Gas usage calculations and how to manage heating

[Graphista]

I know loads are posting similarly so apologies but I really need help.

I put my heating on about 4 weeks ago, took a reading then and one today. I've used an online calculator for usage price and it's scared the crap outta me! Thankfully I've a buffer of credit with my energy company but I still want to keep costs down while not being too cold and keeping the flat in order (rented, already had an email from landlord re heating needs to be on to avoid frozen pipes etc)

With some trial and error I've worked out during the day 17°c on thermostat is about right for me. But I've not been changing it at night and tbh sometimes I'm getting too warm anyway which is of course daft and wasteful.

How do I work out what to have thermostat at? If turning down for night how?

And can someone help me work out my costs as I'm not sure the online calculator was accurate and I'm not even sure what kind of meter I have for calculations (I can post a pic if needed)

I'm terrible at this sort of maths and find it all incredibly confusing.

Can anyone please help?

www.energy-calculator.co.uk/

I use this website, it uses British Gas prices. Im with Bulb and i find it's usually out by about by £1-£2.

@Drivingbuttercup Thanks for posting this. It’s spot on with what I had calculated using manual calculations, but is do much quicker and easier!

Can you also talk to your landlord about getting timer controls for your boiler? It sounds as if you only have a physical fixed thermostat?

You can then just set it to automatically go on / off / change temps which could save. Eg ours is just on 7-9am and again 7-8pm

Hi all these figures have me baffled,could anyone help and just give me a rough price for 1 unit of gas,I’ve tried not to use it to frequently,on 4th dec my meter reading was 9854 today it’s 9881, so I can see how many units I’ve used but have no idea how lithos will have cost,am I keeping myself cold for no reason or does this seem a large amount for a month?? 😰

Does your meter say m³ or does it say ft³?

It says cubic feet

It says cubic feet

utilitiessavings.co.uk/gas-kwh-conversion-tool/

If it's ft³ I'm getting 853kwh (£87ish) assuming a rate of about 10.3p/kwh

thank for your answer I only get bills in aug and February and am worried about it being a massive bill in February however on this working out if I’ve given the correct info o feel I’ll be ok,im £846 in credit for both gas and electricity and pay £150 a month so by February should have around £1000paid,maybe I can afford to keep a little warmer 🙂

Yep that sounds fine.
Bear in mind that over the cold snap in December I was using 2-3x more gas a day over the same time period than I am now.

I think you get a rough kwh figure by multiplying the units used by 32 for meters in f³ and multiplying the units used by 12.5 for meters in m³

Is this likely to work with other companies I’m edf and can’t find anywhere to work out my usage price so easily,love this simple calculation

Your bill should give you the calculation they use

Yes as @dementedpixie said work out if f or m

mine is old so I’m f so I times the units (this month) by 32 to get kWh then times khw by 35p to get rough cost

Bumping so I can find thread easily on app later - wish app had “threads I started” option.

Taking readings today it has been a while mainly as they’re in very awkward places to access.

Worried as I’ve not been as careful as I planned to be when last discussing with you guys but hoping it’ll be ok as at the moment theoretically edf have me £530 in credit.

If I post readings I’m hoping with your help I can perhaps work out what I owe and if edf likely to increase direct debit and/or how much of that credit will then vanish?

Really not sure how it all works and it stresses me out massively.

I'm really struggling financially now just about keeping head above water, with v little help from govt as is the case for many I know.

I'm dreading the winter help disappearing and as far as I can tell there’s been no future help mentioned yet prices are still high/getting higher.

I applied for WHD but haven’t heard either way if I’ve got that and been seeing on sm many who applied were rejected as the criteria narrower this time. So I suspect I’ve not got that (I’m in Scotland where it works slightly differently I think?)

Anyway, will catch up with you all later today/tonight once I have readings

Anyone around to help with calculations?

They text me yesterday asking for readings too.

Last submitted to them was

24/11/22

Electric 27237
Gas 7433

21/12/22

27231.6 electric
7549.92 gas

7/2/23

27525.8 electric
7681.28 gas

I'm not even sure what to ask!

I'm currently paying £80 dd - £40 each for gas and electric.

Supposedly in credit £530

Will they increase dd? If so by how much (really hoping not)? How much of the in credit will go?

Using the most recent gas reading and the reading from 24/11/22 gives a cost of £28.67 not including standing charge (if my maths is correct)

What is your electricity price per kwh?

No one can really tell whether that's a lot of gas unless you post both your rough hours per day usage and more importantly your meter units in ft3 or m3 (it should be written on front of your meter and on your bill).

Also your electric from 24/11/22 is more than from 21/12/22 so it looks like your meter is running backwards.

Sorry forgot to inc tariff info

Electricity 33.76 p p KWH
Standing charge 49.65p per day

Gas 10.277p p KWH
Standing charge 27.22p per day

But I know the readings aren't in KWH? I have to do a calculation to convert?

Electric meter VERY hard to read due to location

Sorry ignore this as I've used 36 instead of 3.6 in the gas conversion. I'll sort that out.

It's £286.73 not £28.67

calorific value (39.6) x volume correction (1.02264) divided by 3.6 = 11.25

You multiply your gas units used by 11.25 to get kwh

"It's £286.73 not £28.67"

For the gas? That's from 24/11/22 to now so approx 11 weeks ?

£96.22 for electricity between 24/11 and 7/2 not including s/c

Yes I used readings from 24/11 and 7/2 for gas
So 7681 - 7433 = 248
248 x 11.25 = 2790 kwh
2790 x 10.277p = £286.73