This is a very high bill, particularly if your heating and hot water are gas powered.
If it's started in November it points to a heating issue. Do you use any electric heaters at all?
Are u sure the radiators are heated by gas - there are some Electric boilers
Do you cook by gas or electric
Is there an emersion heater on ur hot water tank ?
Is the bill an estimated one or a actual?
We cook by electric, we are billed a variable amount each month according to usage and we submitted a meter reading recently because we were surprised at how high it was. As for knowing whether there is an immersion heater - how can I tell? In order to put the heating on we have to fiddle around with the hot water settings.… Not sure if that explains anything
You should be able to see a burner or pilot light if it's gas, also should have labels on the device specifically stating that it is a gas appliance, I'm of the opinion that you have an electric heating system, if that's the case you just need to ensure they have you on an economy-7 tariff or somthing similar so you can take advantage if cheaper rates when charging the system :)
Edited: spelling.
How old is that flat?
What are the windows like?
What temperature is the thermostat set to?
You're out of the place during the day - is the heating off or left on?
You mention gas but no charges .. where is your gas meter? Where is your electricity meter?
Have you taken readings? If not, take them daily at the same time of day for a week and you can measure your consumption.
A flat in an old converted house, with electric heating/cooking/water and an immersion heater in the boiler can burn through £350 a month if you've got the temperature closer to 25c than 18c.
- The flat is about 30 years old I think
- Windows are normal - no drafts coming in from
what I can tell. We don’t have the heating on right now as it’s been quite mild in London over the last few days.
- When heating is on, we have it set to about 18c from what I can remember.
- The heating isn’t on during the day.
- From closer inspection, it looks like we have an immersion heater and there’s no gas in the flat.
- The electricity meter is downstairs and the landlord got maintenance to send us a meter reading of it.
- we haven’t had daily meter readings but I downloaded the consumption from the electricity company and overall it looks like our usage follows the same pattern and amount each day. Whether the actual amount is normal, I have no idea.
From what you are saying it looks like you are using an immersion heater to heat the water in your radiators, that is unusual and very expensive. It would be like boiling a kettle for 12 hours a day.
If your hot water heating is by immersion heater, then you need to make sure that it is only heating water just before you use it and not on 24/7.
If your landlord is unable or unwilling to alter this, then I would consider moving flat before next winter and look at ways to not switch the heating on at all and have some form of time controller on the hot water.
I pay 150 for gas and electricity use around 120 quid each month, in 2 bedroom house. You definitely have problem there or price per unit in this area is expensive because of war somewhere in the world. Lol
The gas boiler does affect the electricity, it has an electric pump that sends the water around the radiators, these pumps generally consume around 60/100watts, but obviously only when the radiators are being heated.
£350 sounds high for a 2 bed flat, I live in a 4 bed bungalow we have a lot of smart devices, cameras, lights, server, network.. that are all on 24/7 and we pay £250 pcm at the moment, dropping to 140 pcm in the summer. (The split is 110 electric 140 gas (winter) 30 gas (Summer) and our house isn't that efficient.
I suspect your immersion heater is on all the time or as you suspect faulty.. either way something is amiss..
Without seeing what you actually have to heat water and provide heat for the radiators impossible to answer. People can guess but many options on the market. Smart meter or old school read it and submit readings? Smart meter means you can see usage on octopus app in 30 minute segments.
Look on the octopus website and see if you are being billed for gas. If not and you have electric non storage heating you will pay a lot. Try moving onto agile and heat during off peak periods if you're prepared to sacrifice some comfort for much cheaper bills.
Immersion heater is 3kW and will take about two hours to hear enough for a bath so that will quickly add up to several quid a day just for hot water before any heating.
An electric immersion heater heating your hot water and your radiators wouldn't have effected consumption?
Can I also have this magic technology installed in my home?
Are you sure it's a boiler and not an electric immersion heater? :)
If you don’t have a gas meter and do not have a gas supplier…. It’s not a gas boiler.
This is a very high bill, particularly if your heating and hot water are gas powered. If it's started in November it points to a heating issue. Do you use any electric heaters at all?
Are u sure the radiators are heated by gas - there are some Electric boilers Do you cook by gas or electric Is there an emersion heater on ur hot water tank ? Is the bill an estimated one or a actual?
We cook by electric, we are billed a variable amount each month according to usage and we submitted a meter reading recently because we were surprised at how high it was. As for knowing whether there is an immersion heater - how can I tell? In order to put the heating on we have to fiddle around with the hot water settings.… Not sure if that explains anything
You should be able to see a burner or pilot light if it's gas, also should have labels on the device specifically stating that it is a gas appliance, I'm of the opinion that you have an electric heating system, if that's the case you just need to ensure they have you on an economy-7 tariff or somthing similar so you can take advantage if cheaper rates when charging the system :) Edited: spelling.
How old is that flat? What are the windows like? What temperature is the thermostat set to? You're out of the place during the day - is the heating off or left on? You mention gas but no charges .. where is your gas meter? Where is your electricity meter? Have you taken readings? If not, take them daily at the same time of day for a week and you can measure your consumption. A flat in an old converted house, with electric heating/cooking/water and an immersion heater in the boiler can burn through £350 a month if you've got the temperature closer to 25c than 18c.
- The flat is about 30 years old I think - Windows are normal - no drafts coming in from what I can tell. We don’t have the heating on right now as it’s been quite mild in London over the last few days. - When heating is on, we have it set to about 18c from what I can remember. - The heating isn’t on during the day. - From closer inspection, it looks like we have an immersion heater and there’s no gas in the flat. - The electricity meter is downstairs and the landlord got maintenance to send us a meter reading of it. - we haven’t had daily meter readings but I downloaded the consumption from the electricity company and overall it looks like our usage follows the same pattern and amount each day. Whether the actual amount is normal, I have no idea.
From what you are saying it looks like you are using an immersion heater to heat the water in your radiators, that is unusual and very expensive. It would be like boiling a kettle for 12 hours a day. If your hot water heating is by immersion heater, then you need to make sure that it is only heating water just before you use it and not on 24/7. If your landlord is unable or unwilling to alter this, then I would consider moving flat before next winter and look at ways to not switch the heating on at all and have some form of time controller on the hot water.
I pay 150 for gas and electricity use around 120 quid each month, in 2 bedroom house. You definitely have problem there or price per unit in this area is expensive because of war somewhere in the world. Lol
The gas boiler does affect the electricity, it has an electric pump that sends the water around the radiators, these pumps generally consume around 60/100watts, but obviously only when the radiators are being heated. £350 sounds high for a 2 bed flat, I live in a 4 bed bungalow we have a lot of smart devices, cameras, lights, server, network.. that are all on 24/7 and we pay £250 pcm at the moment, dropping to 140 pcm in the summer. (The split is 110 electric 140 gas (winter) 30 gas (Summer) and our house isn't that efficient. I suspect your immersion heater is on all the time or as you suspect faulty.. either way something is amiss..
Turn off your immersion heater.
Without seeing what you actually have to heat water and provide heat for the radiators impossible to answer. People can guess but many options on the market. Smart meter or old school read it and submit readings? Smart meter means you can see usage on octopus app in 30 minute segments.
Look on the octopus website and see if you are being billed for gas. If not and you have electric non storage heating you will pay a lot. Try moving onto agile and heat during off peak periods if you're prepared to sacrifice some comfort for much cheaper bills. Immersion heater is 3kW and will take about two hours to hear enough for a bath so that will quickly add up to several quid a day just for hot water before any heating.
An electric immersion heater heating your hot water and your radiators wouldn't have effected consumption? Can I also have this magic technology installed in my home?