Cheaper to heat water with immersion or gas?

shamrock2004

Hi there

Since I moved into a rented house (there are 2 of us living here) in december the immersion has broken. The repair man (who does work for the landlord) told me it's more economical to heat the water with the gas instead of the immersion. So I said I would leave the immersion and use the gas instead to heat the water.

Now, my first gas bill for the first 5 weeks in the house was €81 (251 kWh) . My latest gas (for 60 days) bill is more than double that, €168 (2625 kWh). I can only assume this is down to heating the water specifically with the gas. I heat the water for showering for about 1 hour to heat the water for showering. I don't normally use the heating at this time of year for heating the house.

Is using the immersion to heat the water cheaper? I was lead to believe otherwise. I don't fancy another €168 gas bill during the summer.

ted1

shamrock2004 wrote: »

Hi there

Since I moved into a rented house (there are 2 of us living here) in december the immersion has broken. The repair man (who does work for the landlord) told me it's more economical to heat the water with the gas instead of the immersion. So I said I would leave the immersion and use the gas instead to heat the water.

Now, my first gas bill for the first 5 weeks in the house was €81 (251 kWh) . My latest gas (for 60 days) bill is more than double that, €168 (2625 kWh). I can only assume this is down to heating the water specifically with the gas. I heat the water for showering for about 1 hour to heat the water for showering. I don't normally use the heating at this time of year for heating the house.

Is using the immersion to heat the water cheaper? I was lead to believe otherwise. I don't fancy another €168 gas bill during the summer.

It all depends on your set up. Genreally like for like gas is cheaper. But you may be heating a dozen radiators just to hear the cylinder. Can you isolate your hot cylinder?

A kwh of gas is about 1/3 the price of a kwh of electricity, however you may be heating 5 times more water with gas so it becomes more expensive

shamrock2004

ted1 wrote: »

It all depends on your set up. Genreally like for like gas is cheaper. But you may be heating a dozen radiators just to hear the cylinder. Can you isolate your hot cylinder?

A kwh of gas is about 1/3 the price of a kwh of electricity, however you may be heating 5 times more water with gas so it becomes more expensive

I had all but 2 radiators closed off. I'll talk to the repair man again about repairing the immersion as i'd still like the option of having it there. thanks for the info

vandriver

250 kWh cant have covered 5 weeks in Dec/Jan more like 5 days.

MugMugs

Are you accurately reading meters or judging by bills op? Also, is there a function to heat just water instead of the actual system?

Tar.Aldarion

look at the meter before and after heating water, then you will see how much it cost. I have constant hot water and my heating is gas, let pay very little fro gas.

shamrock2004

vandriver wrote: »

250 kWh cant have covered 5 weeks in Dec/Jan more like 5 days.

You're right. I made a mistake reading the old bill. total usage for my first bill was for 73 days (there was a small charge on the account between when the last occupant moved out and I moved it) was 1060 kWh and the cost was €81. My latest bill was for 60 days, total usage 2625 kWh and cost was €168. Does anyone thinkg 2625 kWh is excessive usage for 60 days?

I closed off the only 2 radiators which were open in the house last night. The €168 seems very very expensive. It's bizarre. Over the 60 day period I would have only used the gas to heat the water (up to 1 hour max) and briefly before lighting the fire in the house (up to 1 hour) - so a max of 2 hours on any given day.

vandriver

251 kWh would be about 14 euro

hfallada

Gas per unit is about a third of the price of electricity. I would also cheap whether the bills both readings are actual and not estimates.

How old is the boiler? Modern condenser boilers are about 90-95% efficient and if you actually feel the air leaving the boiler flume, its warm but not hot. But if the boiler is an old one, the savings of using electricity will be less

shamrock2004

Hi guys. I made a mistake with my last post. I've edited it above. Also the bill has the 'current reading' on it, so I don't think it's an estimate.

shamrock2004

MugMugs wrote: »

Are you accurately reading meters or judging by bills op? Also, is there a function to heat just water instead of the actual system?

No. There is not a function to just heat the water. I have to turn on the system with the single switch to heat the water.

vandriver

I live in a small end of terrace 3 bed,and our bill for hot water and a bit of heating early in the billing period was 155 for 61 days (2395 kWh).We do have a condensing boiler.Ours would be on 2 hours every day for hot water with hour long boosts for extra hot water about 4 or 5 times a week.

shamrock2004

vandriver wrote: »

I live in a small end of terrace 3 bed,and our bill for hot water and a bit of heating early in the billing period was 155 for 61 days (2395 kWh).We do have a condensing boiler.Ours would be on 2 hours every day for hot water with hour long boosts for extra hot water about 4 or 5 times a week.

Hey vandriver. Thanks for this. it's nearly in line with what my charge / usage was for a similar period. So now i can see how extortionate the cost of energy is in this country (price of energy / carbon tax / VAT / standing charges)