Heating help please!!

[hurricane501]

Hi,

Im new here and only made this account due to getting no help from the council or my energy supplier...

Im having issue with my central heating, it seems really expensive and doesnt even heat the house up!

Im on smart meters due to no standing charges but the heating just eats my credit.

I topped up £20 last monday when i had £5 credit and its used all £25 within a week, i only have my heating on for a max of 6 hours per day, ive timed it and it seems to use £2 for 2 hours usages, which seems stupidly high?

The radiators heat up fine down stairs and ive bled them myself which did seem to help, but the main bedroom rad doesnt get very hot and as soon as i turn the heating off its stone cold within 5 minutes while the rest retain heat for some time.

My boiler doesnt ever seem to turn off and just keeps heating the water, i thought its supposed to turn off when the house reaches a certain temperature? Mine doesnt..

So i know my rad in the bedroom is broken, but ive watched videos and done everything i can to fix it, yet it just doesnt get very hot and loses its heat instantly, this combined with the heating just eating my money makes me thing theres a bigger issue? £20 per week when i live alone and only have my heating on for VERY small amounts of time see stupidly high and my gas cost is pretty average/low.

Please somebody help me work this out.

 

[king of pipes]

This can be a common problem when was it last serviced? this needs doing every year, your GSI should carry out energy checks and advise on energy saving tips 300mm of loft insulation , cavity wall insulation , draught proofing your windows and doors, thermal lined curtains to keep heat in if you recieve any form of benift you may qualify for help and if not your energy supplier has a duty to help you insulate your home its the only way to keep the heat within your home start with a heating system health check . cheers kop

 

[SimonG]

6 hours a day isn't a very small amount of time.

 

[hurricane501]

6 hours a day isn't a very small amount of time.

6 hours per day is a lot? As soon as i turn the heating off its freezing so it needs to be on for some time.

The average cost per month is £48 yet id be paying over £80 and they have their heating on for over 6 hours a day? How long do you leave your heating on for?

Most my rads in this house are singles, its an old house, the windows are double glazed but all the rads are under the windows, where in my old house they were at the back of the room.

 

[Harvest Fields]

My heating is on 2 hrs in the morning and 2 at night. And it has only been on about the last 2/3 weeks. Must be one of the lucky ones with good insulation.

 

[king of pipes]

The rads could probably be undersized in the living space what boiler is it ? As i said before you need stop the heat escaping which will mean making some home improvements yourself . Kop

 

[hurricane501]

The rads could probably be undersized in the living space what boiler is it ? As i said before you need stop the heat escaping which will mean making some home improvements yourself . Kop

I understand that but i dont think this is the main issue, having good insulation will help but the rad in my bedroom going cold instantly while the others remain hot is not right.

Also the boiler not turning off and constantly going is that right? I thought combis heat your house up and then turn off at a certain temp? Im thermostat is in the passage near the front door, the rad gets really hot but is the heat escaping the front door and causing the boiler to go 100% none stop?

The council have checked the boiler and gas and said both are fine, they have not checked any rads and i had to bleed them myself they havent been bled in years, one of the bleed valves snapped when i put it back on...

Im pretty sure these rads are too small and old for this house but the council wont do anything about that.

Having heating on for 4 overs is only 2 hours less and sometimes i dont have my heating on at all due to the cost! How much a month are you paying for heating Harvest? Like i say i can time my heating and watch the money be eating, it really is that bad.

Also its a Potterton Promax combi?

 

[Ric2013]

Centre terrace house here. My heating is nominally on from around 7 in the morning to 10 at night and set to about 17°C in the warmest room. I don't heat bedrooms.
In practice, the heating will run constantly for about an hour in the morning to bring the temperature up, then is switched off by the room stat and then will typically come on for a few minutes per hour during the day, running a bit more in the evenings as the outside temperature falls, and heat losses increase. Then it switches off and I go to bed. If no one is oin during the day, I sometimes turn the thermostat down to 15°C, so the heating is usually not running at all.

Combi just means it gives you instant hot water.

What is your gas consumption in m2 or kWh, rather than in £? This may be the problem. Some energy suppliers sting you with a very bad rate on the first *** units, or a high standing charge.

If you genuinely aren't using much gas, try getting a price comparison from 'ebico' as this is the only company I know of that charges a flat rate of x pence per unit of gas used.

Also the boiler not turning off and constantly going is that right?

is the heat escaping the front door and causing the boiler to go 100% none stop?

The above sound like a contradiction? The boiler will switch on and off to keep the water in the rads hot. The room stat will switch the entire system (including the boiler) off when it feels warm enough: it does not set the boiler to 100% or otherwise, but it might continue running the heating when the lounge, say, is perfectly warm enough.

Do any of your rooms get hotter than you need them?

 

[SimonG]

The wife has ours on all day, controlled by the thermostat. So it comes in and out as required.

Start recording meter readings at start of day. Same time each day and record how long you have the heating on for.

It may well be you have an issue, but you need to take it up with the council. At least you will have data to back it up.

 

[hurricane501]

Centre terrace house here. My heating is nominally on from around 7 in the morning to 10 at night and set to about 17°C in the warmest room. I don't heat bedrooms.
In practice, the heating will run constantly for about an hour in the morning to bring the temperature up, then is switched off by the room stat and then will typically come on for a few minutes per hour during the day, running a bit more in the evenings as the outside temperature falls, and heat losses increase. Then it switches off and I go to bed. If no one is oin during the day, I sometimes turn the thermostat down to 15°C, so the heating is usually not running at all.

Combi just means it gives you instant hot water.

What is your gas consumption in m2 or kWh, rather than in £? This may be the problem. Some energy suppliers sting you with a very bad rate on the first *** units, or a high standing charge.

If you genuinely aren't using much gas, try getting a price comparison from 'ebico' as this is the only company I know of that charges a flat rate of x pence per unit of gas used.





The above sound like a contradiction? The boiler will switch on and off to keep the water in the rads hot. The room stat will switch the entire system (including the boiler) off when it feels warm enough: it does not set the boiler to 100% or otherwise, but it might continue running the heating when the lounge, say, is perfectly warm enough.

Do any of your rooms get hotter than you need them?

None of the rooms get hot lol, the rads are hot to touch but my feet are freezing and i still need to wrap up, i cant feel any heat really.

I got an oil rad from my dad and had that on and can instantly feel the heat but it eats the electric and only heats one room.

My tarrif =
Unit Rate 1* (pence per kWh) 7.896p for the first 180 kWh of gas per month
Unit Rate 2* (pence per kWh) 3.283p
NO standing charges.

I have no idea what my consumption is as i have no way to tell? but if i add it up by £ its VERY high for a single person. I only really want the bedroom rad on as thats the place where i spend most my time, but the thermostat rad you cant switch off and the thermostat on the rads needs to be at 6 or it doesnt even turn on. I swear this house is so old nothing works. I was on storage heaters before i moved here and they did destroy the electricity but your house was roasting.

My boiler never turns off, if i put the heating on it just keeps going 100% until i turn it off. The timers on it dont work at all, its ancient, nothing seems to work.

Running baths and cooking doesnt use much gas at all, its only the heating.