Help With Gas Electric Cost To High

escortrsturbo

hi
im also with EBICO and on prepayment i live in a 3 bed end of terrace house with 2 bed loft conversion my current gas is 3.770 and on avarge we are putting £65 A WEEK ON GAS and elec is 14.98 and is costing £30 a week we have 7 children im disabled and my wife is housewife so we are on benifits and we a strugling like mad weve had to cut down to only 2 baths a week and kids use the same water, the heating is down as low as it goes and we sit here cold everyday the heating just keeps the chill of, the ammount of money we put on the gas and yet we still dont have a nice warm cosy house what can we do we are all unhappy and out of pocket any advice please
all the best
Andy


MOVED FROM OTHER FORUM
no we are not paying any debt back ive phoned ebico as i think there is a fault with metter but they said they can send someone round but if no fault is found it will cost me £150. weve had the house checked and we are recomended to have cavity wall isulation but also we have a 3 foot voide under the floors down stairs and if i lay on the floor ill freeze ive put hardboad down and underlay but didnt help much .
ive got to the point where we have to go without just to keep warm .
who can i call for advice on why its costing £65 a week on gas ebico are not very helpfull at all thanks for reply

ive just found as many recipts as i could and from the 13/12/2008 till the 30/12/2008 we have put on £117 what the hell is going on im in shock and we arnt sure that all of the recipts

meter reading on 13/12/08 07716-05
meter reading on 30/12/08 07956-60

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT WE JUST CANT COPE WITH THE COST

Magentasue

I think, rather than a faulty meter, it may be a case of a decent sized, hard-to-heat house and expensive energy.

Can you tell us how many kwh or meter units you are using per day and how much you are being charged per khw? You've put meter readings showing 2240 units used - is this gas or electric? Also, if gas, do you have a metric or imperial meter?


If we know these details, it will be easier to see if you are being overcharged.

escortrsturbo

IVE added meter reading and cost of gas in first post if that help

Magentasue

escortrsturbo wrote: »

IVE added meter reading and cost of gas in first post if that help

So that's 240 units of gas used - if metric, that would be approx 2640 kwh over 17 days = 155kwh per day. That's high but not impossible for the house you describe.

escortrsturbo

ive been talking to next door and they have same house but round other way they told me there heating is on 24/7 and is costing about £45 a month on monthly dd he has gas cooker and boiler running 8 rads so why are we paying so much.

We have gas cooker and hob , boiler running 11 rads but 4 turned off to try save money boiler temp on min and thermostat on 15 house is just warm .
ive contacted quake wall insulation to get a grant for cavity wall insulation so ill have to see if that makes a diffrance i hope so as its beyond a joke

Magentasue

Not sure turning boiler down will save much.

I'm wondering if you use gas fires? Also, is your boiler fairly new or quite old? Newer boilers tend to be more efficient. Is it a combi boiler? If not, how long do you heat hot water for? I know you say you're not using much heating and hot water but if you have an inefficient boiler and a poorly insulated house, your gas use will have to be high. We have a similar house, but mid terrace. We have heavy lined curtains at all windows. In the last month, we've had carpets and megathick underlay put in the bedrooms and that's made a big difference in the evenings. Not saying it'll solve your problem but it's best to go for the cheap and easy measures while you sort out the bigger problems. We've cut back from 150kwh a day to 112kwh a day since the bedrooms have been done. I'm not saying there aren't other factors to consider but I'm sure it's helped.

escortrsturbo

We dont have any gas fires the boiler is combi and hot water is only switched on for baths .
the boiler has 2 temp control 1 for water and 1 for heating + thermostat on wall if we turn it up the digits on the metter move so fast you cant read them if i turn it down its a bit better what i dont under stand is ive been looking at what uses the most boiler or cooker well if i turn on all 4 rings plus the oven on full the digits on gas metter move slow if i turn it of and turn on boiler they move fast if i turn boiler up they move so fast you cant read the digits the boiler is 3 years old had gas inspection last month and past so i know its the boiler but why ?

escortrsturbo

right boiler is on full power lets see how much i use now hope not the whole £30 i put on today as its my last pennys till next friday so looks like the 7 kids and us will be frezzing anyone now how to rig the metter so its free im not joking either nobody thinks of the porpers on benefits due to ill health

Pink_fluff

do not interfere with your meter, you are putting your life in danger along with your wife and 7 kids if you do so - it is extremely dangerous.

escortrsturbo

i wouldnt do it ild get a corgi gas man to do it well a friend of the family so dont worrie idle threats lol

Pink_fluff

That doesn't make it any safer. This thread should be locked. You are talking about something which has the potential to put you in serious danger. Good luck.