How much do you spend on gas each day?

[Bobby Dazzler]

So not in t’North. In the balmy Midlands.

And as new a system as anyone could hope for.

Point 1: if you want to defeat Putin and save thousands, turn the thermostat down and ask whether you need all rooms to be equally hot.

Point 2: put a grid on the fridge door with the amount of money spent on energy each week. It’ll act as a constant reminder.

Point 3: check out why that plant room is so hot. Pipes not lagged? Boiler on too long? I’d be looking at a shorter run time.

View attachment 133795View attachment 133796

The pipes are reasonably well lagged in the plant room - I will investigate!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Any thoughts on whether it’s better to run heating 24/7 on a low heat, say 18 degrees rather than have an on/off cycle of 22/off?

 

[BTB 500]

Any thoughts on whether it’s better to run heating 24/7 on a low heat, say 18 degrees rather than have an on/off cycle of 22/off?

ISTR that current advice is on/off rather than continuous. But I'm sure it depends a bit on insulation etc., so probably not black & white.

 

[Skd884]

on/off

 

[Bellow]

It's down to the number of 'appliances' you have running I suspect.
Our (yours and mine) usage is similar over the past month in terms of time, but so far the number of radiators I've been using is 3-4 medium sized ones and with the thermostat a touch lower. £63 for gas over the last month - £2.10/day.
Two year old combi boiler (heats water directly - no tank) and old but capable radiators in a standalone house that is neither well or poorly insulated in a cold corner of the UK.
So, allowing for both your increased number of radiators, UF heating and towel rails relative to mine and your likely greater consumption of hot water (only me here), I'd guess your system is functioning as expected.

I got the pricing wrong - should have read £81.22 that was for the period 01/10/22 to 23/10/22 so only 23 days and the daily cost was £3.53/day.
Gas priced at 14.749p/kW.hr, Standing charge at 31.939p/day.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

If "The Steering Committee" is the problem on temperature settings for the house, maybe some surreptitious heat adjustment might work: 1 degree at a time?

 

[Skd884]

Elec -



Gas -

 

[JHS]

Electricity

Product name	Exclusive Energy Oct 2023v3
Product type	Fixed
Product end date	31 October 2023
Rate (including VAT)
Any time	25.59p per kWh
Standing charge	22.40p per day

GAS

Product name	Exclusive Energy Oct 2023v3
Product type	Fixed
Product end date	31 October 2023
Rate (including VAT)
Any time	5.31p per kWh
Standing charge	24.75p per day

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

If "The Steering Committee" is the problem on temperature settings for the house, maybe some surreptitious heat adjustment might work: 1 degree at a time?

 

[davymead]

I moved house a couple of weeks ago and the amount I’m spending on gas has really surprised me. Each 24-hour period is costing £18 to have the heating on 21-degrees for just 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening, and to heat the water cylinder for just 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening.

Since prices shot up earlier in the year we have barely used any gas in our previous home as it was Spring/Summer, and so I don’t have anything to compare to. I’m left wondering whether it’s the new house, the increased cost of gas or maybe something not right with the meter or billing!

If it’s costing £550 per month now whilst the temperatures are still relatively mild, and heating only for 6 hours per day, then I shudder to think of the potential cost when temperatures fall and the heating is on for much longer each day. In the old house, the heating was on 24x7, those days are gone!

I know every situation is different, but I would be interested to hear how it compares to other peoples experience even if not directly comparable.

Genuinely numbed by figures posted. One of the biggest reasons behind buying a small apartment on the South Coast was as I’m now all but retired all living costs needed reducing. No pleasure in saying heating costs are tiny in comparison with what’s been posted. Thank God for the weather here.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Genuinely numbed by figures posted. One of the biggest reasons behind buying a small apartment on the South Coast was as I’m now all but retired all living costs needed reducing. No pleasure in saying heating costs are tiny in comparison with what’s been posted. Thank God for the weather here.

But sadly you have less of a reason to go to the pub or cinema of an evening,

in order to save a fortune on heating the house.

But I wouldn't let that put you off. Just take the energy cost saving into your calculations.

(In the past there were many reasons why people went out to work, went down the pub and even wore a jumper indoors....)

 

[ChrisHGTV]

ISTR that current advice is on/off rather than continuous. But I'm sure it depends a bit on insulation etc., so probably not black & white.

I’ve been looking at adding weather compensation to our system and in that case I think you leave it on when needed (I.e when it’s generally cold enough for heating). We’d need to have another run going from the boiler to the megaflo for it to work, which would be a bit of a pain. So I’m looking to see if a smart thermostat would provide similar-ish benefits with less hassle/disruption.

 

[Mactech]

I have never lived anywhere with mains gas, but I can give an idea of combined energy costs.
In the old draughty castle not that much north you, at today's prices we would have been just a little over £600 per month as an average over the year.
That would be almost equally split between oil and sparks.
In our current eco house that cost is down to less than £50 per month on average. I pay £70 p/m for sparks, but the house pays us about £100 p/m for the electricity we generate. Due to the rise in oil prices, I will now be paying £80 p/m for oil. Net £50 energy cost p/m
After various evaluations and due to the high grade insulation, we maintain the heating on 24/7 at a snug 23deg in the core of the house.

We are the same 2 people (+ dogs) living in a similar manor in a 4 bed home.
The house being designed from scratch to be an eco home is the major factor in our energy cost being less than 10% of our previous home.

 

[Rory]

Thank you for your reply. The house is 30 mileage north of Birmingham.

The boiler is 4 years old, and I’m told it’s relatively efficient but not 100% sure. I believe it’s a “System” boiler connected to a 250 litre water cylinder. In fact everything inside the house is 4 years old (including radiators, pipework, etc).

Although we heat the water twice each day for one hour, every 12 hours, the water is still hot moments before it starts the next heating cycle so the cylinder must be well insulated. That said the plant room - where the cylinder is - is very warm when you open the door.

Have you go the UFH manifolds in there? I imagine they give out a fair bit of heat.

We have a plant cupboard - like a large double wardrobe - in our utility room, also with a 250 litre cyl in it - a Gledhill, no doubt the cheapest one the builder could find. As well as a the boiler of course.

There's a bit of warmth in there, but it's nothing like our old airing cupboard was (much to my wife's annoyance).

 

[Bellow]

I got the pricing wrong - should have read £81.22 that was for the period 01/10/22 to 23/10/22 so only 23 days and the daily cost was £3.53/day.
Gas priced at 14.749p/kW.hr, Standing charge at 31.939p/day.

How does your unit cost (kW.hr) and standing charge compare to the above BD?

 

[Rory]

The house being designed from scratch to be an eco home is the major factor in our energy cost being less than 10% of our previous home.

It's frustrating to know that given properly built houses we could use very little energy.

For existing housing stock it feels hopeless to insulate them to a high standard. I stressed it to our architect and the boss of the builders who did our extension and refurb but the guys actually doing the work just don't get it.

We had our roof replaced as part of the job and I was battling with five roofers and two joiners to get insulation into the eaves (only accessible with the roof off) properly while they were just anxious to get the membrane on so it was water tight. It's also become appararent that where dot+dab plasterboard was used the builders haven't sealed the edges - drill a hole in it and a gale force wind comes out. There's a phenomenon called 'the plasterboard tent' and I'm living in one.

I know it's still highly debatable whether solar panels and battery storage are worth it now and I'd dismissed them for our house as the roof surfaces face due east and west. However our 'lean to' extension is due south and I'm annoyed I didn't think of integrating panels into it (and the architect didn't suggest them either). Stuff like this should be almost mandatory unless there's a good reason not to fit them.

 

[BTB 500]

It's frustrating to know that given properly built houses we could use very little energy.

It astonishes me how many people still don't use LED lighting. I spent the first month in our current place replacing fluorescent tubes, halogen floodlights and CFL/incandescent bulbs with LED equivalents that use a fraction of the power.

 

[190]

It's also become appararent that where dot+dab plasterboard was used the builders haven't sealed the edges - drill a hole in it and a gale force wind comes out. There's a phenomenon called 'the plasterboard tent' and I'm living in one.

It's been my view for years that the actual U value of this type of construction is nowhere near the theoretical value. I live in a large bungalow with dot +dab plasterboard and all solid walls. I have spent countless hours in the loft sealing up the top edges. to try and stop cold air getting in. In one room where we most wanted comfort, I've actually filled the gap behind the plaster board by pouring in polystyrene beads or mica depending on whether there were pvc cables present which polystyrene can damage. Attention to detail is the only way plaster board and dabs can be made to work properly and builders of new houses don't have it. The other thing I thought of doing is drilling a line of small holes near the top edge within the room and injecting expanding foam but I chickened out of the idea in case the foam pushed the plaster board off the wall.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

How does your unit cost (kW.hr) and standing charge compare to the above BD?

I haven’t received the tariff information yet from the energy supplier (Eon), but I will ask again

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Have you go the UFH manifolds in there? I imagine they give out a fair bit of heat.

We have a plant cupboard - like a large double wardrobe - in our utility room, also with a 250 litre cyl in it - a Gledhill, no doubt the cheapest one the builder could find. As well as a the boiler of course.

There's a bit of warmth in there, but it's nothing like our old airing cupboard was (much to my wife's annoyance).

The UFH manifolds are in a different part of the house around 12 metres away from the plant room. I’ll post a photo of the cylinder and piper in a moment.