Massive gas bill, Baxi Solo 3 60 PF

[Lateshift]

Hi all,

I am hoping someone might be able to steer me in the right direction here as my central heating system is driving me up the wall and to financial ruin!

In a nutshell i recently got a gas bill for £132 from British Gas for 39 days gas.

So taking the advice of their customer service helpline i started logging the gas useage with and without certain things switched on.

I noted that over a 24hr period with no hotwater or central heating on it used as you would expect 0 units of gas

With just the hot water on, it used .7 of a unit also over 24hrs

However with the room thermostat set at 17 degrees it has used a little over 5 units in the last 24hrs

Set at 10-12 degrees it uses 3 units of gas.


Now in the flat there is 6 radiators, 1 of which is permanently switched off.

I cant for the life of me understand how the central heating is using so much gas, its astronomical and a recent visit by a heating engineer ended in misery as he couldnt find what was causing it.

He pressure tested the gas system and found that to be okay after having to replace a load of piping etc that the landlord of the flat had bodged in himself, this was to sort the central heating system out because it literally needed bleeding everyday.

Any ideas where to start looking?

Also, could anyone confirm whether or not this system that the landlord/agent has fitted is suitable for gravity fed domestic hot water, the Baxi site suggest no, however this has no pump and the hot water literally trickles out (takes 20 minutes to fill a bath at least and doesnt need any cold adding at all before you get in??? )

Many thanks in advance

 

[gazthepottertonengineer]

Also, could anyone confirm whether or not this system that the landlord/agent has fitted is suitable for gravity fed domestic hot water, the Baxi site suggest no, however this has no pump and the hot water literally trickles out (takes 20 minutes to fill a bath at least and doesnt need any cold adding at all before you get in??? )

Many thanks in advance

I think you are getting mixed up as it is suitable for a gravity fed hot water cylinder which is what you have got but there will be a circulating pump which circulates the water around the cylinder meaning fully pumped
the system its not suitable for is a gravity hot water circulation where the water from the boiler circulates around the hot water cylinder by gravity and not the circulation pump !

Also i know its alot of money and i have been called out to alot of people blaming there boilers for huge gas bills recently but i think it may have something to do with the price of gas going up by around 30-40% and it being rather cold recently

 

[Lateshift]

I cant see the gas price going up causing this though, if i set the programme to bring the heating on at 5am and off again at 9am, then come back on from 4pm through to 10pm and set it at 15 degrees then it shouldnt be using 3 units of gas according to British gas themselves, if i move the thermostat up to 17 degrees then its verging on 6 units.

At present British Gas even with the price rise are quoting around £35 for a 3 bedroom house at this time of the year with the system we have, i live in a 1 bed flat so there is no way it should be using that.

Even with the price rise, it doesnt explain why in 39 days a gas bill should be £132

 

[breezer]

At present British Gas even with the price rise are quoting around £35 for a 3 bedroom house at this time of the year

if that's per month dont believe them, ours is near on £100 pm and like you we have a 3bed semi

 

[scatmanjohn]

I went to a baxi solo yesterday, customer couldn't believe the size of gas bill. Checked it out and as suspected did not find any problems.
Its the price of gas, get yourself wrapped up well and turn down the heating a bit.
And expect it to get more expensive when your next quartely bill arrives

This time last year my quartely bill was £350 (approx 90 days) Thats approx £3.80 per day

Yours works out at approx £3.40 per day

£35 per month for your gas bill? Dream on

 

[gazthepottertonengineer]

I cant see the gas price going up causing this though, if i set the programme to bring the heating on at 5am and off again at 9am, then come back on from 4pm through to 10pm and set it at 15 degrees then it shouldnt be using 3 units of gas according to British gas themselves, if i move the thermostat up to 17 degrees then its verging on 6 units.

At present British Gas even with the price rise are quoting around £35 for a 3 bedroom house at this time of the year with the system we have, i live in a 1 bed flat so there is no way it should be using that.

Even with the price rise, it doesnt explain why in 39 days a gas bill should be £132

It all depends on the temperature outside thought because if its -5 outside your boiler will be running almost constantly to keep your house at 17 degrees depending on how well your house is insulated

i have a baxi solo and a 3 bed semi and my bill was £180 for 1 month so well over the £35

 

[Lateshift]

To start with, its a 1 bed flat

And living in Southend the lowest its been here is -1 at most, i dont particularly feel the cold anyway so for the most part the thermostat has been set at 10 degrees and even then its drawing 3 units of gas for 10 hrs use.

I can literally hear the boiler kicking in every 5 minutes when its turned on, but at the rate its going through gas i am not even turning it on because its more economical to use any high consumption electrical device over the central heating system

 

[Lateshift]

£35 per month for your gas bill? Dream on

The heating settings never changed from November through to December and yet the November bill was £28

 

[scatmanjohn]

Lateshift...so whats your theory then? let us know and we can either agree or disagree

 

[Lateshift]

I wish i knew

If i was a plumber or a heating engineer then i would be as baffled as the Corgi registered bloke that took a look at it and left as baffled as me (mind you he did say that the landlord had bodged it all in when he had fitted it himself).


I would never have though fan heaters could be more economical than gas central heating to be honest

 

[gazthepottertonengineer]

did the corgi engineer range rate the boiler by checking how much gas it used himself

 

[gazthepottertonengineer]

To start with, its a 1 bed flat

god knows why you have got a 60,000Btu boiler in a 1 bed flat anyway a 30,000 would have been how many rads have you got

 

[scatmanjohn]

Lateshift.

You have said that you have the heating on for 10 hours per day.

That is costing you approx £3.40 per day at the moment. (sounds normal to me)

Three people have told you that their bill is even more than yours.
So there is either something wrong with all our systems or its the price of the gas thats causing the big bills.

Its up to you what you want to believe

 

[Soggy_weetabix]

have you recently had a meter reading whilst all a lot of previous been estimates?

And...have you read the gas meter correctly?

Or even worse...proveide a 'leccy' reading

Seen it twice in last 3 months so I know it can happen

David

 

[bripl]

six with one permantly off and a 60.000 boiler are you sure your not heating the rest of the block,as has been said was the boiler range rated? do you have trvs are the windows closed? is their any form of temp con trol on the hw is it wired correctly, is the flat insulated,has the hw tank got a jacket.you have already said about bodged pipework what else is lurking in your property