boiler problem, huge gas bill

[ballyclover]

hi

hope someone can help, i have a baxi combi boiler 2 years old next month, during the cold snap i experianced a frozen condensate pipe which stopped the boiler working.I fixed that problem.

Just had my gas bill for the last month,Nov 24 to dec 31 and it was £150.00.

My question is the boiler has 2 dials a hot water temp dial which is set at 60 degrees and the central heating which was set at 80 degrees. Could this explain my high bill.

could the frozen pipe have caused more gas to be used?

i only have gas central heating and a gas fire,which has been used for at least 2 weeks out of the month. Also the shower is hot water fed.

i m just at a loss as to why its so expensive.

the temperture on the hallway thermosat is set at 21 degrees, so the heating only comes on if it drops below that, though we do over ride it now and then

the thermastatic valves on the radiators is set to setting 5

any advice would be appreciated

cheers

 

[spraggo]

hi

hope someone can help, i have a baxi combi boiler 2 years old next month, during the cold snap i experianced a frozen condensate pipe which stopped the boiler working.I fixed that problem.

Just had my gas bill for the last month,Nov 24 to dec 31 and it was £150.00.

My question is the boiler has 2 dials a hot water temp dial which is set at 60 degrees and the central heating which was set at 80 degrees. Could this explain my high bill.

could the frozen pipe have caused more gas to be used?

i only have gas central heating and a gas fire,which has been used for at least 2 weeks out of the month. Also the shower is hot water fed.

i m just at a loss as to why its so expensive.

the temperture on the hallway thermosat is set at 21 degrees, so the heating only comes on if it drops below that, though we do over ride it now and then

the thermastatic valves on the radiators is set to setting 5

any advice would be appreciated

cheers

You don`t state what size boiler or house you have but turning the thermostatic valves down to 3 would have saved you money

 

[ballyclover]

its a 3 bed house,not sure of boiler size, but the bills werent this high last winter.

the only thing i think may have changed was the central heating temp setting on the boiler,think it had been turned up to 80. I dont know what this should be and if this would have caused such a steep rise

 

[Corgigrouch]

What sort of gas fire is it? if it is a decorative flame effect, then that will use a lot of gas when it is running on full and be a perfect room cooling device when it is off

 

[Corgigrouch]

its a 3 bed house,not sure of boiler size, but the bills werent this high last winter.

The period mentioned has been colder than it was for the same period last winter......

 

[ballyclover]

i appreciate the temp has been alot colder,but not £100 more colder.

does anyone know what the setting on the boiler should be for the heating

 

[scatmanjohn]

Just had my gas bill for the last month,Nov 24 to dec 31 and it was £150.00.

Sounds normal. Coldest weather in living memory and increased gas prices = high gas bills.

My last month bill was £160. £80 more than last year for same period

 

[simond]

It really doesn't make much difference. You can't destroy energy and your new boiler, wherever the controls are set, will run more efficiently than the old one.

The physics of the thing is that gas consumption is proportional to exterior temperature. Some houses are better insulated than others, but if the weather is -10C outside your heating system has to work much harder to get to 19C inside, it needs to make up a 29C differential.

Generally, when you are quoting your more typical fiugures, it is around 5C outside aggregated across the winter months - leaving your boiler only having to make up 14C differential.

That is why significantly more gas was used for space heating over the recent exceptionally cold period.

Hot Water creation only accounts for around 15-20% of your annual gas bill, so for the rest of the year gas consumption is much much lower.

 

[ballyclover]

so basically everyones bill will be higher this last month.

but surely having the boiler central temp at 80 must add to the cost

 

[Corgigrouch]

What about your gas fire? What type is it and how much more did you use it and why?

 

[ianniann]

The difference between running your boiler set at 80C and running it in the most efficient way conceivable is less than 10%. Look elsewhere for the source of your woes. I agree, most likely just the temperature.

Still, the best setting is the lowest one which heats your house to your satisfaction. Much of the year this will be lower than where you have it now. You might save yourself two or three percent.

Modern gas fires are horrible, frequently running at half the efficiency of a condensing boiler. Those lovely old ones with the serrated ceramic bars in the flames were considerably better although still not as efficient as a good boiler. Worth it if you can heat one or two rooms and have the rest of the house cold, but not worth it (money-wise) to have on in one or two rooms and the rest of the house heated by a boiler.

 

[big-all]

you can only compare like with like if all factors apart from 1 are the same

was your gas consumption base on actual reading last year and this or estimate bills??

 

[JohnD]

Just had my gas bill for the last month,Nov 24 to dec 31 and it was £150.00.

this is quite normal in exceptionally cold weather. The alternative is to have a colder house. Make sure your insulation and draughtproofing and pipe lagging are all up to scratch.

 

[doitall]

The price of my gas per unit is 300% more than last year, when my fixed price tariff run out.

 

[Agile]

Anyone who has a condensing boiler who does not know that they only work most efficiently with a 70 degree flow temperature deserved to pay a lot more!

Similarly those who wear shorts and teeshirt and heat the house to 24 degrees.

If the cost is important to you then buy a good thick pullover and set the room temps to 18 degrees and you will feel warmer and save gas!

Tony