Woman and central heating - please don't laugh at me :)

[lost in heating space]

Hello,

At the beginning I want to say - sorry for such basic and stupid questions but I just don't know how to solve my heating problems
I know nothing about it, I've searched for information but my problem still exists.

The thing is that my CH turns off during the day or the night despite the fact I set up the timeswitch on CONSTANT mode. It just behaves as if it was working in timed mode. I downloaded the manual of the timeswitch (it's Randall 103), I tried all the options to set it properly but it still works as it wants.

The next thing is that my heating seems to be terribly expensive. CH as well as hot water are run by gas supplied by EON. I have five radiators in the flat (3 big ones and 2 smaller ones), it's a 1-bed small flat and I am charged between 3,5 and 5 pounds EVERY day for heating and hot water. My gas supplier charges me 3,235p per kWh but still the whole gas usage seems simply too high.

I have a pre-payment meter now, maybe that's the reason? Or maybe there is something wrong with the flat's isolation/ (however it's well maintained biulding, not very old, with double-glazing etc). I just cannot believe that I am to pay more than 100 pound every month for gas.

 

[lor]

pay as u go meters do cost more but 100 pounds a month is far too high .

Do u have a room thermostat on your wall , does it turn the heating off when u turn it down ?

 

[lost in heating space]

Do u have a room thermostat on your wall , does it turn the heating off when u turn it down ?

Yes, there is a thermostat on the wall, it usually is set at 20 but when I turn it down to 10 the radiators become cold. When I come back to 20 they start working again but sometimes they just don't work at all - and I just don't know if it's because of that crazy timeswitch or maybe the gas flame disappaeared.

 

[doitall]

3 Big ones and 2 smaller ones in a 1 bed flat

Are you sure that it's not a secondary meter and the landlord is making a profit

 

[Corgigrouch]

£100 a month for a one bed flat is much too much, I pay a little less than £40 per month for a1930s, 3 bed semi but I do pay by direct debit and I do keep it pretty warm.

The boiler will come on and off as the boilers own water 'stat and the room thermostat dictate even if your timer is set to constant... if when the boiler is off, does it light up again when you turn up the room stat? If so then this indicates that your room is at it's set temperature and your boiler does not need to be on...Just a thought

 

[Gasguru]

Is the meter external, is the flat a conversion, it's not unknown to find your meter also supplies someone else's boiler/gas fire.

Next time you're away for a while, turn off the heating/hotwater and take a note of the meter index just to check it doesn't move.

Have you checked you have not inherited a large outstanding debt on the meter?

What boiler make/model?

 

[doitall]

Its not unheard of to have a radiator in a communal area connected to each flat

 

[lost in heating space]

There was a small debt when we moved in - but it was a couple of pounds, just a standing charge as the flat was not occupied for a couple of weeks. Now I top up my card every two-three days, and I have the full amount of the credit on the meter, so there is no debt.

However, I just realised that my meter is placed on the extrenal wall of the block, just by the door of the neighbour who lives in the ground floor flat and has and external entrance. The neighbour seems to be very friendly, and he informed us when we moved in that we should expect huge usage of gas as the heating 'eats' loads of it. Coincidence?

I'll turn everyting off completely tomorrow and check if gas is still used.


If it's about the boiler - I have no idea of it's type. It's covered with cardboard and there is no label or anything. Maybe it's somewhere else? No idea.


Oh, and the number of radiators - There are two HUGE radiators in the lounge and one HUGE in the bedroom and two small ones - in the kitchen and in the bathroom. There is even one tiny radiator in the storage but obviously I'm not using this one.

 

[heatingman]

Just spoke to my son, he has a pre-pay meter and can quite easily do £3/5 a day especially when its cold.

 

[doitall]

Are you sure that it's not a secondary meter and the landlord is making a profit

I would check that out as well

Whats with the covered in cardboard bit, not the boiler I hope.

Have you got a copy of the landlords certificate yet, if not get one, it's the law.

 

[doitall]

Just spoke to my son, he has a pre-pay meter and can quite easily do £3/5 a day especially when its cold.

Can you have a pre-payment meter with a boiler, I don't think so.

 

[Corgigrouch]

If it's about the boiler - I have no idea of it's type. It's covered with cardboard and there is no label or anything.

?????!!!!!

Do you have a current Landlords safety certificate?You should have a copy in your appliance pack

 

[lost in heating space]

I'm considering switching to a different supplier and have a traditional meter, with bills and so on. I did a check on http://www.uswitch.com/ and they estimated my gas and electriticy usage with current supplier at the pre-payment meter should be around 600 pounds a year. I pay not more than 1 pound foir electricity a day (with a cooker, washing machine, PC and telly often turned on) so it means I should pay not more than 340 pounds a year for gas. So the average is less than 30 quid a month. Even if I'm using the gas ONLY during the winter/autumn months, let's say 6 months a year, it still gives nor more than average of60 pounds...

So I will insist that there must be sth wrong with all that stuff.

 

[lost in heating space]

Do you have a current Landlords safety certificate?You should have a copy in your appliance pack

No

I've just realised that my 'appliance pack' consists of the new washing machine manual and that's all... and that in my previous homes I always had huge piles of papers with all kinds of manuals, instructions and certificates. However, it's the first time I rented a flat from the private landlord, not an agency. Well, I think I should speak to my landlord...

 

[Agile]

Can you have a pre-payment meter with a boiler, I don't think so.

Yes, of course you can John.

One point to note is that if these is a historical debt then the daily charge is set high to reclaim the amount owed.

Thenews always says there is one supplier who charges no more for a prepayment meter but no one ever says who!

Most prepays are 50% more than credit on SO.

Tony