Is your heating ON or OFF?

Kirri

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I'm not working either Kirri and haven't for a while so I know how difficult it is to get by on JSA alone. If I had a partner living here with me I'd probably not get even that. In my mind I have to set aside £10 a week each for the leccy and the gas. My one and only "get-out clause" in my mind is that I have a married couple as extremely close, kind and generous friends who promised to finance my utility bills for as long as it took. I have never taken them up on that offer but I know I could ask them if I was truly desperate. I might even be able to prevail on my lovely, sainted sister to help if I asked. This is a mental insurance policy which allows to me to be able to sleep at night. Others may not be so very lucky.

Yep, on JSA at least fuel is one bill that can be reduced even if it's not nice to have to do it! Now I'm at home all day even without the heating on I'm using up more than I would if I was out all day with lights on earlier and cooking more - not sure how much the pc costs to run per day but I can't really do without it.

You are lucky to have such good friends that even if you don't take them up on it, it's some peace of mind if needed

lostinrates

B and t if your friends want to help don't deny them theopportunity if it gets cold. Perhaps you can return the favour in someway useful to them?

For me its not fear of the bills. I am very lucky i could make more available for fuel but have prioritised other things. But we have no ch heateing system. This week my back has been very bad and today one leg 'went' so bringing wood in sufficient for a whole week is a bit of a challange , and it only heats one room. I have the electric heaters, but imagine them chompi through money, so reserved for guests and desperate times.

I really hope we can get a heating system in next year. If we had to pay for more heating this year i guess that would be underpressure too.

Nessa56

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I
That might be less stress and worry for me on my paltry income but I don't want to have to pay that totally unreasonably high tariff. It beggars belief that pre-pay meters cost users more per therm/unit when they're alway paying for it in advance. To my mind that should be giving you a discount, not costing you more.

Hiya

If I could just put my twopennethworth in please

Try a company called Ebico for your electric and gas, I don't know if they operate in your area, but they do not charge any different whether you buy with a pre pay meter, by DD or any otherwhich way. I learnt about them on this site and still when I do my comparison they are the cheapest also.

I do hope that helps

V

x

kezlou

Must admit my heatings on, but only because my son's off school, its a pd day so put it on. Normally its only on in the morning and evening, i've got it a timer. When the kids are at school, the heating goes off. I'd rather get more layers on!

Its blooming outside though, no snow, just sleety cold rain.

lostinrates

Kirri wrote: »

I honestly don't think I can afford to have my heating on this winter now I'm not working, though I do at least have some in reserve on my electric account if I really have to use it next week. I don't want to go over the DD amount ideally though or they will put my payment up despite my reserve.

Yes Feb 09, had the worst ever snow I'd seen in London, first time ever the buses didn't run I believe? Even last winter most people who lived closer than me to the office claimed not to be able to get into work in the snow yet the buses were all running then and some could have walked even!

I think 2009 was the year we got snowed in for ages, and dh, snowed in at home, slipped, fell on a bucket and broke a rib. He stayed home for weeks, becUse he could work from home and didn't fancy slipping again with a broken rib. It was fabulous, havingnhim at home for so long.

He starts a new job in feb so even if it snows there can be no huddling at home together.

BitterAndTwisted

lostinrates wrote: »

B and T: if your friends want to help don't deny them the opportunity if it gets cold. Perhaps you can return the favour in some way useful to them?

The way my friends justified their offer is partly because I was in a position once to freely offer them great help. One of them is a freelancer and when they arrived here in the country 20 years ago neither of them had a a half-decent job. I put one of their names forward for a lot of very lucrative projects which it was within my remit to recommend them for over others. For years and years. Not because I was hoping to store up goodwill or any personal benefit for the future but because I liked him immediately, he is very talented indeed and a lovely person.

In any case, I know they are desperate to be of some help or other because only a few days ago when I was moaning about my lack of a working freezer they offered to buy me a new fridge/freezer and said that I should go online shopping for one right away. I haven't and I'm not going to.

But it does my heart so much good to know that I have kind and decent people in my life who would have my back when things are not so good elsewhere at the moment. That truly is the meaning of being blessed. Hooray for wonderful friendships!!

Nessa56: that two penn'orth is worth so much more than two pence. Thank you so much for that!

Kirri

lostinrates wrote: »

I think 2009 was the year we got snowed in for ages, and dh, snowed in at home, slipped, fell on a bucket and broke a rib. He stayed home for weeks, becUse he could work from home and didn't fancy slipping again with a broken rib. It was fabulous, havingnhim at home for so long.

He starts a new job in feb so even if it snows there can be no huddling at home together.

Ouch, nasty.. I hope it doesn't snow for his first week in his new job!

muffin_man_7

b&t the price per kwh is the same as when we had the normal meter the reason i changed to prepay is so i decided how much we spend on the gas and electric since the leccy was put on pre pay nearly 12 months ago we have spent less works out just under £50 a month compared to between £80 and £120 a month before thats what i call:money: i'm hoping it will be similar with the gas will have to wait till next jan to find out i'm on esa so every penny counts and my youngest is 15 so i do get ctc and cb but it doesnt go very far we alocate £10 for each meter plus £4 to pay gas arrears hoping they will be paid off by end of the year

If you think you might want to change to pre pay you can phone up and ask about the cost and would it be the same cost or more thats what i did bg are the only company who do the home top up and that was another thing that helped me decide you can ask as many questions as you need they don't pressure you into a decission it took me 12 months after i'd done the leccy before i decided to do the gas looking back i think i was unsure how long it would take me to get used to it it wasn't that long and i will be sticking with pre pay as long as i can manage to put the card in etc and i will build up a credit balance for winter as and when i can manage it right need to defrost me fingers it's gone really cold since the hailstones just after 4oclock bbrrrrrrrrr jjusst chheccked its 3c outttside thats cold:eek:

shegar

Rummer wrote: »

On and up :eek:, it is freezing here and snowing and I refuse to be cold in my own home. We will put it back down when (ok, if) the weather settles back down again.

Thats exactly what I say, I just cant handle the temp under 18, that feel chilly to me, so we have it at 21 , but I do totally understand when people just cant afford to have their heating on , we are fortunate to not be in that position .....Mind you we give up things so that we can have the heating on, so I think it depends on whats important to the individual...............Its pretty dam cold out there right now, we had real sharp frost this morn, but weve had sun shine all day though........:D

taehc

We didn't put our heating on until the 3rd week in December (we are in Scotland). Even now it only goes on if it's really cold, has to be - outside before it goes on. It is on just now but really low and the temperature in the house is 12, normally without the heating on it sits around 8-11.
Our largest bill last year was for £350 for 4 months (gas and electric) when there was snow on the ground all time and the temp didn't rise above -10 for a long time, we had the heating on 24/7 but kept it low.
Extra layers and blankets are a must but I would rather have the money in my pocket than in that of the utility company!