A terrible month

TheUmpteenth

CH27 wrote: »

Is that from an estimate or an actual reading.

Turn the thermostat down to 20. Then reduce it to 19.
Mine is set to 17. I reduced it gradually that from 21.

I read somewhere that the thermostat doesn't kick in below a certain temperature. N'est pas?

TheUmpteenth

alendam1 wrote: »

Want some more information about this post......

Sorry, at work. don't get a chance to post often.

Murtle

Say no to the increase and that you would like to monitor it for a couple of months.

Mine has been put up...and when I checked my online bill...I am £300 in credit...handy...only if I am in that much credit already and they have increased it, I am not sure when the hell I will use it all up. Your post has promoted me to go an investigate as I would rather have the £300 in my pocket than there's!

TheUmpteenth

My SOA Thread is HERE.

I've been doing a spreadsheet this month (will be doing it every month, but just got started) so this SOA is not 100% accurate. will publish a new one soon, but for those who want to see one (it's about right, the debt figure is spot on, but the other expenditures like presents, groceries, etc. are off a bit), there you go.

I honestly think that the ones that are off simply offset the ones I didn't account for.

Cheers!

bargainbetty

It might be worth shopping from your cupboards for a couple of weeks, as far as possible. The older child seems of an age to look after themselves or at least particiapte in a store cupboard challenge. Go through everything in the kitchen, and work out a meal plan based on what you have, and only buy the bits you need to make up meals. I've done that during tight months and saved enough to squeeze through the worst times.

What about getting onto survey sites and suchlike. You and the spouse (and the older child) could set up profiles (I'd recommend opening new free email accounts just for this purpose) and do online surveys, competitions, applying for freebies etc. You can use the vouchers for gifts, or sell the prizes or use the bits up!

It seems like small potatoes, but it can all add up.

cats2012

TheUmpteenth wrote: »

I read somewhere that the thermostat doesn't kick in below a certain temperature. N'est pas?

I don't quite understand this. A thermostat simply kicks in when it measures the house temperature to be below what you set it as. e.g. if you set it at 17 it will kick in once the temp drops below 17 to get it back up again.

Incidentally, ours is always 16-17 and only comes on twice a day unless we put it on manually heatings costs a HUGE amount so see if you can cope with lower - if you can't that's fine, but at least challenge yourself.

Scottish_Power

TheUmpteenth wrote: »

They're from readings. I don't have anything to compare with, as I've switched, and I've moved a LOT. I'm going to phone now, tho. Is that around the norm for a 3 bed with 2 adults 2 kids (1 teen)? seems v.high to me, but I really don't see us using a lot more than most.

Hi did you get this resolved? If not e-mail us at [EMAIL="social@scottishpower.com"]social@scottishpower.com[/EMAIL] and we'll take a look for you. Thanks David

mmy

I was told by a heating engineer that it was better to have your thermostat on a lower number, but on constantly, and only turn it up when you feel the house is getting cold. This, he said, 'means the boiler doesn't have to work so hard', Prior to this advice I had my heating on timer set at 18 degrees, for 2 hours in the morning and about 5 hours in the evening. In the winter of 2011 - 2012, I tried his suggestion, and set the heating to 'constant' and the timer to 14, turning up to 18 when I got up and turning down when my daughter left the house, turning it up when I came home from work and down when I went to bed. That winter was a pretty cold winter! When I receved the bill last autumn with my annualised usage, it showed that I had used less gas, over the year, that I had used the previous year by having heating on timed. The usage was down by about 40%.
I'm sure someone who knows better than me will be able to corroborate this theory [or not!!] but I do notice that the house never seems to get really cold, whereas before, I would often only feel at a comfortable temperature an hour before going to bed. This way, I often find myself turning the heating down to 16 after an hour or two because the house is feeling too warm. Aso, on the subject of increasing the bill without your asking, on the 'old'system EDF tried to increase my dual fuel from £55 per month to £125 per month [no thank you VERY much!!] and on the 'new' system, their proposed increase has only been £12.00 per month, which I've accepted.
Just a thought!

TheUmpteenth

Well, I phoned today and they agreed to increase my payments by a little less. now £109. still not great, but better. Thanks all.