Ways to warm the flat up cheaper:(

dazzamac

Im currently living with my mum who is in reciept of DLA and a few other benefits due to her illness, and i was made redundant from work and now on sick with reactive depression.

the flat we live in is a top floor attic flat in scotland but has no gas at all, n it costs so much to run the electric heaters that are on the walls, and they dont really heat the flat up at all. its costing around £30-40 a week on electricity.

the flat has double glazing but its really old and doesnt really help at all! my question is, is theere any way that we could get entral heating or something to heat the flat up more and save some money?

i've been looking to maybe move flats but because of our income, rental prices are just to high at the moment and its a private landlord we have.

any help would be very much appreciated


thank you

kippen_noedel

contact your energy company and ask for information on their social tariff, also ask what assistance they may be able to give in insulation the property

jd87

Is this in England? If so, then if she gets DLA and has a private landlord, then she qualifies for the Warmfront scheme. They should be able to get central heating for her. See here: http://www.warmfront.co.uk/

DirtPoorGuy

I am presuming you are in receipt of housing benefit, if not you are probably entitled to it.

Make sure you have been receiving the 'Cold Weather Payments' you are both entitled to, they are supposed to be paid automatically if the temperature in your area falls below 0 degrees, if not contact the DSS and enquire, if your Mother is over 60 she should also be getting an additional Winter Fuel Payment of between £125 and £400

As kippen noedel mentioned there is a thing called the 'Social Energy Tarrif', if you are paying more than 10% of your income towards your combined energy bills then you will probably be be entitled to a discount, call your energy supplier who will ask you to supply information about your benefits and will move you on to the discounted rate.

I know this is probably something you know but have you used an energy comparison website?, call your energy supplier and ask them how many units of energy you have used over a 12 month period, enter the information into a few of the sites to see which company will give you the best deal currently.

If you are using a prepaid meter get rid of it, they are poor value for money, ask your energy company to remove it and start billing you monthly by direct debit, your Landlord has no say in this as the equipment belongs to the energy company.

If your Landlord was to upgrade your heating system, I believe they may be entitled to also increase your rent, if the DSS is currently paying it this should not be a problem for you.

The Landlord may well be entitled to grants to subsidise the cost of installing a new heating system and insulate the property better because you are on benefits, this works out good for you and the Landlord but some either don't know or care.

I would contact http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/getadvice/advice_topics/repairs_and_bad_conditions/energy_efficiency
for advice on your housing rights and Landlord obligations.

It might be a good idea to contact your local council housing benefits section, they usually have minimum standards for private properties that they pay rent for, this can change over the years and may have changed since you originally moved in, so contact them to find out if there is anything they can do about the your sub standard heating and insulation, they may be able to apply pressure to your landlord to upgrade.

If you are not already on a council housing list get on it, and ask for them to submit you as a potential tenant to local housing associations, you may get priority because your Mother is ill.

Good luck

dannymccann

Good luck getting gas central heating in the flat, its generally not allowed anymore due to the risks involved (I think I read somewhere....someone will correct me)

Electric central heating will be just as much, but I guess if its a wet system (usual water in radiators on the wall set up) it would be alright.

Top floor flats tend to be quite warm places due to upcurrents of warm air from below, I have a friend with a top floor apartment who doesnt have a heating bill all year round, apart from say £100 during winter when lots of people are out below him :rotfl: Have you draughtproofed? Draughts are the worst thing in the world when you are already feeling the cold. Get them covered up if there is any. Make sure youve got lots of nice thick socks and fluffy slippers, you said money is tight but plenty of choices in Primark or even the pound shops / Boyes anywhere like that. Keep your feet toasty and the rest of your body will be good. Lots of really thin layers works better (for me) than a few thick ones - you dont feel overburdened by clothing. Also dont sit in front of the telly all day all over the sofa, you need to be up and moving about as much as possible to generate your own body heat. If you are at home for dinner have some soup and a breadroll / baguette with warm butter from the microwave and a cup of tea, that will soon get you warm and it isnt unhealthy. Theres plenty of keep warm tips around this site from people in much worse conditions that yourself

DirtPoorGuy

You are allowed a gas supply in flats that are not more than four storeys high as far as I know.

Cardew

jd87 wrote: »

Is this in England?

the flat we live in is a top floor attic flat in scotland;)

I understood Scotland were more generous with grants??

prowla

From a practical perspective♦, it is cheaper to keep yourself warm than the whole flat.

dazzamac

hey, thanks for the reply everyone

i've put draught excluders at the bottom of all the doors, i've also tried to put the insulation tape round the windows to stop any draughts, only other place i can think draughts would be coming from is between he skirtin and floor as its a really thin carpet, tho i've tried puttin some rugs down (know this wont make much difference) but was thinkin maybe filling the gap around with some expanding foam, dunno if i'm aloud to do that or not tho lol

the electric heaters on the wall are really poor, to the point that the radiator is hot, tho the heat doesnt spread round the room.

also, as far as i know, there's not any wall insulation either.
and i was quoted around £500 just to get the gas meter put in because there is no pipe in the flat and they would have to run a gas pipe from the flat below me to my flat:(

thanks again

Ellis456

Defiantly ask about the free loft installation, my dad got it when he was renting and on benefits, the did the whole loft and it made a big difference, to a cold house, if you cant do a lot do the drafts etc then only moving works im afraid my dad is going through the same thing with his place, he's tried loft installation and nothing works!.

Fire_Fox

Don't seal draughts up so tight the place gets damp from condensation, this will make the flat feel even more cold. If it's an attic flat you really need better insulation in the roof area as heat rises and it's probably a greater surface area than the windows or walls. You may well be able to get this free or heavily discounted if you search around for grants. As Prowla says it's cheaper to keep a person than a room warm - electric underblanket with an overnight setting on the bed and a heated throw on the sofa as these cost pennies to run.

In England a landlord has a legal responsibility to provide adequate heating and insulation, IIRC this can be enforced by Environmental Health. Presumably there is something similar in Scotland given that it is colder on average! Also try these:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/09/18303/27476
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland
http://www.eas.org.uk/index.php?page_id=142