excessive gas consumption?

[mikeds]

Hi, I know its winter time and time to start complaining of the cost of gas, however....
I just brought a new place with my in-laws to save a few quid on bills etc,
we both lived in semi's with traditional heating systems, not combi's, and our usual consumption over the winter quarter was about 120units each, so I 'm thinking that in our first quarter we should be looking at 240units, bigger house and all that.
Electricity usage is lower than the combined previous so that make sense

I had an interim gas bill and our consumption for 45 days is 744 units (so for this winter quarter that may be around the 1500 unit mark )
the gas meter is in cubic metres

It just seems so excessive

The new place has a potterton 100e combi and about 13rads, system runs on a timer and the boiler thermostat is set just below midway.
Timer is 4hrs in the morning and 4hrs at night.
New place is a bungalow with loft conversion.
We've got an electric shower and we only use the bath very occasionally as we all shower. All other appliances run off cold water feeds. Only other thing is a gas oven.
I've checked the system for leaks, and checked the oven consumption all both ok

Does this seem consumption seem right, what sort of fault if any could be in the boiler?
or should I bump off the in-laws now for the insurance to start paying the gas bill?
Thanks for any advice

 

[heatingman]

Sounds like a big draughty bungalow that gobbles the gas to keep warm. Check insulation and get some extra jumpers.

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo mikeds and welcome

was your opening gas and electric reading supplied by you !!!!

read your meters every week to give you an accurate consumption

your previous bills may be estimates or previous owner drastickly undereading the meter

 

[giblets]

your previous bills may be estimates or previous owner drastickly undereading the meter

Would the previous owner not have had to settle his gas bill when he moved out?

 

[big-all]

you should both take a reading[which shoulds agree within a few units]

if they are unscrupulous or make a mistake and you dont send in a reading they can only go by what readings they are given or possibly even an estimate
but whatever happens you pick up the bills from the point they left off wether right or wrong

 

[mikej2005]

I had an interim gas bill and our consumption for 45 days is 744 units (so for this winter quarter that may be around the 1500 unit mark )
the gas meter is in cubic metres

It just seems so excessive

Before I replaced my entire central heating system in my 1970's 4-bed detached house, the system comprised of a 35-year-old conventional boiler, hot water cylinder and 14 radiators. There were no other gas appliances in the house, we had electric showers and the meter reading for Nov/Dec/Jan was 1034 units, which equated to a bill of £333.

I was horrified at that figure, so I'd definitely looking into it if it was 50% higher, as you think your's might be !

As mentioned above, increasing the amount of loft insulation can make a difference - I doubled mine to around 10" and did notice a difference. Do you have sufficient insulation in the roof above the loft conversion ?

Cavity wall insulation also helps keep in the heat.

Do you have TRVs on all the radiators and a remote thermostat for the boiler ? These will allow the boiler to run more efficiently.

 

[mikeds]

Thanks for the advice in answer to a few of the questions

I read the meter the day we moved in and checked the meter reading when I got the bill, I don't dispute the meter readings.

All the central heating pipes run through the loft space around the loft conversion, these were unlagged until yesterday.
However, since doing this I notice the pressure on the boiler has increased, now running at 3.5bar as opposed to 3.

At the same time we've increased the loft insulation from 150mm to 300mm - hopefully this should make some improvement.

There is no remote thermostat/ room stat, the only stat is the one on the boiler, a room stat might be a wise investment then?

There are only 2 TRV's on the system, it's in the program for this year along with the decorating

Checked all the doors and windows for draughts to reduce cold bits, house is fully double glazed.

I've got the gas board coming out to check the boiler, I can't accept a 6 fold increase on gas consumption, will have to get a treadmill for the old folks

 

[big-all]

are you on a duel fuel deal!!!!

some companys do deals for pensioner familys!!!

you could save 1/3 if your on origional gas and leccy supplier

try u switch or one off the other comparason websites

http://www.uswitch.com/

 

[ChrisR]

All the central heating pipes run through the loft space around the loft conversion, these were unlagged until yesterday.

That can make a 30% difference!
You can check your own meter, see FAQ (around number 37 ish)

 

[Agile]

Would the previous owner not have had to settle his gas bill when he moved out?

Thats a bad assumption many people make!

I met a landlord who ASSUMED his new tenants would take over the gas supply!

They did not ! When they left two years later the landlord found he had a debt of £2000 in his name because the clever tenants had never put the supply into their names!

Tony

 

[mikej2005]

There is no remote thermostat/ room stat, the only stat is the one on the boiler, a room stat might be a wise investment then?

There are only 2 TRV's on the system, it's in the program for this year along with the decorating

Only having control on the boiler itself isn't really considered adequate these days. It's possible that your boiler may keep running even though your rooms are up to temperature and this is obviously a waste of energy.

 

[JohnD]

or to put it another way, lagging the pipes, getting a room stat and TRVs might have cost you less money than your gas bill.

(pipes in an unheated space, both loft and underfloor, ought to be lagged with the BS foam sleeves, which are as thick as your arm.) All the hot water pipes should also be lagged (I see you have a combi, so no cylinder).

If you have older people in the house you can usually get grants towards insulation. Look at the web sites of your Gas supplier and electricity supplier to see what schemes they have. They are generally very reliable for quality of work as they have a reputation to uphold. they are also very unlikely to do a poor job and run off wih your money or go bust.

 

[giblets]

Would the previous owner not have had to settle his gas bill when he moved out?

Thats a bad assumption many people make!

I met a landlord who ASSUMED his new tenants would take over the gas supply!

They did not ! When they left two years later the landlord found he had a debt of £2000 in his name because the clever tenants had never put the supply into their names!

Tony, the OP said that he had bought a new place so not rented.

Surely the solicitors acting in the sale would have tied this point up quite nicely. In fact, I seem to remember that is actually forms part of the paperwork that the seller has to fill in.

In your example the gas suppliers must have been very lax in letting two years go by without receiving payment & therefore disconnection.

 

[mikeds]

Hi, thanks for all the advice
Some people advising me to switch suppliers and go duel fuel to get cheaper bills, I wasn't too worried about the cost of the bill just the units used, but thanks for the advice, I am dual fuel, the old folks don't qualify yet for grants, but I'm working on it

As for the boiler, room stat (see question2) & TRV's will be in as soon as I can, & frost stat for the loft?

More Q's
1. ChrisR - I've looked at FAQ39 to check my own meter, specs on the boiler are:-, which KW am I looking for, crank it up and take the max input rate?

Heat Input:
Max. 36.0 kW (122,870 Btu/h)
Range Rate (C.H. Only) 20.2 kW (69,050 Btu/h)
Min. 15.5 kW (52,880 Btu/h)

Heat Output:
Max. 29.0 kW (98,980 Btu/h)
Range Rate (C.H. Only) 15.5 kW (52,880 Btu/h)
Min. 11.5 kW (39,235 Btu/h)

2. Room Stat:- can I use the Honeywell system with zoning for my boiler as I quite fancy just keeping the old folks warm, Honeywell system is the R6660D and CMT927 wireless unit?

We'll finish the lagging this coming weekend, and I have used that massive pipe lagging "thick as yer arm" for all the pipes where possible, some pipes have beeen run so close that.....

Once again thanks for all the advice, I really was disapointed when the bill came in.

 

[JMW1]

The same thing just happened to me, and I've been monitoring my true gas readings for some years.

I suspect the frost stat has been overriding the heating often recently presumably in the middle of the night due to the temperatures. I've removed it from the system and will see how it goes.