Gas bill so high

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Toby

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Is 430 an insane gas bill for a 4 bedroom house over 2 mths?? Its for heating and the hob - oven is electric. We've been meaning to get thermostatic valves on upstairs heaters to reduce wasted energy during the day - seems like a hell of a lot to me though
 
I currently pay £84 per month over here in England for a 3 bedroom house. We have recently completed the replacement of all our single glazed windows with double glazed and have thermostatic valves on all radiators.

I suggest you check out the state of insulation in your house as well as getting the valves fitted.

I have to say that even with freezing temperatures outside, our heating clicks on a 16 or 17 degrees in the morning. (We control the heating via the thermostat and turn it down to 10 degrees at night.)
 
Toby said:
Is 430 an insane gas bill for a 4 bedroom house over 2 mths?? Its for heating and the hob - oven is electric. We've been meaning to get thermostatic valves on upstairs heaters to reduce wasted energy during the day - seems like a hell of a lot to me though
Click to expand...

I heard on Sky-news Ireland that gas prices are to reduce by up to 13.5% in March or there abouts. If that settles your nerves a bit?
Wether you want to believe it or not is up to you...
 
In short yes!!! I'm really shocked at that.
On average our Gas bill costs €75 per month which includes the increases this year. That's also for a 4 bed house, however it is mid-terrace.
HTH
 
Would you have the heating on during the day or just evenings? Theres someone here most of the day so its off and on all day - usually on for about 30 minutes, off for 1 hour. Maybe I need to turn down the thermostat - is it on the boiler itself yeah?
 
We normally have it on a low setting on the thermostat (<20 degrees) & only increase the temp in the evenings (22 degrees). Also only use radiators in rooms that are in regular use - e.g. bedrooms only get turned on at night.
Yes, the heat is on during the day as there are people here!
 
Same here 4 bed semi di, no wall insulation, occupied all day, €400 for past two months. We use a programmable stat which does not turn on the heating upstairs at all in the morning but brings it on in the evening.

Stat €60, zone valve €80 euro, fitting ??
 
mo3art said:
We normally have it on a low setting on the thermostat (<20 degrees) & only increase the temp in the evenings (22 degrees). Also only use radiators in rooms that are in regular use - e.g. bedrooms only get turned on at night.
Yes, the heat is on during the day as there are people here!
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Can't you read/monitor the gas meter to see how much you are using each day and then work out what the average daily cost is?

BTW - 20 and 22 degrees seem pretty high for background heating levels but I guess it's a personal thing.
 
Find myself in the same situation - bill on 19.12.06 for the two months was €421.60 (bill for same period last year was €280 with only 700 less kws). This is the highest bill I've ever had, but not the highest usage. Price per kw was 3.939 in December 2005 (having gone up from 3.145) and is 5.271 in December 2006! If pricing is to come down as one poster mentioned above it will be more than welcome.
I'm in the house all day and heating only clicks on when temp drops below 21 - but in the evening this sometimes goes up to 25 and upwards. I leave all the rads on - my house is relatively new (6 years), but still can feel cold on occasions.
I need to wear more layers!!!!!!!
 
Our heating is either on or off per the timer and does not seem to have the capability to switch on or off based on the temp of the house as mentioned above - its a brand new boiler since we renovated the house - should it have this capability or do you need something special?
 
AFAIK the room temperature thermostat is not built in to the boiler (boiler unit could be anywhere in the house or even in an outdoor building so would not be useful). There is a temperature control on most boilers (ie when the heating is switched to on it will heat up to a certain degree - my boiler has settings up to 10 and I leave it at approx 5).
The thermostat in my house is separate from the boiler and is located in the hall. I leave the boiler switch on all the time and turn the thermostat in the hall to 21 degrees. Even tho the boiler is switched to the on position it will only kick in when the temperature in the hall falls below 21 degrees (or whatever temperature I set it at). My previous house did not have a thermostat and therefore I had to set the timer to come on and off at certain times (bit of a chore as it only had settings to come on and off twice a day so numerous trips to the garage to click it on and off). Don't know how big a job it would be to get a thermostat installed to an existing system.
 
Our latest one was 220 for 2 months in a 3-bed semi. We use it for most things - heating, water, hob and gas fire. And we did not scrimp on it's usage. I'd have collapsed in a heap on the floor at a 400+ bill.
 
c1aro said:
I need to wear more layers!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Or invest a few quid in either TRV at most rads so that the heating delivered to that room can be regulated.

If you see the heat going up to 25 on some thermostat that is not linked to the system you need to maybe think of getting at least one to stop the rad delivering heat when you got anywhere near that temperature.

Ideal house setup.

Gas boiler controlled by 3 channel time clock - €100. One channel for downstairs controlled by TRVs in all rooms. One channel for upstairs controlled by TRVs in all rooms. One channel for hot water. €500 spend now might give a payback over say 5 years but the comfort levels you get with the TRVs and time clock would far outway the return on investment.
 
Need to get gas boiler serviced, I am in Lucan area anyone any contacts they can recommend and how much should I pay
 
Toby said:
Would you have the heating on during the day or just evenings? Theres someone here most of the day so its off and on all day - usually on for about 30 minutes, off for 1 hour. Maybe I need to turn down the thermostat - is it on the boiler itself yeah?
Click to expand...

4-bed detached. Cavity block construction with insulation pumped in. Proper attic insulation, good windows etc. Gas for heating only. 2 people living in house normally. I expect to be paying 100/month this year as rates are at present. Haven't seen the most recent bill yet. I have only one control, on the boiler itself, which controls the heat of the water, with thermostatic valves on downstairs rads. I generally keep upstairs rads off except when we have visitors but bed/bath are put on for short periods mornings and late evenings. A big rad in hall keeps reasonable temp upstairs otherwise. I can isolate all upstairs rads by control-valve which makes things easier but I adjust the boiler control as the weather changes. I have 3 programmed times on boiler but manually switch on/off as well when appropriate.

Some thoughts. Is your 30min on/1hr off routine better or worse than longer runs at a lower temp? Someone might have a comment. Do you lower the water temp during the day? Are you on the right tariff, it's worth running the numbers?
 
if your thermostat is in a hallway then it you need to heat both the hall and probably the upstairs, plus there is a higher risk of draughts from the front door.... plus drafts from any doors leading off the hallway.

You need to fit TRVs in eahc room and set them individually.

I turn off the TRVs in rooms I'm not using... turn it onto 3 in rooms light bathroom etc to keep the chill out.. and put it to 3-4 in rooms I am using.
I don't use any heat upstairs except on really cold nights where I put the landing to 3 and leave the doors open ... jus tto take the chill out.

2000sq and the biggest bill I ever had was €320, with somebody at home.
 
Came in @ 420 myself this month - not happy!

However a buddy came in @ €800+ so .......

Must send that thank you card to the regulator for awarding them an increase even Bord Gais said they didn't need!!!!

Roy
 
Can someone explain to me how the temperature controls work?

We've moved into a new house.

  • On the gas boiler itself there is the dial which looks as if it controls temp.
  • In the hallway there is another temp dial
  • People here have mentioned thermostatic valves on the radiators. What are they? Do you mean the basic knob by which you turn the rad on and off?
My question is how do they all work together, which of them actually does control the temperature?
 
Our last bill was €250 which is astronomical for us.
- rooms not used not heated
- head only on for couple of hours in evening
- house insulated etc
- thermostat at 19 degrees

it's the price hike
see the CSO website
There was a recent article in Indo re: same

Also, I would say this bill reflects the Xmas period - home all day - heating on more etc
 
just got my gas bill 190euro.

Im at home all day with baby, have it on in the afternoon for a couple of hours.

Then the other half likes to have it on constanly in the evening.

Its set to 21 degrees. we also have it timed to go of a couple of times during the night (because the baby gets cold otherwise)

I would defintely question a bill over 400 that sounds mad to me TBH.

Blue
 
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