Excessive gas and electric use- boiler problems?
Discussion
I have posted about this before and thought i was strating to understand what was going on.
It seems i dont after entering the latest readings
gas use in 89 days is 8928 kw
electric use 89 days 2814kw
Now is it me or does this sound excessive?
I will make some admissions which i know will add to our now what i call extortionate bill.
3kw oil filled elec rad in conservatory. This is probably on for approx 10hrs a week. Only used weekends and not every weekend all day.
House is at 20deg
its a 4 bed box house, just 2 of us here, i have been home quite a lot due to weather and lack of work but not all day every day.
Pretty much every bulb except kitchen is led so 400w of halogen in kitchen on for a couple of hours a day.
I do have a problem with my boiler though......
As far as i'm aware it is 'pumping over'
When the hot water comes on i hear lots and lots of air noises which shut the boiler down, it starts back up and runs ok but would this cause excessive gas use? c/h seems to be working ok. House even on the coldest days will only fall to maybe 15 deg, i would say average low of 17deg so imo its insulated reasonably well.
I know its been a cold winter and granted we have been at home more but triple the 3 months before elec use (ok could be oil filled rad) and then nearly 4x the gas use of the prev 89 days.
What the f
ks going on here then? I think i will forego the electric but why am i using so much gas? First year in this house so not sure if its normal.
It seems i dont after entering the latest readings
gas use in 89 days is 8928 kw
electric use 89 days 2814kw
Now is it me or does this sound excessive?
I will make some admissions which i know will add to our now what i call extortionate bill.
3kw oil filled elec rad in conservatory. This is probably on for approx 10hrs a week. Only used weekends and not every weekend all day.
House is at 20deg
its a 4 bed box house, just 2 of us here, i have been home quite a lot due to weather and lack of work but not all day every day.
Pretty much every bulb except kitchen is led so 400w of halogen in kitchen on for a couple of hours a day.
I do have a problem with my boiler though......
As far as i'm aware it is 'pumping over'
When the hot water comes on i hear lots and lots of air noises which shut the boiler down, it starts back up and runs ok but would this cause excessive gas use? c/h seems to be working ok. House even on the coldest days will only fall to maybe 15 deg, i would say average low of 17deg so imo its insulated reasonably well.
I know its been a cold winter and granted we have been at home more but triple the 3 months before elec use (ok could be oil filled rad) and then nearly 4x the gas use of the prev 89 days.
What the f
ks going on here then? I think i will forego the electric but why am i using so much gas? First year in this house so not sure if its normal.How is the hot water heated? If it's gas only then I would expect you to use about 10kW hrs a day excluding the column heater.
For two people add 10kW hrs a day for electric water heating.
Can't comment on the gas consumption, seems a lot as it implies 4kW of consumption per hour - all the time.
We have 70's 4 bed box house. Foam filled cavities and 280mm loft insulation, modern windows and doors.
Gas heating and HW and hob. electric oven, lights and two PCs on 24/7, no incandescent bulbs.
2 of us here, 1 in all the time, heating on all day if cold.
These figures are the average daily use for the period 23/10/09 to 03/05/10 (ie last winter)
Gas 54kWh, Elec 11kWh.
Gas heating and HW and hob. electric oven, lights and two PCs on 24/7, no incandescent bulbs.
2 of us here, 1 in all the time, heating on all day if cold.
These figures are the average daily use for the period 23/10/09 to 03/05/10 (ie last winter)
Gas 54kWh, Elec 11kWh.
We are just in the process of having our meter examined as our average yearly consumption is nearly 30,000 kwh, this is a large 5 bed house but only me and 2 very small children live here and all the bulbs are low energy and heating is done by oil, interestingly I bought a energy meter and the meter is recorded double what the energy meter is hence why I have asked the electric company to investigate this further, at present we are paying about £1,000 per qtr for electric
The hot water is gas heated yes, when it comes on is when i get all the air noises.
Last night i had another think about it and how i could be using so much.
One thing i remembered is the bedroom and ensuite has ufh of 1500w , this comes on for an hour every morning and then for around 3 every night i reckon (hard to tell how long its actually on for) . This is set to 20.
So bearing in mind how cold its been outside and how toasty my floors been i think i,m going to turn it down to 18, leave the door open and rob some of the heat from the rest of the house.
I'm going to get one of those electric monitors today and see whats actually going on.
The gas use i can't explain at all. I have turned off the rad which was left on in the conservatory, my only guess can be that as the boiler is a few years old (not sure how old) and the system is maybe struggling to heat this big conservatory and this problem with the air, maybe i just have a very inefficient boiler?
Time to get a plumber mate round and have a look i reckon.
Last night i had another think about it and how i could be using so much.
One thing i remembered is the bedroom and ensuite has ufh of 1500w , this comes on for an hour every morning and then for around 3 every night i reckon (hard to tell how long its actually on for) . This is set to 20.
So bearing in mind how cold its been outside and how toasty my floors been i think i,m going to turn it down to 18, leave the door open and rob some of the heat from the rest of the house.
I'm going to get one of those electric monitors today and see whats actually going on.
The gas use i can't explain at all. I have turned off the rad which was left on in the conservatory, my only guess can be that as the boiler is a few years old (not sure how old) and the system is maybe struggling to heat this big conservatory and this problem with the air, maybe i just have a very inefficient boiler?
Time to get a plumber mate round and have a look i reckon.
Olf said:
Does sound high but having said that why are you set at 20deg? We have a large 4 bed and two small children and we're set to 18 and everyone is happy. 2 extra degrees is a of extra power.
Also depends on where your 'stat is situated. A hallway stat would be set lower than living area.You are quite right about extra heating costing a lot more. Our living room is set at 21 for the morning and evening, 18 during the day, and off at night.
I think the water is ok, the whole system has been drained and refilled several times in the last few months due to work being done, when the rads were refitted i jetwashed them all through. I think the inhibitor is x1000 iirc.
I reckons theres definately problems with the heating, where i'm not sure.
Heating seems to work quite well, but one rad in the lounge always seems to need bleeding? I can hear the air getting into it but only when the hot water goes on? When its not on and just c/h i hear no air.
I actually checked it last night to confirm its the hot water. Basically i had the c/h on and i stood by the airing cupboard which houses pump, cylinder etc. All was quiet, then i flicked on the hot water and within about 20 secs you could hear air being sucked through the pump. Its regular as clockwork, water comes on about half 5 and within minutes the whole systems making air noises and i'm pretty sure i can hear air or water being dumped into the expansion tank.
I reckons theres definately problems with the heating, where i'm not sure.
Heating seems to work quite well, but one rad in the lounge always seems to need bleeding? I can hear the air getting into it but only when the hot water goes on? When its not on and just c/h i hear no air.
I actually checked it last night to confirm its the hot water. Basically i had the c/h on and i stood by the airing cupboard which houses pump, cylinder etc. All was quiet, then i flicked on the hot water and within about 20 secs you could hear air being sucked through the pump. Its regular as clockwork, water comes on about half 5 and within minutes the whole systems making air noises and i'm pretty sure i can hear air or water being dumped into the expansion tank.
Which insulation do you mean? On the tank? just in a jacket.
Loft has about 150mm , most upstairs walls have been upgraded, not the best but certainly not bad and much better than when we moved in.
Previous owner had wife and 3 kids, wife and one child at home all day and were paying about £120 per month. This was last feb, now its myself and gf and apparantly we are using more......
Might i have a gas leak? is it worth me getting energy supplier round here? Just cant see how we are using this much energy.
Loft has about 150mm , most upstairs walls have been upgraded, not the best but certainly not bad and much better than when we moved in.
Previous owner had wife and 3 kids, wife and one child at home all day and were paying about £120 per month. This was last feb, now its myself and gf and apparantly we are using more......
Might i have a gas leak? is it worth me getting energy supplier round here? Just cant see how we are using this much energy.
Between Jan' 22 and the end of Feb' last year when I changed suppliers I managed to burn ~£317 of gas, very old boiler. It was like a 1" pipe straight up the chimney and still it wouldn't get the place warm. That was with cavity wall insulation, loft done, new windows/doors too.
Had a new system put in, £143 from start of November '10 to yeserday. I admit the woodburner's helped.
Strangely tho', still getting through £30+ per month of electricity, even with those st bulbs that take ages to get bright. Maybe the neighbour's cat's still triggering the security light. 
Had a new system put in, £143 from start of November '10 to yeserday. I admit the woodburner's helped.
Strangely tho', still getting through £30+ per month of electricity, even with those s
t bulbs that take ages to get bright. Maybe the neighbour's cat's still triggering the security light. 
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