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Original poster

Monthly kWh used for gas and electricity?

118 replies

deuxgarcons · 26/11/2022 10:25

So the price cap (average family use) for gas is based on using 12,000 kWh pa (1,000pm) and electricity 2,900 pa (242pm).
I sat down this morning to review usage and am astounded at our kWh usage and really need to work out where we use it as we use much more than this.
I started to take monthly readings in July and our usage has been
Gas
July 437
Aug 909
Sept 1908
Oct 2272

Electric
July 456
Aug 523
Sept 526
Oct 484

Gas hot water, heating and gas fire which we haven't used in above figs and won't use this winter as we have now blocked up chimney to reduce drafts. Our boiler is ancient so it must be that?. We have turned down temp on water and have it on less. Heating now on 1 hr in morning and 2 hours evening.

Electric I am wondering about old freezer in our cellar which is an 'overflow' freezer for main one but think I'll defrost and switch off as it only has frozen chips and bread in it!! Also cellar has old fridge and florescent light which is always on so will turn that off now. No electric showers.

We are in a semi 5 bed (drafty) Victorian house. 4 people down to 3 now as one has gone off to Uni which is why I think electric went down in Oct!!.

What is everyone else's kWh usage?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
sevenbyseven · 30/11/2022 08:19

I agree beavis - something's not quite right!

Athenen0ctua · 30/11/2022 10:28

BeavisMcTavish · 30/11/2022 07:44

I’m not buying it. My boiler isn’t inefficient and goes through 8-10 kWh per hour.

must be units from an old meter rather than kWh.

Show quote history

I don't know where the PP got £12 from. This is October (without heating). Fixed rate so slightly lower per kwh.

Monthly kWh used for gas and electricity?
GasPanic · 30/11/2022 12:54

@Athenen0ctua

I guess £12 is for the amount of gas used before standing charge applied ?

What you have is not unusual or undoable.

For October I used about 0.4m3 per day (actually it would have been more like 0.3m3 per day if I hadn't been testing the heating). That is 133 kWh per day for me for the month vs. your 118.7 kWh per day.

And I have a system boiler and get from that 1x 5 minute shower and 1x washing up per day. I think stretching it to 2x showers per day would not add that much more in terms of gas consumption.

So you are not defying the laws of thermodynamics.

GasPanic · 30/11/2022 12:55

Sorry that should read per month for the kWh values, not per day.

NewBootsAndRanty · 30/11/2022 13:21

BeavisMcTavish · 30/11/2022 07:52

I see not an old meter.. then possible a fault.

a gas boiler that’s really low energy in a small house will burn well we 20kwh per hour. You can’t be using a gas boiler for 2 hours a day at the rates discussed above. (Though apologies if I skimmed over an explanation)

How on earth did I manage to heat my flat (same square meterage as a small house) to 20° for 10 hours yesterday and only use 33kwh?

ivykaty44 · 30/11/2022 14:11

I guess £12 is for the amount of gas used before standing charge applied ?

I think that was me and yes it was before the daily charge was added and approximately based on capped rates for gas - as I didn't know that the poster was on a fixed deal

ivykaty44 · 30/11/2022 14:21

What you have is not unusual or undoable.

For October I used about 0.4m3 per day (actually it would have been more like 0.3m3 per day if I hadn't been testing the heating). That is 133 kWh per day for me for the month vs. your 118.7 kWh per day.

This thread really highlights the difference in "building" housing, those built in the last 10 years should be extra efficient (sadly they could be even better for a few more tweaks) and those homes built in the 1930s and 1950s or even the 1970-1990s

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/11/2022 18:13

ClaudineClare · 29/11/2022 08:27

It is very, very reliable. I will say no more as I don't want to tempt fate!

That’s how I feel @ClaudineClare ours is least 23yrs old as been in house that long

but def wasn’t new so possibly 35yrs old

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/11/2022 18:19

ClaudineClare · 29/11/2022 12:16

1 unit is around 11 kwh unless you are on an older meter in which case I think it is 32kwh per unit, according to another poster on this thread or maybe it was on one of the other myriad of threads on gas use!

Yes me. I meter unit is 32khw roughly so can kinda work out bills fir heating

Athenen0ctua · 30/11/2022 18:42

NewBootsAndRanty · 30/11/2022 13:21

How on earth did I manage to heat my flat (same square meterage as a small house) to 20° for 10 hours yesterday and only use 33kwh?

Show quote history

Because heating on for two hours does not cost double what it does for one hour unless the windows are open. It raises the temperature then kicks in occasionally if it drops. The first hour costs the most.

Athenen0ctua · 30/11/2022 19:47

GasPanic · 30/11/2022 12:54

@Athenen0ctua

I guess £12 is for the amount of gas used before standing charge applied ?

What you have is not unusual or undoable.

For October I used about 0.4m3 per day (actually it would have been more like 0.3m3 per day if I hadn't been testing the heating). That is 133 kWh per day for me for the month vs. your 118.7 kWh per day.

And I have a system boiler and get from that 1x 5 minute shower and 1x washing up per day. I think stretching it to 2x showers per day would not add that much more in terms of gas consumption.

So you are not defying the laws of thermodynamics.

I didn't think I was defying the laws of thermodynamics either! Though, sometimes it feels like you have to prove everything on here.

Checked my meter as soon as I got in from work, then just now after two housing of heating and I used just under one metric unit, 11kwh.

BeavisMcTavish · 30/11/2022 20:01

Not really insisting on proof, but it clearly has lots of variables. For example, A two bedroom semi where the neighbours heat all day for example will take no time to heat up and cost very little.

A large detached that’s 13 degrees when I get home from work will take a full 28kwh (as rated) on for a full hour.

im currently going through 37kwh per day for November having the heating on for a couple of hours a day (hour in the morning, hour at night, and showers etc).

Athenen0ctua · 30/11/2022 20:23

I agree that the house will make a big difference but I didn't consider us to be in an unusual house, it's a three bed new build semi. It was 12 degrees when I got home, the neighbours have a baby and toddler but we don't seem to be getting their heat!

OhmygodDont · 01/12/2022 11:13

Our gas for November was 707kwh and electric 345kwh. All our heating, hot water and shower is gas only. Oven hob etc electric.

TheWomanTheyCallJayne · 01/12/2022 11:19

I think some people are forgetting that units and kWh are not the same thing.
(others are clear that they know)

GasPanic · 01/12/2022 12:12

Athenen0ctua · 30/11/2022 19:47

I didn't think I was defying the laws of thermodynamics either! Though, sometimes it feels like you have to prove everything on here.

Checked my meter as soon as I got in from work, then just now after two housing of heating and I used just under one metric unit, 11kwh.

Show quote history

TBH that does sound low.

I am in a 3 bed semi and if I put my 24 kW boiler on unthermostated then it uses about 12 kWh per hour. Since it is a modern boiler I think it would be hard for much to beat it.

If you put heating on for 2 hours and only used 11 kWh it implies you had it thermostated and it reached temperature and switched off at some point - it wasn't actually full on for the full 2 hours. Either that or it is some sort of really weedy boiler.

The thing that makes a lot of modern houses better is the heat leak. So you need less energy to maintain it at a particular temperature. But I think the amount of energy you actually need to get it up to temperature is probably pretty much the same as an older house of the same size.

Blondeshavemorefun · 01/12/2022 12:24

TheWomanTheyCallJayne · 01/12/2022 11:19

I think some people are forgetting that units and kWh are not the same thing.
(others are clear that they know)

This. Depending if old boiler or not

1 unit for me is 32khw

so if say use 30 units that’s 960 kWh at 10p so £96 in heating

plus sc of 28.48 so average month of 31 days is £8.68

Athenen0ctua · 01/12/2022 12:37

If you put heating on for 2 hours and only used 11 kWh it implies you had it thermostated and it reached temperature and switched off at some point - it wasn't actually full on for the full 2 hours.
Yes, this is what I meant. I thought that's how modern CH worked? It is timed to come on 1730 to 1930 on a thermostat.

Athenen0ctua · 01/12/2022 12:40

It's set to 'e' on the high-low dial on the boiler as recommended, so not as high as it goes.

OhmygodDont · 01/12/2022 13:02

Yeah so you highly likely haven’t used a full 2 hours just that’s the period you let it best for. Mines not timed just temperature though I can check on the hive how long it’s been on for. Boiler is also on E.

GasPanic · 01/12/2022 13:21

Athenen0ctua · 01/12/2022 12:37

If you put heating on for 2 hours and only used 11 kWh it implies you had it thermostated and it reached temperature and switched off at some point - it wasn't actually full on for the full 2 hours.
Yes, this is what I meant. I thought that's how modern CH worked? It is timed to come on 1730 to 1930 on a thermostat.

Sure - it's perfectly reasonable to use it like this - it's just that for comparison purposes you have to compare like with like and state all the conditions, otherwise it's hard to figure out whether you are comparing things on equal terms.

In that example, I used about 2x your gas in the same time, but the conditions were different, and so it would be incorrect for me to draw the conclusion from limited data that your heating is twice as efficient as mine !

Although I think it is difficult to get and state similar conditions I do think the comparisons we do on here are useful, because if someone has some figures wildly different it does suggest there is something wrong somewhere.

If I am using 2x your gas that could just be the conditions, if I am using 10x then it may well be something worth investigating...

YourWinter · 01/12/2022 13:33

Ditch the old freezer, and switch off the fluorescent light - why is it always on??

I had an ancient chest freezer in the garage and it had to have something heavy on the lid as the seal was poor. When I finally stopped using it my electricity usage dropped by more than half. My current fridge-freezer is 31 years old and I know when I eventually get a new one it will quickly pay for itself in electricity savings.

I live alone, oil boiler on for half an hour each morning to heat water, heating hasn’t been on this year, electric hob and oven, no dryer, washing machine on twice a week at 20 degrees, tv on most evenings, lights are mostly LED low wattage bulbs, and I use about 170 units a month.

Athenen0ctua · 01/12/2022 14:27

@GasPanic I don't know how I would know how long it was actually on on, to give that answer. I'd assume someone knew I meant how long it's timed to be on on a thermostat as that's how most people's CH seems to work.

sevenbyseven · 01/12/2022 14:50

@Athenen0ctua if you have a smart thermostat like Hive (I'm guessing you don't) you can see how long your heating has actually been on each day which is often very different to the time it's set to be on Smile

sevenbyseven · 01/12/2022 14:54

For example last Saturday my heating was set to 18c from 8am to 9pm (13 hours) but in fact was only "on" (boiler firing) for just under 2 hours.