Why is my gas usage so high?

[NemophilistRebel]

I have a brand new Worcester combi boiler

There are 3 of us in 2 bed small end of terrace house

Doors and windows upgraded to double glazing

We work during the week so heating only on for an hour in the mornings and when we get home in evening and over weekend

We have electric appliances so gas is only used for heating and hot water

2 people have a shower once a day and approximately 3 or 4 baths a week.

Energy suppliers suggest a gas kWh usage per year of 1300kwh

We used 16356 in the past year

I'm not sure that 1300kWh is per year. I thought the average gas consumption was around 12,000kWh

Sorry yes I missed out a zero

Average suggested by comparison sites for 2/3 bed end of terrace older house is 13000kwh

We are using over 3000kwh more than this

What temperature is the thermostat set at?

Set it to 19 but it’s a wireless digital one so picks up the temperature closes to where we can plug it in

I have a digital battery thermometer that I keep in the kitchen which gets to 20 degrees when the heating has been on

I’m wondering if it’s a calibration issue
I can’t see anything wrong with the meter itself but looking it up online I’ve worked out it’s a late 1980’s one

That rules that out then, as that is fairly low.

We've just switched energy suppliers so I can't see my usage yet but we are also in a terrace (mid terrace though so it's barely ever cold) and we leave the heating on to a temperature during the day in winter rather than switching it on and off (though it's off between 10pm and 6am).

I'm pretty sure the last time I looked at a bill our usage was way lower than that.

It might be worth calling your gas supplier and seeing if they will send someone out.

We have a 4 bed detached house and have similar usage to you (there's only 2 of us and not here during the day) with a Worcester Bosch boiler. We're double glazed (though it's not great) and in the winter use the gas for heating and water and in summer for water only. My DP tends to overheat the house, particularly when it's really cold (honestly - he made me feel sick one day the house was so hot!) and our annual usage in 2019 was 13826kWh.

I'd say there's a good chance it's your meter. Can you speak with the supplier and see if they can arrange for someone to check it? Our work electricity meter has just been changed and the engineer commented that it didn't look like it had been recording correctly (though luckily for us, we think we've been undercharged for years - shhhh!). It was of a similar age to yours.

I did this once with a Water company that I was having problems with. I was convinced they'd connected my meter to the wrong supply and they were adamant that they hadn't. Guess who was right?!

We have a smart meter now, though I don't have the monitor thing plugged in. I can still access the information on an app on my phone though and it's useful to not have to provide meter readings any more.

I know people get up in arms about smart meters, and I know it's a pain if you change suppliers, but I'm happy with ours.

How new and efficient is your boiler? A friend of mine got a new boiler and their gas bill pretty much halved.

Loft insulation? Cavity wall insulation?

Sorry just saw that it is brand new. Does that mean most of the gas usage was your old boiler or have you had the one for the whole year? If your meter is 30 years it may need replacing. I have previously had gas suppliers insisting on replacing meters when they are about 15 years old.

end of terrave house

so external walls on three sides

Are they solid, no cavity?

How thick is the loft insulation?

How do you dry the washing?

Is there a bathroom extractor fan?

A new meter will not help. Old meters, as they wear, tend to under-record usage.

That sounds way too high. Where is your meter? Is it on your property and definitely not connected to next door too? They could be wired up wrong and you are paying each other's bills?
Can you spend an hour watching it as you turn things on and off to check expected usage is rolling the numbers over as expected?

If you only use gas for heating and hot water and the heating is off between 10pm and 6pm, check the meter reading at 10.01, don't use any hot water and check it again before you go to bed (or before 6am the next day). It shouldn't have changed.

Yes external walls on 3 sides plus small glass conservatory on to kitchen

Solid brick walls - no cavity

Loft has been converted so insulation is invisible - we do not use the loft and have removed stairs and closed the opening. It’s being just used as storage.

We dry mainly outdoors.
I do one load of washing which is hung on an airer once a week in a ventilated room

We have no bathroom extractors - just open the window

@MissKittyCat we’ve had the boiler 18 months now

I expected our gas bills to drop as the old boiler was very old and very inefficient

I also keep a hygrometer in the house and monitor the relative humidity so if it’s about 55 I use a dehumidifier

the solid walls will lose quite a lot of heat

you need to look in the loft and see what insulation (if any) it has. Is the loft heated?

Check your gas usage by reading the meter. Once a month is usually enough, but, for the moment, read it weekly. You will then be able to calculate cubic metres used per average day (and hence kWh, which is cu.m multiplied by 11.16 (this is a near approximation).

If you look at your average daily use in the summer months, when heating is off, it will show you the cost of your baths and showers. The dfference between summer average daily and winter average daily will show you the cost of heating the house. Once you know your baseline figures you can experiment and see what difference it makes to change some things. You have to work with actual meter readings and not the amount of your direct debit, or billing estimates.

How many of your radiators have TRVs?

Do you close internal doors, or are you open-plan?

Do you own a thermometer? Put it in each room for a while and see what the actual room temperature is. Including the loft.

Opening the bathroom window to disperse steam is wasteful of heat. An extractor fan near the ceiling will suck out the water vapour (which is lighter than air, so rises) and keep the bathroom dry. Cost of electricity is negligible.

I think I need to look at getting our meter looked at. We are a three bed stone cottage, heating set at 19 degrees, double glazing, newish boiler (2 yrs old) and Ive just checked and we used just over 29000 kWh for the year.

How on earth do you get away with one load of washing a week? What about bedding/ towels etc?

As a comparison, we have a four-bed solid wall end terrace with a two year old boiler and max roof insulation. Radiators all have thermostatic valves and the thermostat is set to 19/20. The boiler is off over the warmer months.

The difference in temp between the inner and outer bedrooms is very noticeable. Heating the living room (depth of house with three external walls) is a constant battle and we use easily 20000kWh annually.

@PigletJohn quick question if you don’t mind - my DH just pointed out the obvious to me in that we dont have any curtains at all apart from the DC rooms (we are rural) and that this is why we use so much gas. Would it really make that much difference to put up curtains?

Yes.

I actually think that roller blinds, close to the glass and close-fitting at the edges, will make a big difference. It will hold a pocket of still air against the window.

Thick lined curtains are more expensive, and you can add them, but cold air runs down behind them like a waterfall (due to convection currents of cold air) so they need to drape on the floor or window shelf. If you have a radiator under the window you can get clip-on shelves, or make your own, to stop the warm air being trapped behind the curtains and the heat going through the glass to warm the garden.

We don’t have curtains either
Just slatted wooden blinds! Hadn’t thought about that.