Is there a cheap mobile heating solution

cheeseandpickle

[FONT=&quot]Unfortunately we got mislead by a British Gas rep and paid unknowingly a capped bill for the last 12 months. Our electric and Gas are supplied by British Gas. The combined Bill currently is £400 per month. We are paying more at the moment to compensate for the previous year.
This guy said we were paying way too much and he could get our bills down. Wow did we fall for it.

We have a Victorian double fronted house that does take some heating. We are trying to cut back and we have joined this forum to see if anyone else has tried to use a portable heating device in their own house that is economical to run.

Can you help?[/FONT]

Premier_2

There is no portable heating device (with comparable heat output) that is cheaper than mains gas.

You can always come off the existing tariff if it is proving too expensive. Perhaps the savings made using another tariff will soon pay for any early exit fee.

Unfortunately you won't be able to change supplier whilst you have an existing debt on the account.

spiro

Well the 1st lesson you should have learnt is when you get your bill checking the end meter reading and if it is an estimate call your supplier with an actual reading. People on here have ended up with hundreds of pounds due on a 'catch up' bill which (a) pushes their DD up to a very high amount and (b) means you can't switch supplier.

How much of the £400pm DD is due to catchup?

Plushchris

Jumpers and sweatshirts are the most portable form of staying warm in a house that takes "some heating"

Flibertigibit

If you want portable heating that you can "pay as you go" it's got to be the calor gas fires, where you buy the canisters as and when needed. The main drawback with them is supposedly that they throw out a lot of water into the atmosphere, but I've used them in the past and wasn't aware of that being a problem.

JasX

For starters there are a number of devices that fit what you are asking along the lines of a blanket, a jumper etc.

Burning £400 per month is pretty outrageous, with that kind of money going up in smoke you should be looking around for better home insulation, a more efficient boiler/heating system if yours is very old and confirmation you are on the best tariff -look at previous bills and plug your useage in ANNUAL kWh into a price comparison site (do it yourself), look at overall cost not any kind of 'saving' they try to quote you.

Do it your self and don't rely on a 'rep' or 'some guy' to try to shoe horn you onto the tariff he gets highest commission for

timbo58

Have to concur: £400 pcm is ridiculous unless at least £200 is the amount towards old bills.
I live in a non insulated victorian house and my bills have never gone over £100 a month (although its a small 2 bed terrace to be fair).

Wearing another layer (thermals are very good and cheap too!) is the only way of a cost effective and portable solution.