Gas swapping
 

I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas bill
is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to be
disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas bottles
which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.
This year I plan to measure my gas usage, I only use Gas for the frontroom
fire which is one of the standard baxi gas heaters with flame and coal
effect behind glass.

My last 1/4 ly bill for gas was about £140. nov-feb approx

So does this saving sound reasonable am I and other being charged so much
for delivery of gas and would there be anything I should consider regarding
swapping over other than the usualy safety considerations.

cheers
dave


A part picture of my fire just happens to be avaible here, top right hand
picture
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/whisky-...cam/index.html

Gas swapping
 

On 26/05/2010 13:56, whisky-dave wrote:
I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas bill
is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to be
disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas bottles
which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.
This year I plan to measure my gas usage, I only use Gas for the frontroom
fire which is one of the standard baxi gas heaters with flame and coal
effect behind glass.

My last 1/4 ly bill for gas was about £140. nov-feb approx

So does this saving sound reasonable am I and other being charged so much
for delivery of gas and would there be anything I should consider regarding
swapping over other than the usualy safety considerations.

cheers
dave


A part picture of my fire just happens to be avaible here, top right hand
picture
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/whisky-...cam/index.html


Fire is probably fairly inefficient but cost still seems very high. No
leaks or gas cooker? Check the meter is stationary with the fire off.
Bottled gas is normally more expensive than piped. Go on uswitch or
similar and see if there is a far lower tariff.

Gas swapping
 

whisky-dave wrote:

I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas bill
is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to be
disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas bottles
which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.

People who are on calor gas moan that they can't get cheaper mains gas!

If you're still tempted, your appliances will need modifying (or
replacing if that's not possible) for LPG, also you'd need your plumbing
checked as suitable (e.g. LPG bottles and appliances can't be below
ground level and probably plenty of other differences from natural gas
I'm unaware of).

Gas swapping
 

"whisky-dave" wrote in message
news:htj5pa$p43$1@qmul...

I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas
bill is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to
be disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas
bottles which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.
This year I plan to measure my gas usage, I only use Gas for the frontroom
fire which is one of the standard baxi gas heaters with flame and coal
effect behind glass.

My last 1/4 ly bill for gas was about £140. nov-feb approx

So does this saving sound reasonable am I and other being charged so much
for delivery of gas and would there be anything I should consider
regarding
swapping over other than the usualy safety considerations.


If you look at your bill, it should say how much you are being charged per
KW/h - what is this on your last bill?

Your bill will also detail if your readings are based on a gas meter that
measures in M3 or ft3 - check that the bill and the meter match - if your
meter was measuring in ft3 and you were being billed for M3 then you will be
getting overcharged by a lot...

Toby...

Gas swapping
 

On 26/05/2010 13:56, whisky-dave wrote:
I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas bill
is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to be
disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas bottles
which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.
This year I plan to measure my gas usage, I only use Gas for the frontroom
fire which is one of the standard baxi gas heaters with flame and coal
effect behind glass.

My last 1/4 ly bill for gas was about £140. nov-feb approx

So does this saving sound reasonable am I and other being charged so much
for delivery of gas and would there be anything I should consider regarding
swapping over other than the usualy safety considerations.


Difficult to tell without knowing the model specification or your use.

I'd estimate at the very most £140 - that's using what I'd consider to
be high but not bonkers estimates of 12 hours/day, at 2.5kW/h
consumption (not delivered heat), 5p/kWh.

Gas fires can be pretty good, but vary a lot in efficiency - 30 to 90%,
I think. The flame ones tend to be lower efficiency. So if your is 50%,
of that 2.5kWh you're consuming, you only get just over 1 kWh - about
the same as a one bar electric fire. Not much in a big room.

This is just my educated guess from a spreadsheet I knocked up a while
ago - I'm sure others here can do better.

Rob

Gas swapping
 

"Toby" wrote in message
...



If you look at your bill, it should say how much you are being charged per
KW/h - what is this on your last bill?

Your bill will also detail if your readings are based on a gas meter that
measures in M3 or ft3 - check that the bill and the meter match - if your
meter was measuring in ft3 and you were being billed for M3 then you will
be getting overcharged by a lot...

Toby...


Just got this from the calor gas site...
What is the calorific value of LPG?
Butane = 7.8 kWH/Litre (of liquid)
Propane = 7.1 kWH/Litre (of liquid)

So, a 13Kg propane refill is 25.4 litres, and costs £23.49

So a 13Kg bottle contains 180.34 kWh

So cost per kWh is £0.13 from this type of bottle.

You will get it slightly cheaper if you use the larger 47KG bottles (I
expect).

In my area, nPower charge 7.815p per kWh for the first 4572kWh and then
2.507p per kWh for any additional use - so I can't see it being cheaper with
bottled gas, as their higher rate is far less, plus there is probbaly going
to be a £4.95 delivery charge for the bottles too...

Toby...

Gas swapping
 

whisky-dave wrote:
I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas bill
is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to be
disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas bottles
which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.

you have almost certainly been told wrong.

Gas swapping
 

On 26 May, 13:56, "whisky-dave" wrote:

So does this saving sound reasonable

No.

Can't imagine any scenario in which case LPG would work out cheaper.
If you have mains gas available and already installed, it's cheap to
supply it. Connection can sometimes be prohibitive (£20k quote for my
parents, and that was only 100 yards) but supply afterwards is cheap.

There are also regulatory issues about piping, i.e. some CORGI wanting
a sizable bone to re-plumb the lot.

Gas swapping
 

On May 26, 1:56*pm, "whisky-dave" wrote:
I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas bill
is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to be
disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas bottles
which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.

Who told you that, a Calor salesman?

MBQ

Gas swapping
 

"Man at B&Q" wrote in message
...
On May 26, 1:56 pm, "whisky-dave" wrote:
I've been told that supplying gas is very expensive which is why my gas
bill
is high but on asking around it's been suggested that I should ask to be
disconnected from my Gas supplier (npower, London) and use calor gas
bottles
which work out much cheaper I've been told under half the cost.

Who told you that, a Calor salesman?

No someone that has used calor gas and could believe why my
room cost £140 per quarter when his damp basement cost less than
£50 a year, but his basemtn was always cold, and my room was always 22C+
(when occupided).

I'm doing a leakage check, which I did last year and I worked it out as
1 cubic foot per month, which I didn't think was/is a problem.
I haven;t a good sense of smell so I'm taking photos of the meter
(when I remmeber, or about 2 a month).