Watch your GAS consumption !!!

[slowrage]

Hello everybody

I live in an apartment with my mother and I was interested in the second gas bill we received recently. You should know that the gas is used here only to heat the water for the shower or the dishes (and not for the heating).
I moved in this summer so the only element of comparison was the first invoice and there I must say that I was surprised.

In fact, if we did the invoice statements, my consumption more than tripled between the periods from the end of August to the end of October, and the period from the end of October to the end of December, going from around 30 m3 to 114 m3 !!!

Unable to really trust the GDF estimates or surveys, I decided to measure my daily consumption in order to see and understand our consumption and possibly detect problems.

I made a table on Open office in order to have the consumption in m3 and the equivalent kWh, I will share my readings with you so that you can judge them and see if they are "normal" or not.

[slowrage]

My first test was a very normal shower (by not letting the water run when I wash), the result is as follows:

0.195m3 or 2.161 kWh (the conversion coefficient used is that of the GDF invoice or 11.08)

I then took a measurement this morning to check the consumption of the night:
0.335m3 or 3.712kWh

I did a test this morning with a small dish:
0.064m3 or 0.709 kWh

According to the first readings it seems that there is an excessive consumption in standby, I will therefore make a reading in a few hours to see the exact consumption in standby / h.

[slowrage]

I got home, here are the results of the standby gas consumption measurement (no use):

Between 12:35 p.m. and 17:55 p.m. (i.e. 320 min): 0.091 m3 <=> 1.008 kWh

Or for 1 hour: 0,0170625 m3 <=> 0,1890525 kWh
Or for 1 day: 0,4095 m3 <=> 4,537 kWh !!!!
Or for 1 year: 149,4675 m3 <=> 1656,100 kWh

And all this by doing nothing, which therefore costs us € 99,23 / year (at € 0.0501 per kWh GDF + VAT).

[Christophe]

It is strange indeed such a standby consumption ... I suggest that you cut the boiler squarely for 12 hours (at least) to make a complementary and more precise test ...

According to the results, I suppose that the problem could come from a concern of calibration of the meter ...

Other opinions? (I never had gas at home ...)

[Christophe]

ps: I will estimate the requirements in kwh for a shower in the evening ...

[delnoram]

It is strange indeed such a standby consumption ... I suggest that you cut the boiler squarely for 12 hours (at least) to make a complementary and more precise test ...

According to the results, I suppose that the problem could come from a concern of calibration of the meter ...

Other opinions? (I never had gas at home ...)

the day before, it is a water heater with pilot lights, that is to say a small flame which awaits a "request" to ignite the burner, I know it is quite old as a system, but it would eat gas if we do not did not turn off .

[Christophe]

Yes but it is the equivalent of a lighter flame ... so 10 to 30W max ...

[slowrage]

yes finally the lighter flame I find it a little big anyway, I will try to find the company which takes care of the maintenance of the water heater if there is no way to manage because there ...

and Otherwise I turned off the water heater for 1 hour and the meter did not move by 1 thousandth so apparently no leak ...

[jean63]

Hold this remark interests me.

I replaced my old boiler (15 years) - heating + DHW - following a leak from the heating body and I noticed a bizarre increase in my consumption last year compared to the old boiler.

So I will do some checks on the consumption in "sleep" mode.
Thank you for putting me on the chip.

[I Citro]

I consume on average 16000kwh of gas per year for heating and hot water (15 year old boiler with pilot light, maintained by me).
The invoices went from 600 € to 750 € between 2000 and 2005, I expect 1000 € for 2006!
Who says gas is economical!
For the kitchen, I use a 13kg butane bottle which I fill with the LPG pump with a homemade adapter (around 10 € saved per bottle).

I watch all my drinks very closely!