£2 an hour to heat the home??

[OM2]

We've not really turned on the heating...
On all days the smart meter reports cost of energy to be less than £1. Happy days.

4 days we've turned on for an hour. On those days the charge on the smart meter goes up £2 after just 1 hours worth of heating.
OMG!
If we had the heating on for 10 hours in the day... that would be a cost of £600 per month! OMG
(I'm sure we'd have heating on for this long on cold days before the damn price rises in previous years!)

At the end of the day AFTER turning heating ONLY for 1 hour, the bill on the smart meter is just short of £4.

Am I missing something? Is it really that expensive??

 

[ReganAndCarter]

What are we talking here? Six bed detached, or one bed flat?

We're in rip off Britain where everything is unaffordable. Gas, elec, water, rates, taxes, mortgages, rents, petrol, etc, etc, etc. Screwed until the pips squeak.

 

[Justin Passing]

WHat's your energy rate?

Assuming it's the current
£0.34 per/kWh
Daily standing charge: £0. 46

If one hour extra is £2, that's about 6kW for that hour
That's 2 or 3 heaters on full time. Sounds about right.

That assumes you heat with electricity.

??
If your heating is gas
£0.10 per kWh
Daily standing charge: £0. 28
that would be

20kW for the hour, less maybe 20% for inefficiency.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Am I missing something? Is it really that expensive??

Call it 10p per Kwh for gas, £2 would suggest you have input 20Kwh's worth of heat into your home, or was the £2 just an instantaneous value - as seems more likely?

Bringing an unheated house up to temperature, can burn a bit of gas.

 

[Mr Chibs]

FWIW, one year ago, I was using the figures below for a month, heating a 3 bed extended, detached old house.

1976.0 kWh gas
294.0 kWh electric

 

[OM2]

Let me give a bit more info...
We have a 5 bed semi detached house.
The boiler is a new (2 years old), it's a Vailant boiler - Ecotec Sustain I think (it's one of the cheapest ones) and is either 30kw or 35kw.

So... what you guys are saying is that to heat up from zero will cost a big amount.
But to then keep the heating on after 1 hour, should be a much lower relative cost?

We're with EDF. Not on fixed contract.
Can I get the rate charged on the smart meter?
I checked, there isn't any information.
The only thing it's reporting back is that we've used a shockingly low amount of fuel! £10 for last week!! (Have I got things wrong there?)

Hoping the above info will let you guys give me a better answer.

1. Turning on the boiler for 1 hour and leaving for 2-3 hours and turning on again for 1 hour...
2. Turning on the boiler for 4 hours straight...

Which one is better, 1 or 2? I'm guessing 2... since you are not heating a cold house a second time??

Thanks.

 

[Old Salt]

Which one is better, 1 or 2? I'm guessing 2... since you are not heating a cold house a second time??

Take a reading at say 8 am, run it in mode 1 for the day then take a further reading at 8 am the following day and run it in mode 2. Take the final reading to see which is best.

Bear in mind the external temperatures need to be similar, no using extra showers, washing machines, cooking roast dinners, etc. Both samples need to be as near identical as possible and the longer you try it for the more accurate it will be.

I live in a 2 bed bungalow and basically have the heating on from lunchtime onwards. Use a dishwasher, tumble dryer (if we have to) and have an induction hob and electric oven. Combi boiler for heating and hot water. We are currently on about £7 a day for energy.

 

[Mr Chibs]

It's not that clearcut, depends on lots of things like house heat loss, insulation values, sizes of spaces being heated.

It seemed to be the given that leaving heating on lower and longer was more efficient, and therefore used less fuel.
Heating up a cold house will use more energy, but most people turn the heating off when they sleep, so it will be colder when you decide you want it to come on in the morning.

Modern houses are meant to retain the heat better, as the cavity walls are filled with insulation (slowing heat loss), the inner skin of brick stays warmer than the outside one and radiates warmth back.

If your smart meter gives you actual gas/electric usage, you might be better making a note of the figures over three or four days to see what's what, then working out the months totals.

Since the price hikes, most if not all the variable tariffs I think, are the same amount... hence no swapping to a cheaper provider.

 

[Wayners]

Boiler cost for first hour will be high but then it kicks in and out so maybe leave on low temperature.
Our gas was £4 a day Inc standing charge last month. Boiler on all day.
Electric was £3.50 Inc standing charge.
Some people waste more money than that on terrible coffee and fatty junk food for dinner.
Or even more shocking a pint of beer was £6.
Didn't see anyone complaining!
Fuel is double was it was though. Going to be tough for some but only a few winter months and government seem to have covered the cost for us. Another £66 will come from energy company this month which will help pay. Make sure your getting the payments we are all entitled to. That helps.

 

[Notch7]

Our gas was £4 a day Inc standing charge last month. Boiler on all day

on that basis my boiler is way less efficient
last week the gas usage was £4 a day, that was for central heating on for 1 hour in the morning, 2 hours in the evening. Mind you that’s an old old boiler, the sort where the pilot light stays on, open vented jobbie. (Semi D house)

I really need to improve insulation levels before upgrading boiler

 

[Wayners]

I've gone around house draft proofing.
We have condensing combi boiler that's 15 years old..
Look up options, but one idea is to turn boiler to 50c and leave on 24/7
Run for a few days and see what costs comes out at vs on off at higher temperature

 

[JohnD]

Let me give a bit more info...
We have a 5 bed semi detached house.
The boiler is a new (2 years old), it's a Vailant boiler - Ecotec Sustain I think (it's one of the cheapest ones) and is either 30kw or 35kw.

So... what you guys are saying is that to heat up from zero will cost a big amount.
But to then keep the heating on after 1 hour, should be a much lower relative cost?

We're with EDF. Not on fixed contract.
Can I get the rate charged on the smart meter?
I checked, there isn't any information.
The only thing it's reporting back is that we've used a shockingly low amount of fuel! £10 for last week!! (Have I got things wrong there?)

Hoping the above info will let you guys give me a better answer.

1. Turning on the boiler for 1 hour and leaving for 2-3 hours and turning on again for 1 hour...
2. Turning on the boiler for 4 hours straight...

Which one is better, 1 or 2? I'm guessing 2... since you are not heating a cold house a second time??

Thanks.

What have you got the room thermostat turned to?

 

[Mottie]

So... what you guys are saying is that to heat up from zero will cost a big amount.
But to then keep the heating on after 1 hour, should be a much lower relative cost?

Yes. Think of it like a car. With an instantaneous mpg reading, accelerating from 0-60 will show you a mpg of about 15mpg. once you hit 60 and back off the throttle to cruise at 60, you will be showing 45mpg. All you are doing for that one hour of heating is the accelerating!

 

[OM2]

What have you got the room thermostat turned to?

25 degrees
Last year, we used to have at 27 degrees

Thanks to your feedbacks, I'll experiment with leaving the heating on for longer periods.

The worst thing is: it's not even cold yet!
The temp is double figures in the middle of the day.
Below 10 when it gets dark though.

I feel soo bad for some people who will have to choose to eat or keep warm

 

[JohnD]

Turn it to 18C for a start, and stop walking round the house naked.