This section gives a more detailed analysis of your school’s out of hours gas use and some things to look out for. For good energy management, you want most of your energy use to be when the school is open.
The table below shows how much gas has been used when the school is open and closed on a school day as well as during weekends and holidays.
| Time of use | kWh | £ (at current tariff) | kg/co2 | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holiday | 24,000 | £710 | 4,300 | 7.6% |
| Weekend | 25,000 | £760 | 4,600 | 8.1% |
| School Day Open | 66,000 | £2,000 | 12,000 | 21% |
| School Day Closed | 140,000 | £4,300 | 26,000 | 46% |
| Community | 51,000 | £1,500 | 9,300 | 17% |
| Total | 310,000 | £9,300 | 56,000 | 100% |
To understand why your school is using too much gas outside of school hours, first look at gas use by day of the week.
For most schools there should be no gas usage at weekends. The only reason gas might be used is for frost protection in very cold weather, and averaged across the whole year this should be a very small proportion of weekly usage.
For some schools there is more gas consumption on a Monday and Tuesday than Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, as additional energy is required to heat a school up after the heating is left off at weekends. This energy is being absorbed into the masonry.
'Thermal mass' describes a material's capacity to absorb, store and release heat. For example, concrete has a high capacity to store heat and is referred to as a 'high thermal mass' material. Insulation foam, by contrast, has very little heat storage capacity and is referred to as having 'low thermal mass'.
It's still much more efficient to turn the heating off over the weekend, and use a little more energy on Monday and Tuesday than it is to leave the heating on all weekend.
If the graph shows high weekend gas consumption, ask your caretaker or building manager to check your heating system controls. You may have:
By eliminating weekend gas consumption at your school you could save up to £2,000 (66,000kWh) per year.
This graph shows how the gas consumption of the school varies on school days when the heating is on in the winter between 31 Mar 2024 and 31 Mar 2025 (aggregated across the whole year).
This is a useful graph for determining how well controlled the timing of the boiler is. High out of hours gas use maybe due to a boiler coming on too early in the morning.
See the heating control advice page for more information.
This chart can help your school compare gas use during holidays
The table below shows a summary of your gas usage during the last year of school holidays. It includes average energy use per day to enable comparison for different length holidays.
| Holiday | Period | Use (kWh) | Average daily usage (kWh) | Cost (£) | CO2 (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easter | 01 Apr 2023 to 16 Apr 2023 | 9,790 | 612 | £294 | 1,790 |
| 23 Mar 2024 to 07 Apr 2024 | 10,000 | 627 | £301 | 1,830 | |
| % difference | +2.4% | +2.4% | +2.4% | +2.4% | |
| Summer half term | 27 May 2023 to 04 Jun 2023 | 810 | 90 | £24.30 | 148 |
| 25 May 2024 to 02 Jun 2024 | 1,000 | 111 | £30 | 183 | |
| % difference | +24% | +24% | +24% | +24% | |
| Summer | 22 Jul 2023 to 03 Sep 2023 | 5,910 | 134 | £177 | 1,080 |
| 23 Jul 2024 to 01 Sep 2024 | 5,180 | 126 | £155 | 945 | |
| % difference | -12% | -5.9% | -12% | -12% | |
| Autumn half term | 28 Oct 2023 to 05 Nov 2023 | 2,090 | 232 | £62.60 | 381 |
| 26 Oct 2024 to 03 Nov 2024 | 869 | 96.5 | £26.10 | 159 | |
| % difference | -58% | -58% | -58% | -58% | |
| Xmas | 23 Dec 2023 to 07 Jan 2024 | 10,300 | 645 | £310 | 1,880 |
| 21 Dec 2024 to 05 Jan 2025 | 10,200 | 639 | £307 | 1,870 | |
| % difference | -1% | -1% | -1% | -1% | |
| Spring half term | 10 Feb 2024 to 18 Feb 2024 | 9,850 | 1,090 | £296 | 1,800 |
| 15 Feb 2025 to 23 Feb 2025 | 17,200 | 1,920 | £517 | 3,150 | |
| % difference | +75% | +75% | +75% | +75% |
Note: The table above is not adjusted for changes in outside temperature, the % changes in gas consumption might therefore differ from those in your school's alert messages.
Winter holidays would be expected to have higher gas use due to frost protection settings.
Calculations based on Gas consumed between 17 Jan 2023 and 31 Mar 2025
The following characteristics are used when analysing your school energy data. Temperature compensation uses weather data specific to your school's location.
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Floor area | 3072.0m2 |
| Location | TF3 2EP (-2.435929, 52.672378) |
| Pupils | 409 |
| Type | Primary |
Consumption costs are calculated based on the unit prices of energy and do not take into account standing charges or other fees.
Tariffs may be based on MAT or Local Authority averages, or an Energy Sparks default, if your school has not provided their actual tariffs.
Consumption costs are estimated based on historic tariff information.
Future savings are estimates based on your school's latest tariff information.
Potential cost savings quoted in school comparisons, e.g. for comparable "well managed" and "exemplar" schools are also based on your school's current tariffs.
School comparisons are based on benchmarking your school against comparable schools based on the characteristics outlined below.
"Exemplar" schools represent the top 17.5% of Energy Sparks schools
"Well managed" schools represent the top 30% of Energy Sparks schools