Expensive Heating!!

Dottie2011

Hi,

We moved into a new housing association property in September and this property has the new storage heaters (Dimplex Quantom), whereas, in our old home we had gas central heating. There was no instructions on how to use the heaters, but we weren't that concerned as it was still warm. Since October though, where it's been really cold almost continuously, we have been using so much electric to keep warm and even then, we have had to start sleeping in the living room as the bedroom was so cold! We've sorted the bedroom out now, as the window frame was loose and we thought that the heater in there was much too small to be effective, but when someone from SSE came out to see whether we needed a bigger one, he just told us we had been using the heaters wrong and set them up properly for us!!

Anyway, the point of all this is, my partner is on disability and I am his carer, so we don't get a lot, but what we do get, we are spending almost all of it on heating our place. We are having to put on around £35 to £40 a week on electric and consequently, this is leaving us with no money and we are having to borrow all the time and get into debt! As it stands now, we are in emergency and have £20 to last us until next Saturday, we already owe some money to our (Lovely, kind) neighbours, but will have to borrow around another £25 to put on the electric and HOPE that will last until Saturday, but we don't have enough food till then either. Luckily it's going to be a little bit milder the next few days though, so we shouldn't be using quite as much electric.

Do you think this is too much money for electric, or is it normal??

Owain_Moneysaver

Are you on a prepayment/token meter? This can be a lot more expensive than a credit meter and a direct debit payment agreement.

Are you on a correct E7 or E10 tariff to go with the heater settings?

victor2

Unfortunately, electric heating is expensive. If your storage heaters have now been set up correctly and your are on an economy 7 type tariff then that is about as good as you'll get. In essence, the heaters charge up overnight on the lower rate but release the heat during the day when required. If you are housebound though, you are probably going to require additional heating during the day, which is expensive on economy 7.

Your neighbours are presumably on the same setup. Have you asked them how they manage?
It might be worth investing in a propane gas heater, if you can get gas bottles delivered...

Dottie2011

Yes, we are on pre-payment for our electric and realise that it costs more this way and yes, we are on E7 correctly.

Dottie2011

Don't think neighbours spend as much as we do on electric, they have halogen ovens etc.

Is propane gas heating safe with two dogs in the house??

newbie1980

Dottie2011 wrote: »

Hi,

We moved into a new housing association property in September and this property has the new storage heaters (Dimplex Quantom), whereas, in our old home we had gas central heating. There was no instructions on how to use the heaters, but we weren't that concerned as it was still warm. Since October though, where it's been really cold almost continuously, we have been using so much electric to keep warm and even then, we have had to start sleeping in the living room as the bedroom was so cold! We've sorted the bedroom out now, as the window frame was loose and we thought that the heater in there was much too small to be effective, but when someone from SSE came out to see whether we needed a bigger one, he just told us we had been using the heaters wrong and set them up properly for us!!

Anyway, the point of all this is, my partner is on disability and I am his carer, so we don't get a lot, but what we do get, we are spending almost all of it on heating our place. We are having to put on around £35 to £40 a week on electric and consequently, this is leaving us with no money and we are having to borrow all the time and get into debt! As it stands now, we are in emergency and have £20 to last us until next Saturday, we already owe some money to our (Lovely, kind) neighbours, but will have to borrow around another £25 to put on the electric and HOPE that will last until Saturday, but we don't have enough food till then either. Luckily it's going to be a little bit milder the next few days though, so we shouldn't be using quite as much electric.

Do you think this is too much money for electric, or is it normal??

are you using the day time part of the heaters. If so this will be whats costing you.

you need to set input high output medium to low overnight and then open up output slightly during the day.

also remember that its winter and most people with gas and electroc will use £160 a month for both easily.

when you come to summer you will be down to maybe £10 a week

you need to try and get a monthly dd meter so you pay the same every month

Edvin_Paus

You could be wasting a lot of money on energy if you have an inefficient boiler. An A rated boiler could save you more money than it cost to acquire a new boiler. This especially applies if you are paying on per monthly basis.

Owain_Moneysaver

Edvin_Paus wrote: »

You could be wasting a lot of money on energy if you have an inefficient boiler.

The OP has storage heaters. No boiler.

G_M

Two dogs must cost a fair it to feed,plus vet bills etc, so there is a potential saving there.

Can you move off the pre-payment meter? That also will reduce your bills.

As suggested, boosting the heating during the day when electricity is expensive should be avoided if possible.

Hot water bottles at night will remove the need to release heat at night or to sleep in the living room. If you put a thick cover on the hwb it will remain warm all night.

You say the window is 'sorted', but have you investigated insulation and draughts in the property?