new gas supply cost, please help me !!

lmp_2

hi all iv just had some very disturbing news! fulcrum have quoted me £9.868.00 for my new gas supply. is this right ? can i get this reduced ? its a lot of money please help me someone !!!

Lennylegs

pokem02 wrote: »

Have you called British Gas?

I'm all electric too, and they quoted me £236 (a couple of years ago) to get a supply to my front door and a meter installed.

It would then have been up to me to install the boiler and heating/water system from the meter, which worked out to a few thousand - that was the bit that put me off!

Instead we investigated electricity suppliers and went with Southern Electric's Superdeal/Flexiheat option, as it tops up the heaters in the afternoon so it's not freezing in the winter nights (like it was with Economy 7, we used to have a fan heater in those days but we've never had to use it since).

We also thought about the cost of having 2 lots of standing charge... our electric works out at £55 on direct debit (get 6% off fuel charges) for heat and water in a 2 bed end-terraced house, and we don't think that's bad (was better before the prices shot up!!!). And we turned the thermostat down on the immersion too to 55 degrees (it was scalding before!).

Oh we also got bargain cavity wall and loft insulation from the council, as we're in an all electric property (£150 I think under a government grant). Then we paid for new double glazing and now we're pretty snug! I do miss being able to flick the heating on when I feel cold, though But thankfully we've got "smart" storage heaters, that measure the temp so know how much to charge up the following night...

HTH!

Hi

Sorry i'm not very good with these tools on here so i dont know how to only quote parts ! Anyhow, Southern electric have offered us Either Superdeal or Flexiheat, which one did you actually go with ?
Also I have the dimplex duoheat heaters, is this what you mean by 'smart' heaters ? sorry for all the questions, just trying to work out if its worth changing from E7 ! I can't switch suppliers due to an almighty mess made with our bill from SE which i cant afford to pay off asap just to switch. Plus they're letting us pay it over up to 3 years interest free if we want.
Thank you
Leonie

Lennylegs

Hi Sorry meant to say when I got a quote to have gas installed it was around 3K plus the cost of the system. it had to go about 25metres (it think)Therefore I gave up as it seemed like it would be at least 6k which we didnt reckon we'd get back in the sale etc.

Good luck
Leonie

lmp_2

hi guys

cheeers for that yeh i think i wont get my money back if i put in gas and heating. I think i will phone the electric board i am with powergen and live in manchester . What do i say i want smart heating and get someone to put in 2 more storage heaters, one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. I dont know what to do for the best, all i know is that i am going to be freezing in the winter. plaese help

harryhound

lmp wrote: »

hi guys

cheeers for that yeh i think i wont get my money back if i put in gas and heating. I think i will phone the electric board i am with powergen and live in manchester . What do i say i want smart heating and get someone to put in 2 more storage heaters, one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. I dont know what to do for the best, all i know is that i am going to be freezing in the winter. plaese help

Hi Imp,

Comparing your situation with my postings above, are you asking for a 75 - 100 yard gas pipe connection?
It sounds like you and I are in a category that is called a "difficult case" by the energy saving trust.
The thing to remember is that in this country, you drive round and see power stations with those big waisted concrete funnels. These cooling towers are designed to throw away 2/3 rds of the heat in the fuel burned by the power station. Only as little as 1/3 rd goes down the electricity wires.
If you use electricity, during the day time you are probably using a fossil fuel very inefficiently. If you use it during the small hours of the morning, you are encouraging the building of more inefficient and dangerous-for-thousands-of- years atomic power stations.

I really don't know what the answer is but the FIRST step is to upgrade your insulation & draft proofing. What is your property worth ? What is the cost of a gas-supply as a percentage of the value of the property. How many parts of its envelope lead to the outside (I'm in a detached bungalow, that is 6). Roof space is the easiest outside surface to upgrade (10 inches in the loft !).

The days of cheap almost tax free fossil heat are disappearing fast, if Chinese demand does not push up the prices, then taxes will.

The Government has signed a treaty saying it will reduce carbon consumption by 20% by 2020; at the moment there is a little bit of carrot, the stick cannot be far behind. The Government has backed down over HIPS for the moment BUT it is legally required to introduce the domestic property energy certificate, you won't get a good one with night storage heaters and thin insulation.

If you can find a solution let me know, we are both in the same boat.

Harry.

lmp_2

hi thanks for that i also live in a bugalow 2 bed in a row of 4, i am sorry what do you mean by outside surface to upgrade is that to insulate ? do you know anything about more storage heating and getting flexi heat or superdeal etc

ic

Just to echo Harry's comments, I'd agree that you should look at improving things other ways:

- Check with your council and energy suppliers for any grants available towards installing loft and cavity wall insulation - I paid £325 for my two bed end terrace, arranged by calling my supplier Southern Electric. They say that insulation can pay for itself within a couple of years, but regardless, your house will stay warmer for longer, so you'll be more comfortable in winter (additionally in summer it helps to keep the heat out too!).

- Do you have double glazing? It might cost a few thousand, but again will pay for itself in comfort and sound proofing. (and by all counts, cheaper than getting gas installed - plus it'll help increase the value of your home and its security).

- If the storage heaters are old, look at getting new ones installed. Modern heaters can react to the temperatures, storing more heat in winter and less in autumn and spring - you simply need set the temperature in each room. Take a look here for an idea on cost of automatic models. Any electrician can fit these for you - you don't need to call your supplier to do this. In fact if you're comfortable you can DIY it - you're not installing any new circuits.

- Switch supplier, if you're with powergen you're probably paying more than you need to. Check the likes of uswitch and then use quidco to switch.

- Is your hot water tank old or poorley insulated? They're not expensive to replace, a new model comes ready insulation - far better than a loose fitting jacket! Also often older houses were fitted with big cumbersome tanks that are simply are not needed, you could be heating twice the amount of water you need to! Also make sure you have a timer fitted so that you're only heating water ready for the times you need it.

- Fit energy saving bulbs - they're only 39p each now from the supermarkets, and you can cut your lighting bill by 80%.

Remember that any money you spend won't also save on your bills, but will also improve your level of comfort. A well insulated home will stay warmer for longer, so the temperature levels won't drop so quickly - double whammy - you don't feel the cold, and you don't have to pay for as much heating.

As you've already said, the cost of getting a gas supply and central heating fitted looks astronomical, and may never pay for itself in the long run.

Hope that helps

harryhound

lmp wrote: »

hi thanks for that i also live in a bugalow 2 bed in a row of 4, i am sorry what do you mean by outside surface to upgrade is that to insulate ? do you know anything about more storage heating and getting flexi heat or superdeal etc

When you say one of a row of four, do you mean a terrace of four ? If so and you are one of the two middle bungalows, you have only four surfaces leaking heat: one up, one down, one at the front and one at the back. If you are end of terrace, you have anm extra one at the side.

Me ? I'm detached so I have six. That said, bungalows are quite good because the big loft space can have 10 inches of insulation laid over the horizontal rafters (or in my case, where I have sneaked into the loft, put windows in the gable ends and upgraded the loft floor with 7inch joists. I have 7 inches in the loft-rooms' floors and another four inches in the common or jack rafters that slope upwards carrying the tiles).

IC above is talking sense.

My point about electricity is that it is inherently a versatile but luxury product, as huge amounts of heat are thrown away making it - I've just driven home, listening to some minister suggesting that everyone should have a carbon credit account. Once you have spent your ration, you would have to buy more. Carbon credits are currently 20 euros per tonne. The carbon credit card would work something like a store credit card, every time you bought something, the sales person would say "how do you want to pay the carbon tax ?" and if you still had some of your ration on the card, you would use that.

Those of us with an "oyster" card have some idea what the minister was getting at.

best wishes,

Harry

PS Sorry I don't know much about night storage tariffs; night storage comes about sixth on my list of best buys for upgrading my 35 year old solid fuel gravity fed room and radiators system.

lmp_2

thanks for that advice it realy is usefull , i will keep you posted again thanks x

slinx

Imp,

Did you get in touch with National Grid to raise an 'accuracy challenge' for the quote? The details should be in the letter.

It's worth doing, because they'll check Fulcrums work and make sure they've costed it correctly and that there's no cheaper alternative.

Believe me, they do get it wrong and i dare say if you made the same request again you'd have a different cost come back!