im so confused but wanna save some money!

emma_b_4

hi
i pay £55 per mth to powergen for gas and electric. im always in debit to them, and they have told me over the phone today my usage is £65 per mth, so they wanna up my payments for the third time in so many months.

i dont understand all the units etc but they have told me during the winter my gas usage is 47 units per mth, electris usage is 231 units per mth

during the summer months my gas usage is 22 units per mth and elec is 190 units per mth

there are 2 of us living in a 2bed mid terrace house, mostly we are out during the day, although im a student nurse and with my shifts i am sometimes home during the week too.

please can you give me some guidance if possible, or is the best thing to just stay with powergen>?

thankyou in advance

penrhyn

Assuming the summer winter split is six months then you appear to be using around 2526 Kwh of electricity per year and 12,600 kwh of gas.
Using Ebicos prices for the East Midlands that would cost £321 for gas and £236 for Electricity i.e £557 total which would cost around £47 a month.
If you are in debt with PG they may be charging extra to claw back the outstanding debt.
My advise would be to contact them again and get your anuual usage figures from them in kilowatt hours for both fuels and then use this information in one or more of the comparison sites.

emma_b_4

we only owe about £40 now due to paying £90 per mth for a couple of mth to shift it

FTB83

It also may be good to look at ways to reduce your gas and electricity usage where possible if this could help reduce your bills.

My boyfriend and I live in exactly the same situation (2-bed mid-terraced house) and pay £40 DD per month for gas and electricity with Powergen, so far we have been in credit for each bill. We are both out during the day, do two-three loads of washing per week, shower each once a day, cook an evening meal every night etc etc - the norm - and I know that utility prices can vary in different areas.

We also have energy-savings light bulbs, switch the TV off when not in use etc. Also, because we're both terraced, we should save slightly on heating bills over the winter as we're better insulated than semi-detached/detached/end of terrace. I've also heard about local councils helping finance increases in loft insulation which saves energy and would save you money on heating bills over the winter.

I hope that whatever you do, you manage to get the bills sorted.

humfer

If your with Powergen I would really look at ways to save on gas and elec usage rather than consider switching to another supplier. However if a comparison site shows over £100 possible saving then maybe it is worth it. Have a look at some of the threads on this board as well as some helpful suggestions from the energy companies websites and you will be suprised how much you can save - i.e. turning the thermostat down 1 deg can save bigger money than you would think

emma_b_4

hi again and thanks, we are quite energy effecient and always tun lights and tv off, even share baths sometimes, we havent got a shower at the moment but im on at my OH all the tiem to put one in! we paid 4k for dglazing at xmas in the hope of reducing our bills, we have sealed up the floors ,w ooden floors, and hardly ever have the heating on. we dont use a tumble dryer. we wash about 4 loads per week. we dont have a thermostat we have individual settings in the radiators and have the bathroom and spare room completely turned off. the hall on 2 and kitchen on three. living room is between 4 and 6 (max) depending on how cold it is during the winter.

it just seems like we are paying over the odds and alwaysseems to be in debit. we pay more than our parents who hav the heating on constant and use dryer all the time and are at home all day.. seems strange to me.. pgen say our usage isnt that high either and when i ask for energy effeciency advice they say wer doing all we can, except the loft insualtion and cavity wall, but im a student and we cant a4d the cost of them. dont fancy C. wall as heard some bad things about it.

all my other DDs are as far down as poss and the g and e just keeps on rising i know theres bn some pice hikes and that has jut made a bad situation worse for an already tight budget!

thanks x

humfer

emma_b wrote:

hi again and thanks, we are quite energy effecient and always tun lights and tv off, even share baths sometimes, we havent got a shower at the moment but im on at my OH all the tiem to put one in! we paid 4k for dglazing at xmas in the hope of reducing our bills, we have sealed up the floors ,w ooden floors, and hardly ever have the heating on. we dont use a tumble dryer. we wash about 4 loads per week. we dont have a thermostat we have individual settings in the radiators and have the bathroom and spare room completely turned off. the hall on 2 and kitchen on three. living room is between 4 and 6 (max) depending on how cold it is during the winter.

it just seems like we are paying over the odds and alwaysseems to be in debit. we pay more than our parents who hav the heating on constant and use dryer all the time and are at home all day.. seems strange to me.. pgen say our usage isnt that high either and when i ask for energy effeciency advice they say wer doing all we can, except the loft insualtion and cavity wall, but im a student and we cant a4d the cost of them. dont fancy C. wall as heard some bad things about it.

all my other DDs are as far down as poss and the g and e just keeps on rising i know theres bn some pice hikes and that has jut made a bad situation worse for an already tight budget!

thanks x

Why don't you take a reading every couple of weeks and work out your usage by that. Just reading your post I would be a bit surprised that Powergen are telling you you use £65 of gas/elec at the moment, even though we are getting towards the end of summer.

catsneel

what's so bad about cavity wall insulation?, we are thinking of having it done , but your comment is putting me off!!

masonic

humfer wrote:

I would be a bit surprised that Powergen are telling you you use £65 of gas/elec at the moment

I don't think they are saying that. I would infer that this is averaged over the year.

Personally, I don't think those figures look excessive.

beverleyhills

humfer wrote:

Why don't you take a reading every couple of weeks and work out your usage by that.

We record the meter readings using a spreadsheet and are able to make comparisons with the same period in previous years.