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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think £35 gas should last a week?

48 replies

icovetthee · 10/12/2012 14:31

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.

OP posts:

bedmonster · 10/12/2012 17:48

Jesus, 5 years ago we lived in a flat with a meter and we averaged about £1 a day in the winter with the heating on all the time. Small 1 bedroom flat, but still. Im totally shocked at what you are paying on your meter but unfortunately it does seem about right.

valiumredhead · 10/12/2012 18:03

I also think it has a lot to do with how efficient the boiler is. I pay about £8-10 a week on gas with a new boiler but a friend down the road in exactly the same house pays double with an old boiler.

valiumredhead · 10/12/2012 18:04

I can't remember having to pay when switching from a pre paid meter to mains 10 years ago - that's shocking!

Original poster

icovetthee · 10/12/2012 18:15

They charge you to take the meters out now. Swalec are £60 per meter. I'll have to pay that if I ever leave as the landlord doesn't want them when we go. Great.

I'm on benefits and its bloody difficult. I'm unwell but can't get disability and ESA are messing me around so much I've decided to stay on JSA. DP has just lost his temporary job so has just reapplied for JSA as a joint with me. In theory it looks like we're doing ok but when all bills are paid, food etc there's rarely more than £30 left a week and trying to buy two kids clothes etc on that is hard. Raising prices doesn't help. Hopefully DP will have a full time job soon. I don't expect us to be much better off but at least we may be able to afford heating?

OP posts:

Shutupanddrive · 10/12/2012 18:20

Do you heat your water from the gas too? It's a bit cheaper to put the immersion heater (electric) on for an hour before you need it if so. My stepdad told me this, he is a plumber and heating engineer.

Original poster

icovetthee · 10/12/2012 18:40

Yes I use it to heat water too. What's an immersion heater thingy?

OP posts:

valiumredhead · 10/12/2012 18:45

Big tank of water - you'd know of you had one

Original poster

icovetthee · 10/12/2012 18:49

I guess not then! As far as I know we just have a boiler.

OP posts:

BelaLugosisShed · 10/12/2012 19:11

The price of pre pay gas/electric is obscene.
Earlier this year I worked out that it cost us £7 to have the Gas heating /hot water on for 24 hours, that was when it was minus 10 - we aren't on prepay and have a 3 bedroom house.

It costs my sister the same to have her heating on for about 5 hours a day with prepayment, she is disabled and has severe arthritis and lives in a 1 bedroom flat.

BelaLugosisShed · 10/12/2012 19:14

Meant to say that an electric oil filled radiator is good for extra heat and costs about 10p an hour to run, our kitchen is freezing and DH puts it on every morning at 6.30, when I get up at 7.30 the kitchen is warm.

Lougle · 10/12/2012 19:36

10p per hour is £2.40 per day. That's £16 per week for one heater.

MikeLitorisHasChristmasLights · 10/12/2012 19:43

Its £52 to change with swalec but they will do it for free under certain circumstances.

Its worth calling them to talk through your options.

valiumredhead · 10/12/2012 20:20

Oil radiator isn't the cheapest as they are only thermostatically controlled to the temp of the oil not the room. If you get a convector thermostatically controlled heater they are cheaper as only click on when needed.

SnoogyWoo · 10/12/2012 21:44

Thats really terrible what they charge. My bill for November was £62 for a 4 bed house and we work from home so heating is on most of the time. Very shocked about that!

Cozy9 · 10/12/2012 21:47

We had our meters changed, it's £60 per meter to have it changed but you save £100 a year for paying for both gas and electric through direct debit. Then there's the cheaper tariffs too.

AlwaysHoldingOnToStarbug · 10/12/2012 21:54

It's horrible. We can't afford to put our heating on much at all. Sometimes we put it on for a couple of hours in the evening and that's it.

I'm hoping when we get the next bill (meters were read today) that we will have paid off the debt we owe and so can afford to actually heat the house. Even just using the shower and gas hob we seem to go through loads a week.

I take a hot water bottle a couple of those microwave heat things to bed, plus I wear pyjamas and a dressing gown and bed socks. So glam!

ihearsounds · 10/12/2012 22:11

Op contact the company and let them know that there is a change of circumstances. Some of the companies have signed an agreement with consumer focus, a part of this agreement is if the household circumstance change and it is no longer practical to have a ppm they will remove it at no cost. They should also have a social tariff that doesn't penalize you for having a ppm, and charge no more than dd.
You might also come under 'fuel poverty'. Some suppliers have their own charity that helps to clear off any fuel debt to stop households falling under fuel poverty. You need to ask them/check website because they do not advertise this.

And yes you are paying too much. I in an old 3 bed that has no loft insulation because it cannot be done. Windows that don't close properly. Front door that doesn't fit properly. I have my heating and hot water on for about 8 hours a day, thermostat is set to 19 and I put £15 a week on my machine. Only thing that is decent is the boiler is 2 years old.. Get into the roof and see, because if there is loft insulation it is accessible and see. Then talk to the ll again about the roof and boiler and that there are still grants to help with the cost.

SnoogyWoo · 10/12/2012 22:13

I got behind with quarterly bills and estimated readings to the tune of £1k a couple of years ago. It shouldn't get like that in this day and age. I now pay monthly and submit my own accurate readings.

Original poster

icovetthee · 11/12/2012 14:20

Thank you for all of your advice. Sadly an oil heater isn't in my budget right now but I will definitely be phoning them tomorrow and seeing if there is any budge.

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PigletJohn · 11/12/2012 14:51

I will suggest an electric blanket, which is cheap to run and will give night-time comfort at least. Usually Tesco has some at low prices. They also prevent damp bedding.

If you or family has a cough or bad chest add a small electric heater to the head-end of the bedroom. An oil-filled electric radiator has the advantage that it has no surfaces hot enough to start a fire, and will be only about as hot as a mug of tea, so unlikely to burn the skin. They often come with wall clips to preving knocked over.

I got a few in the Wickes summer sale, but at this time of year they wil be full price. I find a 500W heater is adequate to keep the chill off a bedroom, though it would not make a living-room warm. It will cost about 7p an hour to run flat out, but if it has a thermostat (it should) it will cut out when the room is at preset temp. A 1000W heater will cost up to 14p an hour, and a 3kW heater up to 42p

Plain electric convectors are cheaper but get hotter. You might get a heater on Freegle.

PigletJohn · 11/12/2012 14:57

for example

or here

I would still be really interested to know how many metres of gas you are getting for your money, if the meter shows it.

Do your best to look in the loft and see how thick the insulation is. It could be anything from 50mm (if very old) to 270mm (if latest standard). Thicker is better. Any gaps especially around holes for pipes or wires will lose a lot of heat.

NotWankinginaWinterWonderland · 11/12/2012 15:00

That's terrible, my last house was metered when we moved in it was £15/£20 per week, this house has no meter and is £47 per month

Original poster

icovetthee · 11/12/2012 15:08

I'm going to see if we can borrow a ladder to see. DP is getting on to the landlord tonight as we are two weeks late with the rent due to dipping in to it to pay the extra on the gas and electric. He's going to tell him about the boiler and how much we're using etc.

I can't be in debt to so many people at once. It wrecks my anxiety to think we're in so much debt to the landlord (only £60 but its a lot when you can't pay it) and hoping that any Christnas money can be used toward it. Sadly, all money is going into heating and electric.

OP posts:

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