Need Help re: extortionate energy costs

jennewstart

Hi, Can anyone please help me, we are in a large 3 bedroomed rented property, we moved in Aug of this year. We have a prepayment meter at the property which, to be honest, we found ok for the first few weeks, BUT now we are putting in £5.00 every 36hours in both the gas and electric meters (£10 in total). We dont have the heating on constantly and only put it on when kids are home from school. We dont have a dishwasher.
Can someone please help me as I really am struggling to keep up with this and cant afford to keep putting money in at this rate. Would it be a lot cheaper to change to normal meters and pay by direct debit? or would it not work out much cheaper, Im currently with Birtish Gas, thank you

macman

PPM prices should be the same as the supplier's Standard credit meter tariff-which is always their most expensive. Switching to credit meters will alow you to access the discounted online tariffs, most of which are cheaper on fied monthly DD.
However there may be a charge to change meters, and you may be asked for a first year deposit depending on the credit check.
You'd also need to check with your LL if the meters can be changed.

good_advice

Hiya, I make that about £23 a week, I do not think that is over high including the heating.
Have you thought about getting an OWL monitor? That really shows which items use a lot of electricity.

I constantly go around my house turning things off or unplugging. Family members need reminding...

Pont

I'm calculating the weekly spend for energy as being £10 per 36 hours = approx £47 pw (X 52 divided by 12) = £203 per month. This is more than double my monthly costs for a large 3 bedroom house.

Record your useage (kwh) over a week, calculate your annual useage, and take a look around for the best prices for your area. Only then can you decide if you should change supplier/meter (if your LL lets you).

macman

But that is a winter average with the heating on-the gas usage will plummet over the summer months, and the electricity a little.

lemontart

did you register with the supplier when you moved in? if not you could well be paying somebody elses debt

jennewstart

Hi, yes I have registered with them, infact I have just got off the phone to ask the difference in tariffs if i swap from a PPM to a direct debit and get the meters changed and the woman kept telling me that the standard tarrif is the same whether you are on a PPM od direct debit........so is there any point in changing? seems hell of a lot of money to be paying per month

caveat_emptor

Op is paying 1000 pounds/year over the odds. Don't know about PPM in rented property but is it possible that the landlord has fixed the meter to give him/her profit out of energy used?

macman

jennewstart wrote: »

Hi, yes I have registered with them, infact I have just got off the phone to ask the difference in tariffs if i swap from a PPM to a direct debit and get the meters changed and the woman kept telling me that the standard tarrif is the same whether you are on a PPM od direct debit........so is there any point in changing? seems hell of a lot of money to be paying per month

Yes, but if you switch to a credit meter then you can use a cheaper discounted tariff. No one would voluntarily use standard tariff unless it's to avoid a lock in .

Pincher

£5 for 36 hours with heating is actually low OK on standard tariff.

£5 for 36 hours for Electricity is suspicious.

good_advice

sounds like I added up wrong...agree £47 is a lot per week. I am paying alot less for my semi.

Jenne, how insulated is your house?