Help please - £10 in Electricity on Tue now only £1 odds left?

Magentasue

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

I really don't know, what do you mean by borrowning £6? is that when its on emergency?

I don't know what our heating is, i think its gas, as the hob is gas, and we have a gas fire in the living room.
I don't have a heater in my room though, i have a plug in one, would that use much electricty?

Yes, that's what was meant by 'borrowing £6' - if you use some of the emergency, it has to be paid back when you put credit on again. That leaves less for electricity.

Plug in heaters will use quite a bit especially if the house isn't that warm. If I used a 2kw plug in heater, on full, for an hour, it would probably cost me about 25p. On prepay, that could be 40p or more. Maybe it doesn't sound a lot but you could get several loads of washing done for that!

Magentasue

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

Does she have to get a credit check done to switch?

Yes, she will.

littlepinkstars44

Magentasue wrote: »

Yes, that's what was meant by 'borrowing £6' - if you use some of the emergency, it has to be paid back when you put credit on again. That leaves less for electricity.

Plug in heaters will use quite a bit especially if the house isn't that warm. If I used a 2kw plug in heater, on full, for an hour, it would probably cost me about 25p. On prepay, that could be 40p or more. Maybe it doesn't sound a lot but you could get several loads of washing done for that!

ahh right, thanks, i usually have my heater on for about an hour a night. Plus my laptop and my mums pc are usually on all day

littlepinkstars44

ok, so an hour after posting this its gone down to £1.02? Surely that can't be right?

markharding557

hi,your mums meter could be collecting debt also heaters plug in or otherwise are expensive to run.
if she is on a low income she may qualify for a social tariff which gives a discount.
she should see what can be turned off because her consumption is high(twice mine)

Magentasue

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

ok, so an hour after posting this its gone down to £1.02? Surely that can't be right?

I think you're saying 73p in an hour - do you know how many kwh (units) that is? I expect 3 or 4.

So ... your heater could use 1 or 2. The TV, PC and laptop, at least 0.5, probably more if there's a Sky box, router etc. Five 100w bulbs for an hour, the fridge ... any other heaters?

littlepinkstars44

Magentasue wrote: »

I think you're saying 73p in an hour - do you know how many kwh (units) that is? I expect 3 or 4.

So ... your heater could use 1 or 2. The TV, PC and laptop, at least 0.5, probably more if there's a Sky box, router etc. Five 100w bulbs for an hour, the fridge ... any other heaters?

ok so right now i have my laptop, lamp and heater on in my room. The hall light is on (we have like an extra bit at the end of the hall where the pc is) my mums on her pc, wireless router is on, my little brother is in bed, his lamp and tv in on. My step dad is in the living room, with light and tv on. we have a fridge freezer and an extra freezer, both on obv and the dishwasher is on.
Also i'm just out the shower, but is that not heated by gas?

littlepinkstars44

markharding557 wrote: »

hi,your mums meter could be collecting debt also heaters plug in or otherwise are expensive to run.
if she is on a low income she may qualify for a social tariff which gives a discount.
she should see what can be turned off because her consumption is high(twice mine)

she only works 1 and a half days a week, but its cash in hand so she says she doesn't work on forms and things.

My step dad is a postman. I'm at college, and my brother is only 12

Magentasue

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

ok so right now i have my laptop, lamp and heater on in my room. The hall light is on (we have like an extra bit at the end of the hall where the pc is) my mums on her pc, wireless router is on, my little brother is in bed, his lamp and tv in on. My step dad is in the living room, with light and tv on. we have a fridge freezer and an extra freezer, both on obv and the dishwasher is on.
Also i'm just out the shower, but is that not heated by gas?

Ah, dishwasher. Ours uses 1.5kwh on the cheapest programme. Shower may be electric but may use water heated by gas - how do you heat your water?

I'm wondering if your mum is worried about this? Have you spoken to her? You're a family using normal things - you could cut back (I'd have that TV out of your brother's room!) but do you all want to?

littlepinkstars44

Magentasue wrote: »

Ah, dishwasher. Ours uses 1.5kwh on the cheapest programme. Shower may be electric but may use water heated by gas - how do you heat your water?

I'm wondering if your mum is worried about this? Have you spoken to her? You're a family using normal things - you could cut back (I'd have that TV out of your brother's room!) but do you all want to?

I know she is worried about money, and is always moaning about the electricity, so i thought i'd get some advice before speaking to her about it.
I'm fairly sure the water is heated by gas, as we have a boiler and a timer for the heating and that, its only on for an hour in the morning and a few hours at night.

Sadly we can't take the tv out my brother room, he's 12 and always has friends staying over, watching dvds, playing the wii or ps3 or guitar hero lol! It would just be more of an effort to have to put it back in and set it all up again