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Original poster

Out of interest...Heating- are you in credit or debit? Have you got your heating on today?

240 replies

sunshineandkindle · 14/09/2025 07:07

I've got -£250 on my electric ccount now which is pretty good as we managed to pay off all the winter debt of £2k over the year.
When's everyone putting there's on? Do you hold off as long as possible?

OP posts:
Allthings · 23/09/2025 16:00

@reluctantbrit that is the most expensive way to pay unless you are on a variable direct debit. If you are not on a VDD, it’s worth checking to see if your supplier offers one.

Boomer55 · 23/09/2025 16:37

Still in light tops here. (London) No heating even thought about yet. Approx £200 in credit with both gas and electricity. 👍

reluctantbrit · 23/09/2025 18:05

Allthings · 23/09/2025 16:00

@reluctantbrit that is the most expensive way to pay unless you are on a variable direct debit. If you are not on a VDD, it’s worth checking to see if your supplier offers one.

I prefer not to pay more than I use and then have a credit at a utility provider who is not offering me interest and it's a battle to reduce the direct debit, been there, done it.

The expensive months are January and February and that's when no council tax is payable. I don't have an issue with funds in winter.

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Allthings · 23/09/2025 18:15

@reluctantbrit with a variable DD you only pay what your bill is and not a fixed amount a month like a normal DD. You do not end up in credit or debt as the DD is taken when you are billed (the variable bit is the bill which will vary month on month). Not all suppliers offer VDD.

You will currently be paying more for your daily standing charge and unit rate than you need to. But if you are not interested, you are not interested.

Orangesandlemons77 · 23/09/2025 18:44

reluctantbrit · 23/09/2025 18:05

I prefer not to pay more than I use and then have a credit at a utility provider who is not offering me interest and it's a battle to reduce the direct debit, been there, done it.

The expensive months are January and February and that's when no council tax is payable. I don't have an issue with funds in winter.

Show quote history

I was speaking to someone at the council today and she said about contacting e.g. water / heating bills and asking about 'social tariffs' not sure if this might help you.

FurForksSake · 23/09/2025 19:28

It was cold this morning, but from wake up to out the door was less than 30 minutes for most of the family. I went to physio and put on my heated seats and heating and then when I got back at 10 it was fine. I’m now cold and tired but I think I’m brewing something, mil has Covid and I saw her 5 days ago so could be that. Anyway, lit some candles and I’ve got a blanket. No heating yet. We have hive with individual thermostats on every radiator and we only heat certain rooms.

Sturmundcalm · 25/09/2025 14:04

reluctantbrit · 23/09/2025 18:05

I prefer not to pay more than I use and then have a credit at a utility provider who is not offering me interest and it's a battle to reduce the direct debit, been there, done it.

The expensive months are January and February and that's when no council tax is payable. I don't have an issue with funds in winter.

Show quote history

i'm with Octopus and have had no issues with setting up a variable direct debit that just charges what we've used each month. they do email me every so often to encourage me to set up a standard monthly amount but there's never been anything more than that.

Original poster
sunshineandkindle · 02/10/2025 09:38

For the first time in my adult life I am in credit!!!!! £35 credit!! Still trying to hold off and trying to not put heating on if over 18 degrees.

OP posts:
Kitchenbattle · 05/10/2025 07:35

My heating kicked in for the first time this morning, only in two rooms mind. 👍

Allthings · 05/10/2025 09:09

Ours came on as well this morning.

All controlled by thermostat. It normally comes on in the first week in October, but not necessarily on a daily basis and it may only come on in the morning.

Meadowfinch · 05/10/2025 09:12

£250 in credit and the heating is definitely off. It's 19 degrees here.

I pay £130 a month, for gas & electric, two adults in a 4 bed house, and usually finish the year about £5 in credit.

But I have a log burner and free wood, which we run every evening from the end of November to the end of March.

Almondflour · 05/10/2025 09:16

£571 in credit
i have been putting the heating on for about an hour every day, mostly in the mornings.

Mathsbabe · 05/10/2025 14:20

£640 in credit. Pay £113 a month, reduced in June, gas fire is on but not the heating yet

Tumbleweed101 · 05/10/2025 14:48

I have an oil tank for heating and water so I always buy heating oil at the cheapest part of the year and fill the tank then. I used to have a monthly DD which stayed the same all year, leaving me in credit for my full tank but then they started messing about with it so it was something different each month and I need a fixed budget as my income is pretty tight. Now I put the same amount as my DD used to be into a seperate savings acount ready for when I need to fill up next.

Electric I'm on a PAYG meter so I just top up as needed and as it is a old dumb meter I usually top up before the price rises to give myself a bit of breathing room.

caramac04 · 08/10/2025 10:12

The weather is fine again so managing to hold off on timed heating. I have put it on for about a total of 4 hours so far. However, it won’t be long before it’s on most of the time. We don’t heat the whole house like we used to but we won’t be cold.

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