Gas Fire - gas consumption

[B17NNS]

I have a place that I rent out and during the cold snap a few months back the heating went on the blink.

Took a couple of engineer visits to diagnose the problem, order the bits and then fit them and as such my tenants were without central heating for 5 days.

I popped round with some fan heaters and told them to crank up the gas fire in the lounge and I would reimburse them if they were out of pocket.

Tenant has come back to me today and said their gas bill is £120 more than 'normal' because they used the fire.

Now it's just an ordinary inset gas fire but I don't know the model number to find the manufacturer to speak them about gas consumption of the fire but I'm dubious that it would use that much gas even if left on full for five days.

Any idea what these typically consume?

Thanks in advance.

[B17NNS]

Right, just had a look and the majority of inset gas fires say max output of 3.1kWh.

So how much gas is this?

[Wacky Racer]

They are trying it on.

Probably no more than £30 at the most, epecially if the central heating boiler runs off gas, which would not have been used during that period.

Ask them to prove their claims.......

[B17NNS]

Not sure if they are trying it on or are perhaps forgetting the rest of the quarter which was especially cold.

I think I've kind of worked out what it would cost...

If we assume the following.

Inset Gas Fire 3.1kWh
You ran the gas fire 24 hours a day for seven days on its highest setting (3.1kWH)
24 (hours) x 7 (days) = 168 hours
@ 3.1kWh = 520.80 kWh of gas
Your tarrif is 7p per kWh for the first 742 kWh, reducing down to 3.056p per kWh thereafter
Taking the higher figure the cost to run the gas fire on full for 24 hours a day for 7 days is £36.46

I'm trying to be reasonable and quite generous with my assumptions as they are good tenants.

Edited by B17NNS on Wednesday 9th June 22:14

[XDA]

Ask to see their current bill and the last bill they had - you will soon be able to see if there's any difference in gas consumption?

[XDA]

Ask to see their current bill and the last bill they had - you will soon be able to see if there's any difference in gas consumption?

[B17NNS]

They have sent me the bill for the quarter concerned and the same quarter from the previous year. The bill is up by the amount they state.

I do remember it was bitterly cold though (I remember as I struggled to get an engineer as they were all so busy).

Have absolutely no objection to compensating them for use of the fire but if my numbers are correct it's not the fire that has increased the bill by such a large amount (circa £40 to run the fire 24/7 for a week), its more the increased use of the boiler during the eleven weeks of the quarter.

Boiler 32KwH, Fire 3.1KwH?

Boiler is a 2 year old condensing combi, fire is the same age, both serviced and inspected annually.

[XDA]

I think the increased bill your tenants have then, is due to the severe cold winter we just had and nothing to do with the temp heaters you provided? I got my latest gas bill today and it was £53, and my last one was £134. Remind your tenants just how bad the winter was!

[B17NNS]

XDA said:

Remind your tenants just how bad the winter was!

My thoughts too.

I'll send what I posted above and offer them £40 as a good will gesture.

[Elskeggso]

Vaguely near the controls there should be something called a data plate, this will have the make and model, and also kW input and output levels. If you know the input kW level (input is more important than output when calculating gas usage) of the fire you might be able get a more accurate idea of the cost per hour of the fire, £120 is quite a lot higher than average.

Edited by Elskeggso on Thursday 10th June 22:08