Prepayment Gas and Electric through Southern electric is crippling me! HELP!

David_J0n35

Hi all,

Ive recently moved into a 1930s 3 bed semi rented property which has prepayment meters.

We started off using the suppliers already controlling the meters, Eon and eastern electricity.

With Eon, the gas was costing us £30 per week! and Electric was £20 per week!

We have now changed to Southern electric for both gas and electric and cut the weekly spend to £15-£20 on gas and around £10 on electric. so a hell of a saving but still around £120 a month combined.

I live with my girlfriend, and only have the gas on for 3 hours in the morning and 3.5hours in the evening from 6-9.30. We only shower once each per day also

We have a combi boiler but no room thermostat, only the thermostats on each radiator. of which we turn off for rooms we dont frequently use, spare rooms, kitchen diner area, hall way etc

.

WHY IS IT COSTING US SO MUCH? in previous houses weve paid about £30 per month each on gas and electric!

Is it because of the prepayment meters that we are having to spend so much or what?

Any help would be much appreciated!

dude89

David_J0n35 wrote: »

Hi all,

Ive recently moved into a 1930s 3 bed semi rented property which has prepayment meters.

We started off using the suppliers already controlling the meters, Eon and eastern electricity.

With Eon, the gas was costing us £30 per week! and Electric was £20 per week!

We have now changed to Southern electric for both gas and electric and cut the weekly spend to £15-£20 on gas and around £10 on electric. so a hell of a saving but still around £120 a month combined.

I live with my girlfriend, and only have the gas on for 3 hours in the morning and 3.5hours in the evening from 6-9.30. We only shower once each per day also

We have a combi boiler but no room thermostat, only the thermostats on each radiator. of which we turn off for rooms we dont frequently use, spare rooms, kitchen diner area, hall way etc

.

WHY IS IT COSTING US SO MUCH? in previous houses weve paid about £30 per month each on gas and electric!

Is it because of the prepayment meters that we are having to spend so much or what?

Any help would be much appreciated!

It would cost more on prepayment meters compared to if you were on a discounted tariff on credit meters. Though the prepayment prices are the same as standard credit prices.

What you are spending is nowhere near excessive for the time of year. In fact the electric seems about right no matter what time of year it is. And £80 a month for gas during winter seems about right too. I use a prepayment meter for my gas in my 2 bed house, only two of use living here aswell. I am currently using about £75pm. But during the summer i would expect to use no more than £20pm

chanz4

What is the insulation of the property like, double glazing etc. Older houses do take a lot more to heat.

macman

PPM's cost the same as Standard tariff-maybe 6% more than an online discount tariff. So it's mainly down to the house, insulation, effficiency of the system etc. Start by checking out your loft insulation, get it topped up to the full 270mm if necessary.

markharding557

We have now changed to Southern electric for both gas and electric and cut the weekly spend to £15-£20 on gas and around £10 on electric. so a hell of a saving but still around £120 a month combined.

Unfortunately that is how much it costs these days.
have you done a comparison to see who are the cheapest,i suspect southern is not.

sandraroffey

gas and electric costs a lot, unfortunately.

cant do much about that, except you can look for the cheapest option PLUS you MUST conserve the heat you have got. I have a very old (listed) maisonette with a big bay that goes out onto a balcony. my landlord has put curtains across the bay, and the cold behind those curtains was unbelievable, so i put another set of curtains around the bay. the difference is amazing. draught excluders at the bottom of the doors. heavy thick curtains at all doors, windows etc, even if they are double glazed. it neednt cost a lot, my set of HUGE curtains for the bay 8ft drop and 9 ft around the bay, were £20 in a charity shop. cheap fleeces/blankets for over your knees in the evening.wool throws for your sofas and chairs, i got two lovely, hand crochet big blankets in a charity shop for £3 each. couldnt make them for that. hot water bottles. thick wooly socks. the list is endless. with all that sort of stuff in place, you can turn the heating way down. and take a look in your loft!!!! just how much insulation is in there??? and in bed, get a duvet, a thin single one is fine, and put it under your bottom sheet. you will roast.

have to add an after-thought here though: with the profits they are making i dont quite understand how they can justify what they charge. daylight robbery.

good_advice

Hi David, you have exactly the same style house as me. 3 bed 1930's semi.

The bills seem about right for the time of year. It also depends on how many people are using the electric? also how insulated the house is...

The only thing I can see is diffrent is the CH. Our gas is lower because we only have the Ch on for 3 hours per day. The Ch does put the bills up!

Comfort/warm and you pay v heating off and getting use to living in a cooler house.
My house is reading 17.1C and that is only because I have the windows open. I like to air the house. The temp will go up to 19C/20C .

I also have a coal/wood fire I sometimes light in the afternoons. If your house is like mine you will also have an open fire place should you wish to use it.