To cry when British Gas tell me my bill for one week of £82 is normal.

[insprognito]

I have just rung BG and been told that this is normal. I have a pay as you go meter inherited with house , there is no debt. I have called them because we have put this in in one week and it is almost gone.I never go into emergency credit.
My house is fairly large but we have a new CH system new doubleglazing and are fully insulated. I set the thermostat at 18c so if it drops below it kicks in . We have to have it on all the time as there are young children in the house during the day so I daren't turn it down any lower.
We went away last year so I can't trust the estimate that predicts us using £255 a year on our bill either.We were away for 6 months from December until July. We are on standard tarrif. This will mean if we continue to use our ch like this the months bill will be almost £250!!! We have no other gas appliances other than the CH. Is this really normal use as the advisor tells me? I feel like crying as I simply cant afford it and don't want the baby to be cold.
If IABU then would someone please tell me how I can reduce this cost. Is it better to turn it down/off at times (i was told better to leave it on constantly). We have an electric fire but thought is was too expensive to put on as the main source of heat, now i'm not so sure.

You need to get rid of the pay as you go meter as they are so so expensive.
My gas is around £100 a month.

no that sound high :(

can you keep a record of how much you use and work out the charge per unit - that would be a good starting point

It's not normal.

My heating is set to 25 degrees, is on all the time, and sometimes higher than that, our bills are nowhere near that much.

I'd call them again to make sure you weren't just speaking to someone completely incompetent.

It's not normal. We have a pay as you o one aswell, our heating is always on and we put about £20 a week on in winter.

Getting rid of a pre pay meter is hard. The gas company are really reluctant to replace them and only offered us a replacement after 6m if we paid a £500 deposit! We moved out instead.

They told me there is no charge for the meter, and we are on the standard tariff.

The pre pay tarrif is not the same as the non-pre pay. It's hugely more expesnsive. It is really shit.

you aren't - you are on the standard meter tariff - which is massive compared to a DD one

How big is your house? I live in a large Victorian terraced house on three floors. Large rooms, high ceilings, very little loft insulation. We pay £75 pcm for gas and have a gas hob too. Obviously we pay this year round (as its a direct debit).

Are you in a rental property?

I'm pretty sure it isn't more efficient to leave heating on 24/7. And you need to get normal meters installed.

It is not cheaper to keep it on all the time, that is a myth. Mine is off between 10 and 5 during the day unless it gets really cold. Thermostat set to 19 degrees and on 6-10am and 5-10pm, off overnight.

I live in a bog standard 3 bed end terrace with double glazing, gas CH and hob and I have been putting £50 every 2 weeks in our meter. Last winter £50 would last me at least 3 weeks, so I know prices have gone up. I only have the heating on couple of hours morning and couple of hours evening though as we are mainly out in the day.

Have you checked the insulation in your house? The draught coming in/heat going out of your windows?

I'm on a meter and went through £30 the other week but it was on constantly apart from over night and I've got crap windows and gaps under an outer door (awaiting HA sorting it out)

It's not normal, but it is easily done. You need to turn it down, or turn it off at times. Can you turn off radiators in some rooms? We don't hear our attic rooms as much as the rest of the house. As for baby, three layers at all times, sleeveless vest, long sleeved sleep suit, cardigan and socks under that as well if it's really cold. Reflective panels go behind radiators, check your loft insulation, make us you draw your curtains the minute it gets dark, check they're thick enough. Check you don't have draughts from the doors etc. you say you're fully insulated, but most loft insulation is far too thin, and an extra layer of space blanket on top will make all the difference.

I put £100 in my prepaid meter this week and I have £10 left. I'm with bg and I only have electric in my house.

That sounds bad. I got a statement and Im nearly £200 in debit?????

i pay by DD.

I'm NEVER in debit. and weve been freezing till theres icicles hanging off our noses till I put the heating on (shut doors/double glazing/etc etc) and now with the snow its freezing and Ive had to put it on a bit longer.

flippin energy places putting prices up.

Argh! I hate energy companies! They were awful to me when I switched from prepay to monthly bill, were really rude and suspicious over the phone. It's because they make so much bloody money off you! I think people on prepayment meters get treated like shit and told them so. Switch as soon as you can and if they give you any trouble get in touch with Consumer Focus and/or Which? who will give them a flaming: www.consumerfocus.org.uk/contact-us www.which.co.uk/energy/

My 6 month gas and electric bill came in yesterday at a grand total of £511. £82 for one week is beyond ridiculous!

Did they check the settings on your meter?

I would be hugely suprised if that was genuinely usage.

Prepayment meters are more expensive when you are with bgas but not massivelyso.

It does sound very high for a normal sized house on a prepayment meter.

Most of my budgeting clients tend to put on £20 per week.

It is very cold at the moment these will be the worse months of the year.

Oopppsss! Wrong thread!!

It does sound a bit much but then how big is the house? One of my bosses with a 4 story, 7 bed house (quite modern) spends about £800-£1000 per winter (3 months) on gas (and his heating isn't on constant - I have to keep my coat on!).

At the other end of the scale, I have a 2 bed terraced house (quite modern) and my bills are £60pcm for gas AND elec so £180-ish for the winter months.