Is your heating ON or OFF?

[Deleted User]

icewytch, I have sent you a pm

jackieb

I've just had my online bill for my gas and electricity. I moved house in June and changed over to Scottish Gas in July. We read the meter so we had a clean slate - no underpaying of direct debits either. We got our meter read last week. I pay £70 a month DD and i'm still £280 underpaid!! I'm in shock. I've never been cheap for my electric bills, but since we've moved house i've used my tumble drier for about an hour in total (it's now in the garage so I don't use it. Before we moved I used it a lot).

So for the last quarter my gas and electric bills have came to £545 - and that's summer useage.

I made a mistake. It's worse. I've paid £210 for 3 months DD and am still underpaid, so it's actually £490 for the electric alone - and £155 for the gas - so actually £645 for the quarter. :eek:

Jorgan_2

jackieb wrote: »

I've just had my online bill for my gas and electricity. I moved house in June and changed over to Scottish Gas in July. We read the meter so we had a clean slate - no underpaying of direct debits either. We got our meter read last week. I pay £70 a month DD and i'm still £280 underpaid!! I'm in shock. I've never been cheap for my electric bills, but since we've moved house i've used my tumble drier for about an hour in total (it's now in the garage so I don't use it. Before we moved I used it a lot).

So for the last quarter my gas and electric bills have came to £545 - and that's summer useage.

I made a mistake. It's worse. I've paid £210 for 3 months DD and am still underpaid, so it's actually £490 for the electric alone - and £155 for the gas - so actually £645 for the quarter. :eek:

Are you sure they have the right readings for the electric? Thats a horrendous amount of electric to be using. It maybe worth buying one of those useage meter's of e-bay (you can always sell it on again) to see whats using the electric up.

floss2

Check your meter readings and check the start readings from when you moved in too, also that your immersion heater is not switched on, as that can eat electricity without you realising it.

Also try this if you can't get hold of an energy monitor soon: turn everything (washer, tv, pc, fridge, freezer etc) off in the house, and wait for the meter to stop turning (should only be a few moments - if it still turns then something is still running). Then turn 1 item back on at a time, all the time watching the meter. Sometimes old appliances can use more than you realise just because of their age.

London_Town

Just wanted to add to this great thread. I've now switched the gas off in my meter box. I have an electric shower, a fantastic little electric induction hob and I'm not giving EON another penny for gas!!

I'm lucky in a heat context as I live in a top floor flat. The people below me are "normal" so have had the heating on for some weeks. This stops my flat feeling too cold.

I've just found it's amazing what you can get used to - if you try!!

Daisymac_2

jackieb wrote: »

I've just had my online bill for my gas and electricity. I moved house in June and changed over to Scottish Gas in July. We read the meter so we had a clean slate - no underpaying of direct debits either. We got our meter read last week. I pay £70 a month DD and i'm still £280 underpaid!! I'm in shock. I've never been cheap for my electric bills, but since we've moved house i've used my tumble drier for about an hour in total (it's now in the garage so I don't use it. Before we moved I used it a lot).

So for the last quarter my gas and electric bills have came to £545 - and that's summer useage.

I made a mistake. It's worse. I've paid £210 for 3 months DD and am still underpaid, so it's actually £490 for the electric alone - and £155 for the gas - so actually £645 for the quarter. :eek:

We are the same, we pay £108 per month in Electric and £100 in Oil, so £624 a quarter and we are still in debt with the electric by about £100, never missed a payment or anything. I dont know what we will do if it goes up anymore, we have the heating on, but we have only had it on twice a day for 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening for about 2 weeks now and my oil monitor thing has already moved from 9 down to 8, (a reading of 9 is a full tank at 1200 litres of oil). I am scared to put the heating on more but we are now getting sick, not badly sick, but you know the odd sniffle and persistant cough. This government need to sort this out as a bl**dy big priority becuase people can not live like this. Me and my DH both work full time and earn quite decent salaries, but with our outgoings just to 'exist' are:

£108 Electric
£100 Oil
£28 Water
£190 Council Tax
£11 Tv Licence
£409 in Total

That obviously is without paying for the actual house, fuel to work and food, how people on a pension are supposed to cope I will never know, I have told my Mum and Dad to keep the heating on when they need it at all costs, I will pay the bill if I have to, I dont want them to worry or think they have a choice between 'heat' or 'eat', I have no idea how we would pay it but how can I let my Mum and Dad worry about putting the heating on.

Lily-Lu

Jackieb - Definitely check your meter readings' yourself, and compare them with what's on the bill. The actual reading that the person took last week may not have been passed through to your supplier yet, so there's a chance they've actually been 'estimated'

jackieb

I wasn't here when the meter man came - dh was. When the meter man took the reading he put it into his handheld gizmo and it wouldn't accept it. He did it again and it wouldn't accept it again. He asked dh if we'd changed the meter (we haven't, but we have had the fusebox upgraded since we moved in). He said the only way it would do this (ie not accept it) is if the readings were way lower or higher than estimated. Dh told him the house had been empty since February due to the previous owner dying - but we started off with a clean slate when we changed over suppliers in July. We were up to date with the previous supplier (we had to stay with the previous householder's supplier for a month after we moved in).

There's no immersion switch. We had the electrician in to do some work and he couldn't find one. I'm pretty sure it's not on all the time as the water gets used up and I have to put the boiler on to heat it up (there's up to 6 of us, 4 when my son and husband are away working, so we use quite a bit of hot water - no baths though, just showers). Also, we've got the fusebox changed and the fuse for the hot water tank is off, so it must be solely heated from the boiler.

I get my bill online and it said it was a reading, not an estimate. My dh left to go overseas last night. He's not due home until the 28th of November - he'll just fret if I tell him about it now. I'll not tell him until he comes home.

I've got the kids together to tell them they can't leave things switched on. I'm used to have electricity bills of £300+ a quarter but never almost £500!

Caterina

Still no CH but wood stove on from the time it gets dark. It warms up the chill in the air and makes for a really lovely and homely atmosphere, on top of saving us a fortune in gas!

I keep taking my readings on imeasure.org.uk and I am using a regular 2 units of gas per week (an average of £0.77 according to their calculations), but my electricity is increasing, perhaps because of the nights getting in earlier and the need for more light - or perhaps because I spend my life in front of the computer? hehe

Caterina

bestpud

Why do some people on here find it so difficult to accept there are some of us genuinely worried about paying our bills and so we choose to leave the heating off?

As far as I am aware, we all respect those who choose to put theirs on - nobody has been asked to justify it as far as I am aware?

For me, personally, it helps to know we are not the only ones having to face these tough decisions this year - more about solidarity than one up man ship imo...

Money saving is what this site is about after all and comfort is subjective...