How do I work out what my central heating costs per hour? I want to stay warm but cut my energy bill
I am quite worried about my heating bill this winter, and want to take control of this as much as I can.
The problem is I have fallen at the first hurdle as I can't work out how much my central heating costs me to run.
I know how much appliances like fridges and tumble dryers cost to operate, but I am completely in the dark about the cost of my heating – despite this presumably being one of the biggest contributors to my energy bill.
Is there a way of working out how much my heating costs to run, and from that work out how much I could save by cutting down on what I use?
I live in a three-bedroom property with my wife and young daughter, and we have nine radiators fed by a 24 kilowatt gas boiler. We are on an energy deal regulated by the Ofgem price cap.
Home heat: Our reader is keen to use the central heating in the cold weather - but wants to keep bills at bay where possible
Sam Barker of This is Money replies: I am sorry to hear about your heating bill worries – this sounds like the last thing you need with the recent freezing temperatures.
I imagine that like many of us, you are using your central heating more than usual.
It is possible to get an idea of how much it might cost to run your heating - but unfortunately it is a very rough estimate, and can change depending on a number of factors.
The basic calculation is this. Start with your boiler, which is your case uses 24 kilowatts of energy an hour.
Because of the Ofgem price cap, you pay no more than 34p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity and 10.3p per kWh for gas, which is what runs the boiler.
So multiplying 24 by 10.3p, then dividing by 100, gives the figure of £2.40 per hour to run your boiler. So that's £9.60 for four hours, £14.40 for six hours and so on.
Your energy bill will also be limited by the Government's Energy Price Guarantee, which overrides the price cap and limits gas and electricity costs to no more £2,500 a year for the average household, using the average amount of energy. If you use more, however, you will pay more.
The bad news is that this £2.40 per hour figure is a ballpark estimate, and the actual cost based on you and your home could be quite different. That is because there are so many different things to think about with central heating costs.
A spokesperson for comparison firm Uswitch, which publishes data about the energy appliances use, told me there are 'just too many variables' to be accurate about central heating costs.
For devices like fridges, working out the cost of using them is pretty easy – you multiply the wattage by the time the device is on by the cost of energy at the time. That figure will be pretty accurate even if your fridge is old or inefficient.
But for central heating, you have to take the wattage, time and cost of energy then add in things like how warm you want to be, how efficient your boiler is, how well insulated your property is, how many radiators you have in your house, how big your rooms are – the list goes on, and some of these things are very difficult to quantify.
We looked at the different low-cost ways to maximise the heat in your home here.
If you've got a smart meter, these gadgets can help you get a better grip on your energy bills.
There are pitfalls to consider - as our sister title Money Mail has reported, some customers complain that their smart meters have stopped working or caused inflated bills.
But if a smart meter works for you, you can either use the meter itself to work out your energy use, or there are apps that make it easier.
Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch, said: 'If you're confused about how much energy you are using, you can download Utrack, a free mobile app that lets consumers connect to their smart meter and easily track their energy use.
'By tracking their consumption, people can see what changes they can make to save money, while also ensuring they are reducing their habits in a safe and manageable way.'
Another bit of advice that might help you get a grip on your heating costs is from the Energy Saving Trust, which says if you turn down your thermostat by 1C, this will knock around 10 per cent from your yearly energy bill.
Assuming you don't pay more than £2,500 per year for energy, that could mean a saving of up to £250.
Again, this is very rough, and only applies if you have your thermostat in the region of 18-21C.
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