HELP..prepaid gas costin me a fortune !

skint,single_mum_of_4

Hi
I'm on prepaid ( cant change as i'm in private rented)...I'm end of terrace house, 3 beds.
I put hot water/ heating on 2 hrs in the mornin & 4/5 hrs in the afternonn /evenin . I have kids so now its colder i put it on 3.30 so its warm when they get home. Its costin me £15 aweek ( my electric is £10 aweek)
I need to know how to save a bit..

Is it better to have it on a timer and let it come on twice aday or shall i keep water on all day and heatin twice aday so tank has'nt got alot of work to do ?

What temperature should i have the main thermostat at ( i do want to be warm)

would it be cheaper to cut heating down a few hours and plug an electric heater in for a while instead ?

if you can help me i would be sooooo greatfull...can hardley aford to live !

macman

Who says you can't switch away from pre-payment meters?
Assuming you have gas central heating and hot water, that's cheaper than heating by electricity. An electric heater will only heat one room. Keeping the hot water on all day is just a waste if you're not using it much except morning and evening, leave it on the timer. The big users are heating/hot water, tumble drier, electric shower.
£100 a month for dual fuel in a 3 bedroomed terrace is not excessive.
How about insulation-have you checked that your hot water tank is lagged and the loft has proper insulation,? Those would be good places to start.
You don't have a backup immersion heater that is being left on?

jamesb1239

I agree with the OP it is an expensive way of buying gas as i'm in the same situation plus i'm insolvent so nobody would give me a credit meter if i tried... Currently my house is sitting at 8.5 degrees and its damn cold, couple of degrees lower and i may have to consider buying gas...

angelsmomma

jamesb1239 wrote: »

I agree with the OP it is an expensive way of buying gas as i'm in the same situation plus i'm insolvent so nobody would give me a credit meter if i tried... Currently my house is sitting at 8.5 degrees and its damn cold, couple of degrees lower and i may have to consider buying gas...

Hi

I am surprised no one has come on to tell you about ebico.

They do not penalise the pre payment customers, they pay the same price as direct debit customer ( I am one of those and we subsidise the pre payment customers because we don't think it is fair that people with poor credit ratings have to pay more) please google it and read about how it was set up.

Please people don't have a go at me if I put that badly, I am trying to help

rosekitten

angelsmomma wrote: »

Hi

I am surprised no one has come on to tell you about ebico.

They do not penalise the pre payment customers, they pay the same price as direct debit customer ( I am one of those and we subsidise the pre payment customers because we don't think it is fair that people with poor credit ratings have to pay more) please google it and read about how it was set up.

Please people don't have a go at me if I put that badly, I am trying to help

I will be telling my sister in law about this
they are on prepayment meters with
Scottish power and they put in a fortune
on both meters,thanks for posting this.

KimYeovil

£15 a week for heating a four bedroom flat for seven hours per day is cheap.

skint,single_mum_of_4

angelsmomma wrote: »

Hi

I am surprised no one has come on to tell you about ebico.

They do not penalise the pre payment customers, they pay the same price as direct debit customer ( I am one of those and we subsidise the pre payment customers because we don't think it is fair that people with poor credit ratings have to pay more) please google it and read about how it was set up.

Please people don't have a go at me if I put that badly, I am trying to help

Thanku so much , i will definetly look it to it as this is just a joke.ive never heard of them before thanks for in forming me x xx

skint,single_mum_of_4

KimYeovil wrote: »

£15 a week for heating a four bedroom flat for seven hours per day is cheap.

Its a small 3 bedroom house !

KimYeovil

skint,single_mum_of_4 wrote: »

Its a small 3 bedroom house !

Sorry, I was probably thinking 4 living spaces. Anyway, if it's an end of terrace house with three open walls and a roof and only one neighbour on one side to insulate you that makes it even more of a bargain.

£15 a week for heating a three bedroom house for seven hours per day is very cheap.

Of course you can look around for a cheaper prepaid supplier. Check other prepaid tariffs - not just Ebico's (- since you have a moderate consumption (and it sounds like you want to have a higher consumption) the cross-subsidy you will pay to low users might not be offset by the cross-subsidy you receive on a prepaid meter). But as it is a self-contained house with no resident landlord or other tenants then there really should not be any problem with changing the meter to a credit one.

Jakesmummy

I got my pre-payment meter changed and Im in private rented, just ring your supplier and ask them to change it for you. I also agree with kim £15 a week seems cheap for the amount of hours you have it on, I used to spend much more when I had a pre-pay and I dont think I had my heating on as long as you. What supplier are you with?

kippen_noedel

as said by others and myslef on various threads here, Ebico are often very competitive on PAYG gas. not so often on electricity, however always do a check on a comparison site because there are exceptions to every rule.