average gas comsumption of 51Kw hours - good/bad/normal?

[AlF2008]

Hi folks

Just looking for some general idea of what would be considered normal usage. I've never had gas before but I believe it should be more economical than electrical heating even with the recent price rises. I've just entered the first gas reading for a bill and it says that the average daily consumption has been 51Kw hours between march and now. I did do a comparison when we moved into the house and we went with ScottishPower on their online energy 4 dual tariff. I know the recent increases in prices means its no longer the cheapest but it should still be reasonably good.

The house is a 3 bed detached bungalow. Boiler is an old Baxi bermuda back boiler, 6 radiators (all but one with TRVs as of april) and gas cooker. Heating and HW are on 2 hours in the morning and 5 hours in the evening. Room thermostat set at around 19 degrees. There is decent loft insulation (2 layers probably about 8 inches in total between the old and new combined) and cavity wall insulation. There are no floor coverings and the heating pipes are not insulated.

I realise that every house is different and its difficult to put a precise figure on any specific situation but I would be grateful for general opinions as to whether its in the right ballpark or not (+/- 25%)?

Also any pointers on where the best use of effort might be to try and reduce future usage - floor coverings, draught exclusion, pipe insulation, all of the above?

the house will hopefully be getting extended in the next 12 months or so so we may well have to change boiler at that point.

Thanks for any advice
Al

 

[JohnD]

that's 51kWh per average day, for the winter period plus recent warm weather?

p.s. I have it in meter readings (cubic metres) not kWh and I used 1563 in 12 months (about 4.3 cu m per average day through the year) ,of which 15/2/08 to 30/5/08 was 513 cu M, about 7 cu m per day in cold period

 

[Agile]

You have already done the most important thing, cavity insulation.

Your boiler will be powerful enough for the extension but it would be a good idea to replace it just on grounds of efficiency as you can save about 30% on your gas consumption with a new condensing boiler and proper controls.

Tony

 

[AlF2008]

Its for 81 days between march and june so it does include a mix of cold and warmer weather although I dont think its been as hot up in scotland as else where this year.

The units used were

Electric -

• total 792
  daily 10

Gas -

• total 4106
  daily 51

[/list]

 

[AlF2008]

You have already done the most important thing, cavity insulation.

Thats good to know.

Your boiler will be powerful enough for the extension but it would be a good
idea to replace it just on grounds of efficiency as you can save about 30% on your gas consumption with a new condensing boiler and proper controls.
Tony

The boiler is almost certainly going to be moved to somewhere else when the extension is done and hence we will get a new one at that point.

I've bought a 2 channel control unit to get more control over the HW timing as it can only be on at the same time as the heating using the current timer which I'll hopefully be fitting in the relatively near future.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[AlF2008]

p.s. 15/2/08 to 30/5/08 was 513 cu M, about 7 cu m per day in cold period

thanks for that. I'll see if I can find a conversion factor between cubic metres and kwh. what size of house do you have? (provided you dont mind saying of course!)

 

[wiggikins]

Kwh divided by 10.7 = M3 per hr.

 

[AlF2008]

Just checked on one of the online comparison sites and it seems that I am on the cheapest tariff available (even if it doesn't cover 100% of the market, it cant be too bad).


edit:

Kwh divided by 10.7 = M3 per hr.

thanks for that. So I'm using approx 5 m3 per hour compared to JohnD's 7. hope he has a huge house or he must have more drafts than us (which would be rather impressive!)

 

[JohnD]

heated all day.

 

[AlF2008]

Ah that would make a big difference. We are both out all day so no need for day time heating during cold periods except at the weekends.

 

[Agile]

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So I'm using approx 5 m3 per hour compared to JohnD's 7. hope he has a huge house or he must have more drafts than us (which would be rather impressive!)

I doubt that you are using 5m³ per hour on a back boiler!

Tony

 

[JohnD]

Not that I claim to know about these things, but I think more likely
kWh divided by 10.7 = m³

(not m³ per hr.)

and this is your daily use.

 

[AlF2008]

Not that I claim to know about these things, but I think more likely
kWh divided by 10.7 = m³

(not m³ per hr.)

and this is your daily use.

I haven't been pulled up for incorrect units since A level physics

Thanks for all the help guys. New programmer arrive last night and its a nice simple swap over as its got a wiring conversion table from common units which includes the existing one.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Gas -

• total 4106
  daily 51

I assume these numbers are taken from your gas bill and are not just the meter readings.

If you are using 51kwh per day then, based on your daily on/off times of 7 hours per day that means an average boiler output of about 7.3kw. If you divide this by the quoted input of your boiler you can work out the % of time your boiler is alight.

 

[AlF2008]

Gas -

• total 4106
  daily 51

I assume these numbers are taken from your gas bill and are not just the meter readings.

If you are using 51kwh per day then, based on your daily on/off times of 7 hours per day that means an average boiler output of about 7.3kw. If you divide this by the quoted input of your boiler you can work out the % of time your boiler is alight.

Yeah they are straight off the online usage table after I entered the readings.

What does knowing how long the boiler is alight tell me? Persumably if it was on 95% of the time then its running pretty much flat out and perhaps under-specced for the system? What sort of figure would be good?

I'll need to check the input rating when I get home as I cant find a spec for the boiler (Baxi Bermuda 57/4) online.