To think £35 gas should last a week?

[icovetthee]

Bit of info: We live in an old 3 bedroom house. Not big but not small. We are on a gas and electric meter as we are in debt to Swalec. I pay £3 a week debt to Swalec out of the top up on the card and they have assured me I am on the cheapest tariff.

I put on £15 gas a week as it is all I can afford. The gas needs to last for two hours heating in the morning, two hours in the evening, one wash up a day and a bath every night. The house is constantly cold but the four hours a day takes some chill out of the air and we use lots of blankets.

Last week it was incredibly cold so we put an extra £15 on and used the gas for 6 hours a day. It's all gone 6 days later.

I've done all that has been recommended in regards to the temperature, only using certain radiators, draught excluders, closing doors etc and we are still using so much money. We are late on our rent due to having to put back the money borrowed to put on extra gas this month.

AIBU to think this is not normal or is this just the price of things? I am fed up. Broke as it is and now this.

My electric meter seems to have gone mad lately, i know we are using more as its darker earlier in winter but it seems to be constantly beeping and shouting 'feed me a tenner!!'

We've just gone on to emergency electric until tomorrow. I can get away with £15 a week on there. Just.

I have a meter which was here before I moved in. I am also paying the same amount as you and can't believe it. I was going to call the company about it as I thought it must be a mistake but now I doubt it.

I live in a similar property too.

meters costs MORE than mains gas

Yes....poor people pay more, its fucked up

pay of debts and switch over

and wear more clothes, use hot water bottles in the meantime

xxxxx

and yes, it sounds about right, sorry

Definitely getting the hot water bottle out. Hoping to put our last £2 on the gas today so I can have a bath tonight as well as the DC's before the big top up tomorrow.

I'm paying off the debt slowly. I've been on those price comparison energy saver sites and they all seem to be around the same price

15+15 top ups minus the 3 quid debt = £27

For a winter week it's a lot but not in the 'can't possibly have used that much' category

Swalec have a new tariff out for ppms, I cant remember if its a fixed price or capped rate one but it is definitely worth looking into.

Wrt to paying more on a prepay meter Swalec (and SSE as a whole) have the same prices on both meter types.

It is made more complicated by standing charges and discounts etc.

Iive in a old 4 bed terrace and only put heating on about 4hrs a day, one shower each etc and we use at least £25 a week. Thats with everyone out all day.

Blimey, we have the gas on every day from 8am - 10 pm and don't pay that for a 3 bed house!

I think meters are more expensive iirc.

Have you looked at your loft insulatiuon? I know you're not responsible but the energy compaies are giving away free insulation at the moment, and a note to your landlord may help especially if they get it for free. It made a massive difference to our house re heating.

Landlord says we have lift insulation but as the entry to the loft is awfully small I don't know for sure.

i favour running it all day on very low. seems to cost about the same as just putting it on for a few hours at a time, but we're actually warm! curtains and all internal doors closed at tea-time for extra boost. This seems to heat the fabric of the building, as opposed to letting it cool down and reheat iykwim

and i'm on a meter with eon

I have never had a prepay gas meter so tell me, does it display cubic meters of gas used, or just money?

could it have built up a debit balance during the summer which it is now trying to catch up?

do you have a boiler or gas fires? how old? how many radiators do you have (total length, in metres, please of all the radiators added together, and their height)

prepay is very expensive, do you think you would be able to move back to a credit meter soon or do you still have much debts?

you've almost certainly checked but just to be sure; is it only your debt on the meter? If someone else lived there recently do be sure that the meter was zeroed when you moved in so you aren't paying their debt too.

I had this happen in a rental - and yes, got it refunded.

I am in an old three bed semi with no cavity wall but do have loft insulation. My gas is just under 65 per months not on a meter and has been for the last year and is projected to be 65 for the next year - so that is 15 quid a week.

I have the heating on low (rarely ever on over 20 degrees) and it is on for two hours in the morning and 4 at night, sometimes I leave it on 12-13 degrees over night when cold out.

There are 4 of us having showers each day and i do three lots of washing up each day and cook on gas.

my electric is 35 per month, but no dish washer, televisions or tumble dryer.

The prices have gone up this year!
I'm putting on £20 of gas a week and the heating isn't on during the day at all as we are all out at work/school.

I have been told its £60 per meter to change to bills which is shocking because most people with ppms tend to be on low incomes.

Ours cost loads also, landlady wants it kept as a meter.

It's definitely just my debt as the meter was installed for me. Before the debt we were on quarterly billing which is how I got into debt :( I couldn't afford to pay for the usage as I stupidly wasn't saving enough. Our finances have gone further down the pan now so being on a meter is the worst thing.

This week I have £15 for food. It's doable but not nice. I'm trying to keep my spirits up by keeping on top of the housework and trying to make meals out of nothing (plus it keeps me warm) but its hard knowing how much debt I'm avoiding and how many bills I pay weekly.

It has to get better soon!

im doing nearly £20 a week in a 3 bed maisonette but i have crap windows and 6 inch hole in my front door. we are always cold :(

I'd like to say I'm glad I'm not alone but I'm really not.

ive had to put the last £20 on the gas card instead of buying the my ds the rest of his xmas presents. i can honestly say i have never known people be so poor as they are now its drastic. people who are bringing in two good salaries struggling each month. whoever thinks being on benefits is a walk in the park must be crazy. i live hand to mouth every month just scraping by :(

We've just moved into a house where the previous occupants had meters and I have been so shocked at how much they cost. So you're not being unreasonable. Ours are being changed over in a few weeks, but I really feel for you. I hope you have managed to make something nice and warming (and cheap!) for dinner at least.

Ours is around £30 a week aswell op. our house sounds like yours aswell. We really struggle to keep the gas topped up at this time of year. We bring down a quilt for the evenings when dcs are in bed and the dcs all have fleece onsies!