Heating house cost

[Cissyandflora]

This is a naive question I know. But I have no clue about this. We have moved from a property where heating and hot water were provided communally so one cost and paid weekly no matter what you use.

I’m now in a house which has gas central heating and we are freezing. I have had to turn the heating on constantly because I don’t know what is normal. Should I set the timer for certain times of day? Do people run heating all night? How does hot water work? Is it filled one tank and then you have to heat again? I know I sound like an imbecile but I have moved from my council flat and am totally bewildered. Personally I’m ok with wearing big jumpers but I can’t let the children suffer! It’s been too cold to sleep so I’ve had to have heating through the night. I’m afraid of the bills and have no idea what things cost. Can anyone help by giving me an idea of how they do this? I had in mind we would have a few hours heating on in the morning and evening but I’m now not sure.

I’d be grateful for any advice. And obviously a lot of this will be house size and individual preferences. But any advice welcome.

Do you know what kind of system you have? Mine heats water as we need it so no tank, and I go with when I'm cold heating on and warmed turn it off rather than a timer :)

I have no clue. It’s a gas boiler in kitchen which I presume does water too? I’ve just turned off the timer. Your way seems more sensible. But what about overnight?

The shower is freezing then a bit of boiling then freezing lols

A few hours in morning and few hours in evening is the norm for winter in most houses. I put mine on a timer then override it if I’m cold at other times. You shouldn’t need to have it on overnight though. Do you have decent duvets and thick pjs?

Thank you. No I don’t think we have enough warm bedding.
It’s good to know what the norm is so I don’t feel like a miser.

Is the shower on the hot water tank or electric ie. is there a plastic box with a couple of dials (probably) on it that you turn to get the water to come through, or is it plumbed in more like a tap?

If the heating's off, and you turn the hot water on, does the boiler fire? You need to figure out if you have a combi boiler (maybe google the model number) which heats water on demand, or a standard one that heats water for a hot water tank - you could also go searching for the hot water tank to establish this!

I normally have it on for a couple of hours in the morning (so an hour before everyone has to get out of bed, until we all head off for school), then a couple of hours in the evening, but if it's cold I'll chuck it on for a bit. We don't have it on overnight though - the bedrooms are warm when we go to bed, the duvet keeps us warm overnight, then the heating kicks in and re-warms the room for the morning (admittedly middle of the night toilet trips are a bit nippy!)

Thanks so much. Will check this out later.

Check what setting your radiators are on. It could be that they are on low. Turn them up.
If they aren't getting hot they may need bleeding to release any trapped air so they heat more efficiently.
Make sure you're closing doors etc

The very best advice is to take some now to:
a) know what your metre readings are
b) know what you pay per day and per unit for gas/electricity
c) keep a regular eye on metre readings to see how much you are using

Taking that time now, will really help you feel less helpless in terms of spending - because you'll already know what you've used - and help you see if and when changes to your heating habits result in changes to your energy usage.

Too few people grasp how energy is charged and it really does help stave off the panicked massive bills, because you never knew what you were using or because you cannot tell if it's just a billing error or a real reflection of what you owe.

It also helps to keep records over the next year that you can refer back to the year after - so you can see if you are ahead or behind the same season in previous years - i.e. winter.

Like pp, we heat to toasty in the evening when we're all sat around, then it goes off at about 9pm so you go to bed warm. Blankets (or dogs!) on beds to help preseve heat overnight. Then the heating kicks in early morning at about 6am so it's warm by the time we get up. Turns off at about 9am and only comes on in the day if it gets below about 17c indoors. Otherwise it's warm jumpers and socks and everyone keeps moving. Radiator valves are set so that the rooms we are stationary in are warmest (e.g. bedrooms and living room) and rooms you tend to move about it are cooler (e.g. hallways and kitchen).

Hot water is on for an hour in the morning and an hour late afternoon - so that there is plenty for the regular shower times. We have a hot water tank.

Tumble drying is for special occasions only

Mine is on for an hour in the morning and 4 hours in the evening

electric blankets are great for night time, they warm the bed and you turn off the blanket (if its an under blanket) but the bed is warm and will keep you warm. Wear fleecy pjs

Id set the heating timer - some have options for heating once a day, twice a day and others more times.

I set the thermostat on the off times to not let the house get lower than 16 degree - this works well at night as it keeps the chill off the house but the house isn't hot.

I then have the heating come on at 18 degrees at 6.30 for one hour and then go off again and set at 16

then the heating come on again at 19 degrees at 5.30 till 8pm and then goes off

we are early to bed, so I read in bed by 9pm and asleep is by 10pm

but again once the heating has gone off the house will not drop to less than 16 degrees as the heating will just kick in if it does and keep a base line low heat

presently my house is well insulated and its cost me about £15 per week. As it gets colder though the bill will increase as it will dip below 16 degrees more and the heating will come on automatically

as an aside Im with octopus and I give weekly readings from my meter so I can see how much Im using. This is a new house to me and I want to keep check of how much gas and electric Im actually using and not take everything on their "estimations"

When I input the meter readings the next day I can see how much actual energy ive used and how much it cost me

also be aware that gas and electric charge for supplying the energy - so that will be charged onto. its usually a daily charge of 20p or 25p

@Cissyandflora
Several things you need to find out:

Do you have a hot water tank? Most likely in a cupboard somewhere. If not, then it's a combi boiler. That means it makes the water hot when you turn on a hot tap, and doesn't store any hot water.
Is your shower electric? (As pp said, white box with dials =prob elec, just pipes/taps= likely to be from boiler.

You need to find your meters- gas & electric. Might be outside the house in a white box- you'll need a special key to open it (or pliers will do). Or under stairs/in a cupboard.

Read the meters. Write down the numbers.

Find out from your supplier how much you are paying per unit for gas & electric.
Then read the meters again a week later. Multiply the change in numbers by the unit price. That gives an example usage price per week.
You'll also need to pay a standing charge- that's the price per day to have gas & elctric supplied.
Standing charge x30 plus usage for a week x4.3 will give you a ball-park figure for your monthly cost.
You'll need to do this for gas & electric.