Massive Gas Bill

[andybailey2003]

Hope somebody can offer some advise, i have received large gas bills since moving into a new house about 22 months ago. We have a old gas combi bolier, say about 10/12 years old. We have this on for maybe 6 hours a day maximum. My direct debit has just been put upto £260 per month for gas and electricity, most of this is gas.

I have been on the phone to edf and the girl thought it might be my boiler as its still using alot of gas even in the summer.

I have just left the boiler on for 1 hour and it has used 2.4 units. Is this alot? I work this our at about £1.08 an hour?

The breakdown on my bill say i used 44,119 kwh of gas last year.

I could do with some advise before i complain to my landlord if it sounds faulty, what should be the average per hour with a boiler on full,

Thank you in advance

Andy

 

[Killy Bing]

What is the make and model of the combi?

 

[kirkgas]

What is the make and model of the combi?

Once we have this someone can tell you how much gas it's using per hr, then you can work out the bill, you can take a reading then put the heating on for an hour from cold and this will tell you how much gas it burns in the first hour, but it won't/shouldn't use this much every hour, once the house is hot the heating will go on and off

 

[andybailey2003]

Once we have this someone can tell you how much gas it's using per hr, then you can work out the bill, you can take a reading then put the heating on for an hour from cold and this will tell you how much gas it burns in the first hour, but it won't/shouldn't use this much every hour, once the house is hot the heating will go on and off

Hi i have a baxi combi instant 105e.

the wife has just told me that she has to top the water pressure up every couple of days, so this might explain it?

 

[Howsie]

That won't explain it but does point to another problem.

 

[Howsie]

Can you describe your house please?

 

[andybailey2003]

That won't explain it but does point to another problem.

Hi its a large 3 bedroomed house with all double glazing except 2 bedrooms upstairs. Its an old house about 100 years old. It isnt the most energy efficient house i know but the bills are high even in the summer when we only use the hot water.

 

[Ermintrude]

Is pre heat on? This will eat gas ! Also insulation and a room thermostat would be a good idea . What was the epc when u moved in?

 

[tamz]

Could be about right.
Get onto your landlord and tell him he can get free insulation, double glazing, new boiler etc etc.
Look up Green Deal/Eco

 

[happyflyer]

Hope somebody can offer some advise, i have received large gas bills since moving into a new house about 22 months ago. We have a old gas combi bolier, say about 10/12 years old. We have this on for maybe 6 hours a day maximum. My direct debit has just been put upto £260 per month for gas and electricity, most of this is gas.

I have been on the phone to edf and the girl thought it might be my boiler as its still using alot of gas even in the summer.

I have just left the boiler on for 1 hour and it has used 2.4 units. Is this alot? I work this our at about £1.08 an hour?

The breakdown on my bill say i used 44,119 kwh of gas last year.

I could do with some advise before i complain to my landlord if it sounds faulty, what should be the average per hour with a boiler on full,

Thank you in advance

Andy

Andy,

44,000 kwh per year is a unbelievable amount of gas, I have no idea what you class as 2.4 units, please don't try to explain, here a good idea that may help, take a photo of your gas meter tomorrow and then take another photo the same time Wednesday and I mean the same time, 24 hrs exactly, then take another photo of the meter next Tuesday at the same time as this Tuesday, we will then have 24 hrs reading and one week reading and then none of use will waste posts guessing what is going on. Post us the day reading Wednesday and then the week one next week

Tony

 

[snowhead]

How many females are there in the house?

 

[happyflyer]

Andy,

Just to compare I live in a 4 bed detached gas heating and water, electric cooking and my gas used in the year is 14,000 Kwh, loft 18" deep insulation and every room is controlled
with battery operate TRV, we do still like room to be nice and warm, we could probably reduce it by 30% if we tweaked. House 20 years old. Cavity wall insulated


Tony

 

[happyflyer]

How many females are there in the house?

Why not try and guess, there is probably a formula for it somewhere or a BR

 

[tamz]

Just checked mine for the last year and it was 27214. The forecast for the next 12 months bills is £1296.98.

 

[Ermintrude]

Use imeasure . It's an energy use tracking app from Cambridge energy institute. Very useful. ( it's web based!!

 

[andybailey2003]

How many females are there in the house?

Hi i have just looked aand preheat dial was on full. Us this the priblem then?
I will have a look at the funding as this sounds like ut could help us.

I have a family if 4 with the wife and 1 boy and 1 girl

 

[happyflyer]

Just checked mine for the last year and it was 27214. The forecast for the next 12 months bills is £1296.98.

Look where you live Tamz you are on the latitude has Siberia and you have all the oil, but we have all the shale gas, hope you are oil safe.

 

[tamz]

Chain saw safe Tony :wink:
I'm hopefully getting the roof on the house before the snow comes :wink:

 

[kirkgas]

Just checked mine for the last year and it was 27214. The forecast for the next 12 months bills is £1296.98.

We used 19,710 kW/hrs last year, counted them up as Scottish power are trying to put my monthly payment from £148 to £225 per month, and I'm not having it

 

[Ermintrude]

Pre heat keeps boiler at 45c all the time!!!

 

[tamz]

We used 19,710 kW/hrs last year, counted them up as Scottish power are trying to put my monthly payment from £148 to £225 per month, and I'm not having it

I pay £212/month for mine. The both were overpaid by £300 and odds. They refunded the electric but are leaving the gas.
I used more last year but we had 2ft of snow for 2 1/2 months.

 

[lame plumber]

for the op have you taken a meter reading and sent them to your provider, as they may well be using estimated readings based on your last few months usage which bears no resemblence to actual usage as they aim to cover their costs, and increases over he next 12 months. you need to check acrual usage over 12 months and go fm there

 

[kirkgas]

I pay £212/month for mine. The both were overpaid by £300 and odds. They refunded the electric but are leaving the gas.
I used more last year but we had 2ft of snow for 2 1/2 months.

The boss went on to "uswitch" and we are now paying £120 per month for gas and electric

 

[happyflyer]

Hi i have just looked aand preheat dial was on full. Us this the priblem then?
I will have a look at the funding as this sounds like ut could help us.

I have a family if 4 with the wife and 1 boy and 1 girl

Andy,

If this massive gas usage is all down to preheat, I would be surprised, if you have now turned the preheat off and you do the photos of the meter you will foul up your tests, if you are going to do the photos like I said you should do them with the preheat back on for both day test and week test, that way you can run the test again with the preheat off, do you understand what I am getting at, you never said you would do the test anyway, are you going to, I can't help you if you don't, this is the basis of deep digging for you. At least by letting us see the meter reading you can see what the preheat really cost you.



Tony

 

[Ermintrude]

Pre heat won't be responsible for more than 7 to 20% I would suggest single glazed windows and insulation may be an massive loss!'imeasure will do a lot for you

 

[RoryD]

Someone should be looking at this boiler, it's not an issue to be resolved remotely however well intentioned. If a GSR engineer went in and checked the basics it would be a great datum point to start from

 

[Mrs Tara Plumbi]

Without checking my own bills I think it sounds like something is very wrong. I work from home and so my detached house is kept nice and warm all winter (I mean between 19-21 degrees - not the high temperatures that some people like). We have combi boiler with preheat on, I run the hot tap every few minutes!

My DD for gas is less than £100 pcm and that about covers it over the year - I am of course on the warm south coast which is always a few degrees warmer than inland.

It is a 3 bed house but mostly we have the TRVs on 0 in the bedrooms - after all I'm hot stuff when I go up there! We do have double glazing OTT loft insulation and cavity wall insulation.

To OP i strongly recommend you check out insulation esp in loft and get it upgraded - this makes huge difference.

Perhaps not your problem but I once had a friend in a maisonette who had massive gas bills - it was even investigated but took YEARS to discover the two neighbours were paying each others bills!

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

For the sake of a call out charge a GSR could save you quite a sum over a year just by looking at the set up and making some recommendations. I used 9002.5 KWH in the last 12 months but I live on my own in a 3 bed 1950's semi. 18" loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, all double glazing, porch plus I'm a tight git! Oh and mine is a system boiler. And i'm in need of a new boiler too 🙂 circea 20+ years old boiler.

 

[happyflyer]

Pre heat won't be responsible for more than 7 to 20% I would suggest single glazed windows and insulation may be an massive loss!'imeasure will do a lot for you

Shut that door....:carolers: and tell them to sod off, we're heating half of Watford

 

[andybailey2003]

Had a word with the landlord and they have a british gas service contract so they are coming to look at it tomorrow.
Cheers

Andy

 

[happyflyer]

Had a word with the landlord and they have a british gas service contract so they are coming to look at it tomorrow.
Cheers

Andy

Andy,

End of your problems, glad you will get it sorted.

Tony

 

[PowerFlusher2]

We have a Baxi Instant 105E and only use the preheat for 5 minutes before we wash the dishes or use the sink upstairs - this is additionally driven by having had a water meter installed - takes 4 litres of water down the drain to get hot upstairs. 3 bed 2 storey house, built 1995, double glazed with HUGE conservatory, loft insulation, builders 1" pink foam cavity insulation (looking at getting that upgraded!), end of terrace. Disabled wife who cannot be allowed to get cold - cos she hits me with her walking stick when temp goes below 20deg. EBICO is gas supplier. Gas bill for quarter ending 7 October 2013 - GBP11.91p. (Oops, got my 5s and 9s mixed up!)

PS - meant to also include that since April have paid GBP40.00p per month direct debit (as you do) and currently sitting on GBP230.00p credit, most of which will transfer to cover electricity bill - we have fishpond with pumps and filters on 24/7 so always have been a high(ish) leccy user but having solar panels installed next week to take care of that (for daylight hours anyway!)

 

[tamz]

£11.39 for a quarter?
Do you keep her wrapped in a bag of glass wool :lol:

 

[PowerFlusher2]

£11.39 for a quarter?
Do you keep her wrapped in a bag of glass wool :lol:

Hello Tamz,

is this another preamble?

 

[jefaz]

I pay £66 per month for gas AND electric.