[seoulless]

I had a gas bill from Fenosa for 390 Euros, covering the months of January and February. I apparently used 5.377 kHh).


I had a ton of stuff going on back then, so I didn't even really think about it and I just paid. Now, as it's getting cold again, I did a quick look through my old gas bills to determine how much heat I should be using. I was shocked to find this bill that I overlooked.

I live in a one bedroom apartment in Madrid, and definitely didn't have the heat on all day. Maybe 5 hours a day tops.

 

[fourgotospain]

It's possibly not far off. I'm guessing you are on mains gas? And is it underfloor heating or radiators?

I know that in our 3 bed villa in 2010, using bottled gas central heating, we were shocked to be changing the bottles every 5 weeks or so, and a cost of €240. That was with the heating on about 3 hours a day, thermostat set at 18 degrees. We were on the south coast so the ambient temp would have been a lot warmer than Madrid in winter. We switched it off after 2 months and bought a load of logs for the wood burner instead and electric blankets for the beds.

 

[gus-lopez]

Yes the bottled gas systems average 1 large bottle every 3 days. most people around here with them used to have to change the bank of 5 every fortnight ! most use wood burners now !
Even in Madrid it could still be a bulk LPG tank on the roof, as opposed to mains gas.

 

[seoulless]

What about the nobs on the heaters? If I have them fully loosened, wouldn't that just make the heaters get hotter quicker, allowing me to turn off the gas sooner and not really wasting any gas? Is it possible their configuration is causing me to use more gas than I should be using?

 

[thrax]

We use a gas heater and in the height of winter we change the bottle once every three weeks. We only use this heater for about 3 months of the year. We also have a log fire which we use because it looks nice!!! Going to have aircon installed soon which also has a heating element. A friend who recommended it says it costs around 8 cents an hour to run.

 

[seoulless]

I'm going to check my AC and see if there is a heating element. That would make a ton of sense.

 

[Pesky Wesky]

But, electric heating is even more expensive than gas, isn't it??

 

[snikpoh]

But, electric heating is even more expensive than gas, isn't it??

Not if it's one of the modern, inverter type a/c units.

Bottled gas is fine but you do get a lot of moisture.

'Town gas' is simply expensive (IMO).

 

[webmarcos]

Yes the bottled gas systems average 1 large bottle every 3 days. most people around here with them used to have to change the bank of 5 every fortnight ! most use wood burners now !
Even in Madrid it could still be a bulk LPG tank on the roof, as opposed to mains gas.

Are you sure about that? We've had the same (half-full) butane bottle since we moved into the place 3 weeks ago, and it's still going. There again we don't use it for heating, just for hot water and cooking.

 

[gus-lopez]

Are you sure about that? We've had the same (half-full) butane bottle since we moved into the place 3 weeks ago, and it's still going. There again we don't use it for heating, just for hot water and cooking.

I'm talking about central heating & hot water.

 

[seoulless]

So if I turn the knobs off of the heaters throughout the house, and only keep the ones on in the room I am in, will less gas be used? I'm guessing probably not, right? Closing off an outlet doesn't take away from the fact that the heating (the cost element) occurs elsewhere.