Elderly and high energy

Ninj76

Hi. I hope I am posting in the right place.. !
I have just been to see my 82 year old granny who 2 days ago lost her husband. She was cold. She said she cannot afford to have the heating on and my heart broke.
She has a very old 3 story home with storage heaters. She uses 3 of them but the rest are off. She has a tiny electric fire in her front room but she cannot afford to keep using it.
She said they pay £260 a month for electric... she is now facing the worry because not only did grandad deal with everything, she will not be able to pay £260 electric each month as she is only on a pension.
Her son in the past has changed the supplier for her but she says they are all around that cost.
Is there any help out there for an elderly lady on a pension.. it does not seem right that she is paying all that money and she is cold!! Her health is so poor.. it's not right. Any advice welcome.

Thankyou in advance

Benight

https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment

Robin9

Time for her son to look again and take those meter readings for her and to see what benefits she is on.

mac.d

Probably the best option would be to look for a smaller house for her. A 3-storey home with storage heaters is always going to be expensive to heat, no matter how much you shop around.

comeandgo

My condolences.
Is the house electric or gas too? Would the son she mentions be able to look again at the bills, £260 for an old 3 storey all electric house in winter would be about average.
You need to see if the council area she is in has staff who visit the elderly to check they are getting all the benefits they are entitled to.
Are you able to help draft proof the house? Heavy curtains, even in front of doors, will help stop drafts getting through.
Does your granny have good warm clothing? I have a goose down jerkin I wear when I'm cold, icebreaker wool leggings help too.
If she is sitting still for a while a fleece blanket around her shoulders and knees will help.

Owain_Moneysaver

Ninj76 wrote: »

She has a tiny electric fire in her front room but she cannot afford to keep using it.

They are about the most expensive way of heating ever invented. A 1-bar electric fire is going to be about £80-90 a month during winter (15p/kWh * 18 hours * 30 days). Radiant heaters are also a serious fire and safety hazard for older people.

Not using the other storage heaters may be a false economy, as the heat from the electric fire will be lost to the other colder rooms.

However an old 3-storey house is never going to be cheap to heat and the property is probably going to be unaffordable to keep on, unless the layout makes it amenable to granny living downstairs and letting rooms to lodgers upstairs (although that has its own pitfalls).