Baxi Solo 2 Cost of Heating / Size of house ?

[supertoddy]

Hi,
Hope you can help !

Just moved into a large four bed detached property and i am having to pay out approximately £20 per week in gas bills without the house even getting hot . The proprty has 11 rad's and is utilising a Baxi Solo 2 (50pf) system. Can't understand why the system is so poor at heating the rad's (and therefore my house ) and yet it's running cost are so high. We only run it for 4 hours a day and leave the thermo down on 20 degrees due to the cost.

Any idea's ?

What system should i have ?

thanks

 

[JohnD]

Tell us about the insulation and draughtproofing.

 

[HarrogateGas]

at only 4 hours a day the heating isnt really getting much of a chance to heat the house.

£20 a week is pretty cheap for a house your size.

I suggest you have it on a bit longer to let the house actually get to temperature.

 

[baxpoti]

£20 per week in gas bills without the house even getting hot. Can't understand why the system is so poor at heating the rad's

How hot do your rads get
40°, 50°, 60°, 70° or 80° ?

° = degrees centigrade





(pretty good eh! scatman)

 

[scatmanjohn]

Nearly fell off the sofa when i witnessed that fine piece of keyboard wizardry.

°C

 

[supertoddy]

Hi,
thanks for the replies,
Not sure on the rad temperatures in terms of degrees. All i can say is they are not painful to the touch, i cam comfortably hold my hands on them( MEDIUM HOT ), the one in the lounge is hardly warm at all. They also seem fairly small in relationship to the size of the building. Lots of single's at 400 X 600. I would happily replace them with larger ones but i am concerned the boiler isn't up to heating these let alone increasing the overall system.
The roof seems well insulated but i am not sure if there is any cavity wall insulation ( i think not ) On the plus side i have just had full double glazing fitted throughout so that should help.
As for the cost i am comparing this to my previous house which cost
£30-40 per month and we used to run it a lot more (all be it in a smaller dwelling). £20 per week would not overly worry me if the house was very warm but at the moment it seems like wasted money.
The other factor that may be of use is the system uses 10mm pipe , which i have been informed is poor in comparison to 15mm ??

Thanks

 

[JohnD]

Measure the thickness of the loft insulation. 150mm is the minimum and 250mm is the standard for new houses. There must be no gaps.

Make sure all internal doors are closed when the heating is on. If you have people living in the house who do not pay the gas bills you will find this very difficult.

Feel for draughts round external doors, and around the windows where they meet the walls

Read your gas meter and see how much gas it is using (volume). If you still have old gas bills see what volume you used to use in a winter quarter. Bear in mind that the price has gone up a lot in the last year; readings are often estimated; and payments are averaged over a year so ££££ is not a good indicator of usage.

Get quotations for cavity wall insulation from your gas and electricity supplier (they usually have special offers). Loft and cavity wall insulation will cost a few hundred pounds but save you very much more than double glazing which costs thousands.

How long have you lived in the house, and was it previously unoccupied

 

[pannierstan]

leave the thermo down on 20 degrees due to the cost.

Blimey dont tell my missus. Mine never gets above 19 never mind 20

 

[baxpoti]

Not sure on the rad temperatures in terms of degrees. All i can say is they are not painful to the touch,

Turn the boiler stat to full, keep the room stat as low as possible, normally 20°C is comfortable.