Excessive Gas Consumption - Not sure what to try next!

[fixitflav]

Thanks so much, this at least lets me know it's not wildly out for the property.

I will have to look at getting cavity wall insulation done soon and other measures.

To get back to your problem, from 26 Nov to 26 Dec 2024 I used 208 m3 gas (heating, hot water and hob). My house isn't particularly well insulated and I leave it on 24/7.
Your figures don't sound right. Does your smart meter have an instantaneous flow reading, or a volume reading which you could take over a timed interval to get flow? Then you can set the boiler at maximum output, and compare the reading with the actual boiler consumption, about 3 m3/h for 30kW output.

 

[mjr_havoc]

To get back to your problem, from 26 Nov to 26 Dec 2024 I used 208 m3 gas (heating, hot water and hob). My house isn't particularly well insulated and I leave it on 24/7.
Your figures don't sound right. Does your smart meter have an instantaneous flow reading, or a volume reading which you could take over a timed interval to get flow? Then you can set the boiler at maximum output, and compare the reading with the actual boiler consumption, about 3 m3/h for 30kW output.

The meter has a volume reading only. I plan on doing the boiler consumption test in the next few days.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The meter has a volume reading only. I plan on doing the boiler consumption test in the next few days.

Your Octopus App allows you to schroll back through consumption data, recorded in 30 minutes slices for gas.

 

[fixitflav]

The meter has a volume reading only. I plan on doing the boiler consumption test in the next few days.

I'd guess it reads to 0.1 or even 0.01 m3, so timing over 10 minutes will give you a good idea.

BTW I have the whole house (4 bedrooms) at about 20°C, apart from a rarely-used spare bedroom a bit cooler.

 

[mjr_havoc]

I'd guess it reads to 0.1 or even 0.01 m3, so timing over 10 minutes will give you a good idea.

BTW I have the whole house (4 bedrooms) at about 20°C, apart from a rarely-used spare bedroom a bit cooler.

Ok thank you.

When you say you have the whole house at 20°C, is that all day?

 

[fixitflav]

Your Octopus App allows you to schroll back through consumption data, recorded in 30 minutes slices for gas.

How far back does that go? Does it allow him to check what the meter says, to compare with the volume Octopus are billing him for?

 

[fixitflav]

Ok thank you.

When you say you have the whole house at 20°C, is that all day?

Yes, 24/7. I don't believe that uses uses noticeably more gas than using timed periods

 

[mjr_havoc]

Yes, 24/7. I don't believe that uses uses noticeably more gas than using timed periods

Thanks, I don't I can do that yet as the house is lacking basic insulation in most rooms. Using my heating system, I can see how quickly the heat is lost throughout the day when the heating is off. This means that my boiler would be running full tilt all day if I did what you did

 

[fixitflav]

Thanks, I don't I can do that yet as the house is lacking basic insulation in most rooms. Using my heating system, I can see how quickly the heat is lost throughout the day when the heating is off. This means that my boiler would be running full tilt all day if I did what you did

OK, horses for courses. I'm still with you in thinking your bill looks suspiciously high. Let us know what the flow test shows.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

How far back does that go? Does it allow him to check what the meter says, to compare with the volume Octopus are billing him for?

My account, shows either Kw or Cost, going back to the day I joined them, and for each day - 30 minute record, week, month, or the year. All of the bills presented, are there too, for download, since I moved to Octopus.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yes, 24/7. I don't believe that uses uses noticeably more gas than using timed periods

Logically, it simply must use more. My heating is on 24/7, but what changes is the temperature setting. From 10am to 11pm, it aims for 18C, from 11pm to 10am it aims for 14C. The house never cools to 14C, so the boiler simply never needs to fire during the night, until 10am. At 10am it fires, and brings the house back up to temperature.

 

[SpecialK]

Hi, thanks for your insight. I have one previous bill as the meters were changed from imperial ones and I've only been in the property for a few months.

I did have a look into the ebus... I have two problems, first is ebus seems to be good for combi boilers and not so much for open vented boilers like mine. Secondly, apparently Tado removed ebus from the UK version of the controller so it can't be used. It is still available on EU versions of the controller if you can get hold of one.

Ebus is for all types of vaillant boilers. It allows the controls to set the flow temp of the heating supply. It is a shame TADO removed it from some versions. I believe the new X and the V3+ ones support it?

 

[mjr_havoc]

Ebus is for all types of vaillant boilers. It allows the controls to set the flow temp of the heating supply. It is a shame TADO removed it from some versions. I believe the new X and the V3+ ones support it?

I have the V3+ wireless receiver which doesn't have the ebus terminals. The older discontinued extension kit had the terminals and even then from what I've read it was compatible with Vaillant combis. I am still reading up on this but so far it doesn't look promising for open vented Vaillant boilers

 

[Old Salt]

I am also with Octopus and for the same day where you had 174 consumption mine was 54. Whilst our houses are different sizes mine is a 2 bed bungalow (1960’s) which has a large kitchen/dining extension. Our loft has at least 300mm insulation, DG, gas combi boiler with 7 rads and 2 towel rails. Our fireplace has been boarded up.

The biggest difference is turning off the heating at night. Ours is set to 15 degrees at 11pm but the lounge rarely drops below 17 by morning. We have the temps gradually ramping up during the day starting at 17 then rising to 20 by evening as we are generally doing chores etc during the morning/early afternoon.

We are at home all day and if I remember I turn the heating off if we are intending to be out (I rarely remember). We have found its best to have all the rooms heated as it does limit heat loss throughout the property. The boiler is in the kitchen.

 

[UpgradeME]

Ebus is for all types of vaillant boilers. It allows the controls to set the flow temp of the heating supply. It is a shame TADO removed it from some versions. I believe the new X and the V3+ ones support it?

I was curious so just done some digging... it seems that the EU version has support for only one heating circuit and no support for DHW i.e. is not able to read the NTC connected to a VR65, so Tado market it saying it's only compatible with Combi's not for tanks.

It also seems to struggle with VR66's saying Vaillant changed the ebus protocol on it, but works with the VR65.

@mjr_havoc eBUS as a protocol as @SpecialK says works with all boilers, it's just the Tado control which has very limited support. The Vaillant controls support and work well with eBUS on open vented systems.