Heating costs.......

Mike J said:
I have a 1930's 4 bed semi which is cold and draughty, I have the heating on for 90 mins in the morning amd my gas bill is min £3 a day. I was in the house most of yesterday and put the heating on and it cost me £10 in gas for the day, no idea how to keep the house warm without selling a kidney.
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I presume you've already adjusted radiators etc? What about thermostat on lower temp for whole house to keep chill off and get a small heater for the room your in most of the time?

I have an oil filled one and takes some time to warm up room but when it does then it's nice and toasty. I just found this review which has a bit info.

www.which.co.uk

Cheap electric heaters for 2024 - Which? News

Find out which cheap electric heater is best for you and how much they cost to run
www.which.co.uk www.which.co.uk

TAD said:
I have mine set to go in for 90mins morning and evening and 17.5 degrees. No idea what the flow is set to.Usually about £3 and £6 for gas depending on weather.
As an aside, my elec display doesn't work on the smart display thing. Anyone ever contacted the supplier about this and got it fixed?
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Those are waste of time as the batteries don't last. See my previous post on page 2 of the thread as it's probably better just to use an app on your phone instead.
 
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Sporty said:
The smart meter display (the thing the battery runs down within a day or 2 so useless unless plugged in) being unplugged shouldn't affect the meter reads as the meter itself is what connects to the network to feedback the readings.

Does your provider not have an app that can show you your usage? There are also few phone apps that you can use and you just hoy in your info and it then requests your data so you can see it all on your phone instead. The app I hoyed on my phone is Loop Energy as I think it was recommended on here.

loop.homes

Pay Less on Your Energy Bills with the Smart Meter App Loop

Take control of your energy bills and join Loop users saving 15%! With Loop, you can revolutionise the way you manage your energy use. Download the ultimate smart meter app for free today.
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I think I also had Hugo at some point, either after or before Loop but I don't bother with them now as bills/direct debit prices have been reasonable

Home

Save energy bills & reduce CO2 costs with Hugo's smart meter app. Enjoy all the energy-saving features for free. Get the app now!
hugoenergyapp.co.uk hugoenergyapp.co.uk
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The latest bill calculated on an estimate.
Meter display now plugged in thus will know what I am using and whether I get a recalculated bill, will find out.
Current tariff ends August thus plenty of time to check if still competitive.
Appreciate your post.
 
Swindon On Tour said:
The latest bill calculated on an estimate.
Meter display now plugged in thus will know what I am using and whether I get a recalculated bill, will find out.
Current tariff ends August thus plenty of time to check if still competitive.
Appreciate your post.
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I've just fired up my Loop Energy app for first time in ages and it's up to date quickly. It's way better than the smart meter display and shows you all sorts so deffo check it (or Hugo) out as you can check daily (15 min increments), weekly and monthly usage. Here's a quick video of what it looks like.


This is a Hugo video

 
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Slightly off topic but I’m with Octopus paying £193 a month for gas and electricity. Sent in the meter readings last week and they replied saying I’m £130 in credit and they estimate that this time next year I’ll owe them £8 !
They suggest an increase in my payments to £222 😳 Can’t understand it.
 
T_Bone said:
Slightly off topic but I’m with Octopus paying £193 a month for gas and electricity. Sent in the meter readings last week and they replied saying I’m £130 in credit and they estimate that this time next year I’ll owe them £8 !
They suggest an increase in my payments to £222 😳 Can’t understand it.
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They’ve just increased mine to £228 from £159. In credit £130+ too.
 
Mike J said:
What would you lower the flow rate on the heating to?
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It depends on your house really. As low as possible ideally. Try 50 and work up or down from there.

If it's an older house it'll never get hot if you set it too low. Mine is brand new so presumably has decent insulation and radiators so I can run it really low and the house stays warm.

Heat pump boilers run at low temperatures, that's why they're often useless in older houses without installing new radiators etc. Mine is just a gas combi though.
T_Bone said:
Slightly off topic but I’m with Octopus paying £193 a month for gas and electricity. Sent in the meter readings last week and they replied saying I’m £130 in credit and they estimate that this time next year I’ll owe them £8 !
They suggest an increase in my payments to £222 😳 Can’t understand it.
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You should really be more in credit at this time of year to cover the coldest months. It sounds about right.
 
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AndrewP said:
It depends on your house really. As low as possible ideally. Try 50 and work up or down from there.

If it's an older house it'll never get hot if you set it too low. Mine is brand new so presumably has decent insulation and radiators so I can run it really low and the house stays warm.

Heat pump boilers run at low temperatures, that's why they're often useless in older houses without installing new radiators etc. Mine is just a gas combi though.

You should really be more in credit at this time of year to cover the coldest months. It sounds about right.
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Ok ive set the heating to 50, the water is set to 60. I have the thermostat set at 10 when im out and over night, 18 when i do have the heating on although the bedrooms never get to 18.
 
Mike J said:
Ok ive set the heating to 50, the water is set to 60. I have the thermostat set at 10 when im out and over night, 18 when i do have the heating on although the bedrooms never get to 18.
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If your bedrooms don't get to 18 at a higher flow rate then it's probably going to need to be higher still. Anything under about 60 will make your boiler condense, which is what saves money

Have you got insulation?
 
AndrewP said:
If your bedrooms don't get to 18 at a higher flow rate then it's probably going to need to be higher still. Anything under about 60 will make your boiler condense, which is what saves money

Have you got insulation?
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My EPC says a D, claims loft is fine, has cavity wall insulation but describes at average. Apparently no roof insulation in the bedroom over the garage. The house is fully double glazed but its draughty, also its floorboards downstairs and they definitely need sealed as there are gaps, so its not great like!
 
Sporty said:
I've just fired up my Loop Energy app for first time in ages and it's up to date quickly. It's way better than the smart meter display and shows you all sorts so deffo check it (or Hugo) out as you can check daily (15 min increments), weekly and monthly usage. Here's a quick video of what it looks like.


This is a Hugo video

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Loop is decent, it lets you see how much you spend.

This is mine for last week:

Logon or register to see this image

Mike J said:
My EPC says a D, claims loft is fine, has cavity wall insulation but describes at average. Apparently no roof insulation in the bedroom over the garage. The house is fully double glazed but its draughty, also its floorboards downstairs and they definitely need sealed as there are gaps, so its not great like!
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My last house was a D and was a 3 bed semi (with loft conversion extra room thingy which I think made it cost a load extra to heat).

Current house is rated B (because I don't have solar) and it costs less to heat than the old one even though it's a 5 bed detached. So I think the rating thing must make a canny difference.
 
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AndrewP said:
Loop is decent, it lets you see how much you spend.

This is mine for last week:

Logon or register to see this image


My last house was a D and was a 3 bed semi (with loft conversion extra room thingy which I think made it cost a load extra to heat).

Current house is rated B (because I don't have solar) and it costs less to heat than the old one even though it's a 5 bed detached. So I think the rating thing must make a canny difference.
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I have a log burner in the living room, so on the days im only spending £3 / £4 on gas I have that going. Currently sat in the living room with the log burner on, and ita 19.5 degrees, the cold bedroom is 15.5 degrees (heating has been on today) hoping turning the flow control down helps.

I need to work out the best background temperature to keep the house at. Often when I get home its 12/13 degrees.
 
Mike J said:
I have a log burner in the living room, so on the days im only spending £3 / £4 on gas I have that going. Currently sat in the living room with the log burner on, and ita 19.5 degrees, the cold bedroom is 15.5 degrees (heating has been on today) hoping turning the flow control down helps.

I need to work out the best background temperature to keep the house at. Often when I get home its 12/13 degrees.
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I think it'll make it worse mate. Sounds like you need a bigger radiator in there if you can.

It sounds to me like you're losing heat somewhere, are the windows canny old?
 
AndrewP said:
I think it'll make it worse mate. Sounds like you need a bigger radiator in there if you can.

It sounds to me like you're losing heat somewhere, are the windows canny old?
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They don't look terrible old, only moved in, in Sept, in the coldest room im going to look at roof insulation as its the room over the garage, flat roof and no insulation. I really need to find somebody that knows about insulation and see whats best.
 
Mike J said:
They don't look terrible old, only moved in, in Sept, in the coldest room im going to look at roof insulation as its the room over the garage, flat roof and no insulation. I really need to find somebody that knows about insulation and see whats best.
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Yeah, it sounds like it's probably losing a lot of heat into the garage. That might solve a lot of your issues.
 
Kept saying there was a cold draught coming in from somewhere but I couldn't find it. Been going round with a candle this afternoon looking for it and found a hole in the wall in the utility room behind the washing machine 😳

There used to be a pipe for the outside tap there going through the hole alongside an electrical cable for an outdoor light. The tap broke and the man who changed the tap didn't like water and electric in the same hole, so he drilled a new hole for the tap pipe. He must have forgotten to fill the original hole in. I've stuffed it with kitchen roll for now and I'll get something to fill it up properly tomorrow.

When the wind hits us tomorrow, wander round with a candle and see what draughts you can find!
 

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