Gas bills

AdamSon · Mar 16, 2017

Right, i was hoping to clear something up here. I've moved into a new place with the better half and the bills are pretty high for just two of us (currently trying to get this sorted with the energy company) SWMBO only allows the heating on half an hour at a time, and most days we don't bother putting it on, so in an average week the heating is on for about 3 hours total.

I was always led to believe that keeping the thermostat at around 18-20 was more efficient than turning it on now and again, is this true? The reason I'm asking is because i have my first AG in over a year sitting in the cupboard at 16 degrees and the poor thing is struggling.

Also if this turns out to be true i don't have to see my breath in the house anymore.

terrym · Mar 16, 2017

If you have a cold house its obvious that the amount of heat you lose to the outside (assuming its colder) is less than that from a warm house. And that principle is also true whether the house is at a constant temperature or allowed to cycle between cold and warm. So in order of heat loss Warm>Cycling Warm/cold.>Cold.
Without knowing anything about your house have you turned off the heating (radiators?) in rooms you don't use, or fitted thermostatic valves on radiators so you can control the individual room temperatures better.
As for your beer why not set up a water bath?
How to Set up a Water Bath for your FV - The HomeBrew Forum

Linalmeemow · Mar 16, 2017

Probably silly questions but:

Is it a new build with good insulation or an old place without?
Have you taken reads or are you still on estimates?
Are you on a fixed direct debit? If so, is the usage based on a forecast based on the previous occupants?
Has your boiler been serviced recently?
Does anyone in your house fill the bath regularly?

All of these things can drastically increase your gas spend...

yeastinfection · Mar 17, 2017

3hrs a week, ours is on 3 hrs a day,infact thats just the morning :-(

AlanManley · Mar 17, 2017

Ours is "normally" on 06.30-08.00 and 17.00-21.00.

If either the wife or I are home though with switch it to continuous and it comes on and off as needed to keep it to 20ÃÂ°C (ish)

chewie · Mar 17, 2017

If you are using a room stat (with no zone controls) to control the heating them a lot will depend on where its situated within the house, when sizing a house up for heating different calculations are made for different rooms, hall/bedroom usually around 18c, living room/bathroom around 21c, a badly placed room stat in a hallway near multiple doors that get a lot of drafts and footfall will tend to keep the heating on longer than it should, this will show as a higher bill.

Other things that can contribute is instant hot water instead of stored and even something as simple as a washing machine that is at the end of a dead leg (classed as a single run of non recirculating hot water pipe at 6m or more), no one thing could be to blame but instead a couple of things combining together to run up a higher than expected bill, you certainly don't want to have a dripping hot tap if you have an instant hot water boiler. It all starts though with ensuring you are on the cheapest possible tariffs for gas/electric or whatever you use.

JapanBrew · Mar 17, 2017

Well, you can test it. One month tell your wife let's do it your way then next mine. See the difference.
But what others said and also, to raise the temp up from cold, including walls and floors not just air, a few degrees versus 10, is a big challenge. We know this from brewing. I'm in Japan and everyone turns everything off. Then back on again. Those pumps in the A/C units really put on the pressure to get the heat they need. This uses a lot of power. Over the years, I've tested it and keeping it on does cost more but for the amount of time it's on versus the time on from switching off and on is crazy different. Mine is always on. 24 hours. It costs but that's why we work hard is to have a good life. If you have 2 cell phones, Netflix account, go out to eat 2 or more times a week, then live in a cave, there's something wrong there.

Gunge · Mar 17, 2017

Get a smart meter, they're ace! It was a real eye-opener for me, watching the real-time consumption of gaz and leccy... and the bills have come down accordingly. BTW, a typical brewday using two boiler elements uses around ÃÂ£1.60 in electricity!

Bigcol49 · Mar 17, 2017

Hi!
I agree with @terrym - get some control over your brew temperature by means of a simple heated water bath.
As for home heating, I'm sitting with a blanket over my legs and I'm wearing two pullovers in order to avoid putting the central heating on. Putting it on for half an hour wouldn't really heat my house and would be a waste of money.

Leon103 · Mar 17, 2017

It is a myth about leaving it on constant. Martin Lewis money saving expert did a big article about it before. To be honest having it on for 30 minutes is pretty pointless.

Luckily I don't have gas heating, everyone who does seems to have high bills

terrym · Mar 17, 2017

@chewie has raised a good point. Don't pay over the odds for your fuel. There is still a wide range of tariffs out there and it's easy to change supplier, it just takes a little time to sort it out. I've just changed, again, and I now actually pay less than my last contract, since the last supplier had become uncompetitive from being cheap.

geetee · Mar 17, 2017

Gunge said:
Get a smart meter, they're ace! It was a real eye-opener for me, watching the real-time consumption of gaz and leccy... and the bills have come down accordingly. BTW, a typical brewday using two boiler elements uses around Ã¯Â¿Â½ÃÂ£1.60 in electricity!

Agree with that, you find out what costs the most with a a smart meter and I was surprised how low my brewday cost was even though I heat the HLT, Kettle and several kitchen kettles for topping up.

My son is autistic and we go through several changes of clothes per day so our washing machine is on at least twice a day, every day and that costs.
Thinking of getting rid and buying a washboard and tub but the wife if not so keen!

AdamSon · Mar 17, 2017

It's an old house and seems to have a cold hall/stairs/landing. We have thermostatic radiator valves, a hot water tank (which doesn't have any hot water in because it's a waste of time turning the hot water on), and the loft is insulated.

I'm going to get a smart meter put in i think, and i will get in touch with eon and see what's going on with the bills. It's currently around ÃÂ£80 a month for 2 people who are out of the house from 7am to 5:30pm! Something isn't right.

terrym · Mar 17, 2017

You don't need a smart meter to take meter readings. If you are not taking your own meter readings I suggest you start to do that, say weekly. You can then work out how much you are consuming and therefore paying.
Go to http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity to look at better tariff deals. Eon don't come out too good especially since they have just put up their prices.

geetee · Mar 17, 2017

terrym said:
You don't need a smart meter to take meter readings. If you are not taking your own meter readings I suggest you start to do that, say weekly. You can then work out how much you are consuming and therefore paying.
Go to http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity to look at better tariff deals. Eon don't come out too good especially since they have just put up their prices.

The Smart meter helps though, you see that using an electric oven or washer/dishwasher moves straight into the red and stays there. Change to LED bulbs that last for years and turn off all plugs, chargers and TVs not in use.
( now I am starting to sound like Martin Lewis!)

Chippy_Tea · Mar 17, 2017

you see that using an electric oven or washer/dishwasher moves straight into the red

My dishwasher only moves into the red when i ask her whats for tea when she is in the middle of the ironing. :lol:

Gunge · Mar 17, 2017

terrym said:
You don't need a smart meter to take meter readings. If you are not taking your own meter readings I suggest you start to do that, say weekly. You can then work out how much you are consuming and therefore paying.
Go to http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity to look at better tariff deals. Eon don't come out too good especially since they have just put up their prices.

No, but it's smart to have one! They tell you much more about your energy usage than just exactly what you're using at any given time, but that's the best bit and it's easy for everyone to see at a glance what's going down in pounds and pence. I was surprised too at how little a brewday costs, what with those twin 2Kw elements raging away.

sdt7618 · Mar 17, 2017

You would be best to keep the heating off if only half an hour. all your doing is raising it slightly and then letting the temp drop again, and if your seeing your breath I would hate to think what kind of condensation problem your creating for yourself.

We have our heating on half hour before we get up and about a half hour after then from about 5 at night till 9. thought that changes as the night are getting lighter.

Damp and Condensation are a real problem and the causes is lack of ventilation and heat.

geetee · Mar 17, 2017

Chippy_Tea said:
My dishwasher only moves into the red when i ask her whats for tea when she is in the middle of the ironing. :lol:

Superb, you mean red in the face!

Leon103 · Mar 17, 2017

I have no personal experience of smart meters but my brother in law hadn't one for electric and gas from British gas. He recently went to change companies to someone cheaper and a number of the cheaper companies wouldn't sign him up because they don't support smart meters. I found this odd but apparently true.

Gas bills

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