Life's a Gas

October has either been very mild, or my new gas boiler is fitted with a mega-efficient burner.

Either way my gas consumption has plummeted compared with the same period last year.

From my records:

October 2004 - gas consumption 71.0 kWh per day

October 2005 - gas consumption 34.4 kWh per day

This is a saving of 64 pence per day in gas, to be added to the 23 pence electricity savings. It must be programmed in my Scottish blood - small savings like these soon add up over the 180 day heating period.

In August, as part of the kitchen improvements, we had a new Worcester-Bosch condensing boiler fitted. The old gas back boiler, a Vulcan Verona made in about 1970, is now well on its way to a Chinese blast furnace.

The old boiler was using 6kWh of gas a day just to run the pilot light. This heat was just going straight up the flue and not contributing a jot to keeping the inside of my house warm. Totalled up over a year, this represents 2190kWh or about 10% of my total gas usage. About 36 quid -doing nothing.

In addition to the new boiler, we also installed the solar water heating panel, which meant that we could go for days at a time in the summer without having to use the gas boiler at all.

The underfloor heating in the bathroomand kitchen has made all the difference to these rooms. Previously they were cold, draughty and uninviting. Underfloor heating pipes costing just 225 quid and plumbed into the central heating make the bathroom a pleasure. I even like to walk around barefoot now - just to feel the warm tiles.