Really need some help with my boiler!

[SausageSimon]

Hi MNers!

I'm having trouble with my boiler and bills and I'm feeling stressed out because I don't know how to resolve the issue.

So I joined EON in September and all was fine, £55 a month.

I then got an email 2 weeks ago saying my direct debit is changing to £100 so I called them and they said I've racked up a £218 bill over 4 months and that's being added to the direct debit. Baring in mind I live in a very small mid terrace, this was quite a shock.

My boiler's heat exchange is currently faulty so I assumed that is the reason for this huge bill out of nowhere so I contacted my letting agent to ask if I could have it deducted from my rent. They have said that the boiler man told them it wouldn't affect my usage or bills.

I've rang EON twice and they're not very helpful and have basically said the gas has been used I have to pay. Fair enough.

But my letting agent is basically saying it's nothing to do with the boiler (despite it being old and faulty) and EON aren't helping me try figure out what's going on.

I don't know what has caused the big bill and I don't know how to figure it out either!
I'm currently paying more for my gas and electric in a very small mid terrace than my parents do in a 4 bed detached house!

Has anyone got any advice of what to do next?! Any help would be greatly appreciated

I'm usually quite proactive and good at resolving things, but this has stumped me!

How long have you lived at the property - have you got enough bills to see if your gas consumption has changed considerably from comparable periods last year/previous years?

Are your current bills based on meter readings/smart meter feedback or are they estimated? Have you supplied a meter reading to see if this helps at all?

Is £100 for combined gas/ electric? I pay £125 pretty month combined at the moment. £55 sounds very low for a monthly amount. How long is your heating on for each day? How long is your hot water on?

We're you submitting regular readings? I try to do them monthly

Hi @Seeline I've lived here 5 years now. Readings are provided and they came to fit a smart meter last week.

The smart reader goes up to about £4.50 every day which is over £130 a month! I don't know whether that's normal in winter though as I haven't had a smart meter before

@dementedpixie yes for both, what is your property like in comparison?

My parents don't pay as much as me in a large house and mine is tiny

£130 a month is probably about right for the winter months. It'll be less in the summer. £55 a month seems far too low, so I'd imagine that you had been underpaying for a while, and this is debt that is owed on your account. It's probably come to light as you've had the smart meter fitted, so you have accurate readings rather than estimated. You need to pay for the gas that you've used, and it's certainly not your landlords bill to pay!

Moving forward, if you want to lower your bills, you need to turn your thermostat down by a degree or two, and have your heating on a timer, rather than constant, make sure you are using all appropriate energy saving measures (i.e thick curtains, shutting doors, turning down rads in rooms that are not in use - so switch bedrooms rads off/down during the day, and only turn them back up shortly before you are going up to your room etc).

I don't know if these are relevant or helpful but these are from my EON app. My usage is much higher than that of similar homes according to them.

The heating is mostly on on a morning, evening and weekends. Occasionally the day time if I've got a day off

@mrsm43s the reason I asked my letting agent is I'd assumed it was a result of my faulty boiler! I'm not a CFer I promise

I do all of those things to reduce bills already, there's nothing more I can do in that department!

Do you have a thermostat? What is it set to? Do you have a hot water cylinder? How long is your hot water on for? (Not relevant if it's a combi). I just think the issue is that £55 was just not enough to cover your usage so the £100 Is covering current usage plus arrears

We have a bigger house, but its super well insulated (cavity wall, top quality loft insulation etc) and we have a new efficient combi boiler, and our usage is approx £150 a month in the coldest winter months, approx £80 a month in the autumn months and about £40 over the summer when we're not using the central heating. So the £130 a month usage during this very, very cold weather doesn't surprise me at all. It won't be that all year round, though.

What were you paying before you joined EON? Maybe EON gave you an artificially reduced payment to entice you to switch and that payment was not enough to cover your usage

I think that £55 a month was never realistic, so almost certainly you are paying off arrears. I would think that around £80 a month all in would be what I'd expect in a well insulated 2 bed house with a modern boiler, so bearing in mind that your boiler is old, then £100 seems about right. It might drop a bit once the arrears are paid off.

I

I wonder if they did sell me a good deal to get me to swap over to them! I was paying about £66 previously but it went up to £90 when the fixed term ended so I swapped.

The bill must've been a coincidence and not linked to the fault after all. skint forever haha

How is your insulation?

Have you had your annual landlord gas safety check done?

If the heat exchanger is faulty or blocked this will be causing the boiler to work harder to compensate. Which is not good long term. And (I’d guess) that would mean using more gas, so higher bill. Not an expert, but that’s the conclusion I’d draw. DH is a plumber but not around to ask right now.

Landlord needs to sort it ASAP