able to get the house higher than 16-17 degrees)

That'll account for some of it, definitely.

Gas is about 6.3p/kWh on the capped SVT (less on some other tariffs) so 80kWh is about £5 worth.

£5 a day doesn't really explain your £500 bill for last month, though?

Fishandchips80

@QrizB - yep, the 80kwh is my use for the last 24 hours (after I’d changed all my settings on hot water schedule and heating times). I can’t really use any less than that, so I’ll just have to try and maintain this level as much as possible as we go through these colder months. 

I’m not sure I’ll get to the bottom of the last (estimated) bill with the previous supplier, and as I don’t have a record of the opening meter read I think I’ll just have to write that off and learn from it!
I actually have a plumber coming out tomorrow to look at a couple of radiators that aren’t getting very warm, so I can pick his brains too

Qyburn

Your last picture showed a zone valve, to direct boiler circulation. In isolation I don't think we can tell if it's a two port valve valve just acting as on/off for a single circuit. Or a three port valve. Is there a second valve anywhere?

QrizB

Qyburn said:

Your last picture showed a zone valve, to direct boiler circulation. In isolation I don't think we can tell if it's a two port valve valve just acting as on/off for a single circuit. Or a three port valve. Is there a second valve anywhere?

???

The picture at the bottom of page 2 of this thread has two zone valves, one marked CH and one marked HW ...

matelodave

Fishandchips80 said:

@matelodave when you say boiler temperature, do you mean what it says on the Worcester boiler downstairs? 

Yes, because if it's wound up too high you'll end up with the boiler cycling on and off and it wont be working at an efficient temperature to get the best out of it.

Think about your heating like driving a car. most cars use significantly less fuel when cruising at 50-55mpg than they do at 70-80. They cover the same distance but take a bit longer to get there and there's less wear and tear on the engine, gearbox and brakes.
Its the same with a boiler - having it wound up to more than around 55 degrees means its stopping and starting rather than gently modulating and lot of the heat goes up the flue rather than it condensing and going into the heating system.

You are better running the system for longer at a lower boiler temperature and not allowing the place to get stone cold because it then takes longer to get the place up to temperature while the boiler flogs its heart out.

Albermarle

Fishandchips80 said:

@matelodave when you say boiler temperature, do you mean what it says on the Worcester boiler downstairs? 

@QrizB it is a Victorian 4 bed detached, so is big enough, and I have three little ones here. So usage has always been relatively high. I knew that moving into an old house we’d see a rise in our bills, but I wasn’t expecting quite that much (and certainly not when we’re not able to get the house higher than 16-17 degrees)

I’ve plugged my dehumidifier in in the bedroom tonight and that’s got us an extra 2 degrees higher in the room temperature which is nice, but the other bedrooms aren’t seeing the benefit of that 

@Fishandchips80

I have a 4 bed house about a 100 years old ( so not Victorian but similar in many ways) although some of it is newer ( extensions, loft conversion etc ) 
Last week we were using about 80KWh of gas a day, so similar to you. Three adults .
However heating would have been on for 4 or 5 hours a day ( not all radiators) and temperatures in living spaces a comfortable 20/21 degrees. Colder in rooms not used/bedrooms.