Alternative Fuel Payment 23 January at 10:24PM edited 24 January at 10:03AM in LPG, heating oil, solid & other fuels 55 replies 5.1K views

ProDave

dunstonh said:

If they just go by the postcode, only 3.3% (one house I believe) has "gas central heating" but he is on bulk LPG as no mains gas is here.  33% on oil is the largest.

The post code list is those fully without the supply of mains gas.  Have you checked the postcode list to see if yours is on there?

Yes ours is on the postcode list, there is no mains gas.  I was forming the opinion they then looked at the census data to see what alternatives were being used.  There is a mixture in this postcode but there is no information on a property by property basis, just an average for the postcode.

Spoonie_Turtle

ProDave said:

Apodemus said:

Found it!  There are a number of ways into the 2011 census data, but this link allows you to earch the results by postcode:  https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census#/explore  Central heating type is under the Household info link.  The last time I went into this, I was able to access it by a map view, under heating type, but I wasn't able to get down that particular rabbit-hole this time.

Interesting. My house was not built in 2011 so is not on that census.  I wonder how that will be handled?  I suspect a manual claim may be needed.

If they just go by the postcode, only 3.3% (one house I believe) has "gas central heating" but he is on bulk LPG as no mains gas is here.  33% on oil is the largest.

But your house is in that area so the general census data will apply, if your postcode is off the gas grid.

Qyburn

Apodemus said:

Found it!  There are a number of ways into the 2011 census data, but this link allows you to search the results by postcode:  https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census#/explore  Central heating type is under the Household info link.  The last time I went into this, I was able to access it by a map view, under heating type, but I wasn't able to get down that particular rabbit-hole this time.

Interestingly that shows 10% of households in "our area" used gas central heating, so looks like they don't distinguish between LPG and mains gas.

Apodemus

Qyburn said:

Apodemus said:

Found it!  There are a number of ways into the 2011 census data, but this link allows you to search the results by postcode:  https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/search-the-census#/explore  Central heating type is under the Household info link.  The last time I went into this, I was able to access it by a map view, under heating type, but I wasn't able to get down that particular rabbit-hole this time.

Interestingly that shows 10% of households in "our area" used gas central heating, so looks like they don't distinguish between LPG and mains gas.

Yes, we are quoted as 13.2% gas, despite there being no mains gas.

Qyburn

I guess (hope) they filter with the "off gas" list, and don't get confused when the two contradict each other.

Spoonie_Turtle

Qyburn said:

I guess (hope) they filter with the "off gas" list, and don't get confused when the two contradict each other.

According to the guidance the first list is of off-gas postcodes, the census data is the next step to see which of those off-gas postcodes qualify (automatic qualification, I mean).

Qyburn

My Octopus account is suddenly in credit so presumably that's the £200 popping up unannounced. I wonder how they'll play that, we have a DD due in a day or so, probably too late for them to change.

ProDave

Yes as poster above, £200 gone into my Octopus account today.  It is actually dated 14th February, but it was definitely not showing there yesterday.

I won't be withdrawing mine, it means I won't be increasing my DD in April when the price cap (and hence the price we pay) goes up.

With Octopus (a decent supplier) you can if you wish just request they return that £200 to your bank account if you have a better use for it.

Again with Octopus you can change your monthly DD yourself in your on line account.

Qyburn

My Octopus billing is a mess, we pay a variable DD based on actual usage, and this means they generate a bill every meter reading.  So there's one part month for January before the Smart Meter install, one for the rest of January, then they wanted a meter read on 6th Feb when we applied for Tracker, then they actually swapped us to Tracker on 8th Feb. All this results in a lot of small bills. Hopefully will settle down again when I submit a reading on 1st March.

So I'll just leave the £200 credit with them for the moment until I work out how to account for it in my budgeting at home.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

£200 credit from Octopus here as well which is nice, £670 in credit ATM so hopefully can keep our DD the same for the 6 months after April and still be in credit come next winter meaning we've paid for the increases in charges so far and the government help will take the pressure of future rises.