to think people who don't have Smart Meters and who pay monthly or quarterly are going to be in for a shock at their next bill?

[cakeorwine]

Gas has gone up from 4p a kWH this time last year to 10p a kWH this year.
Obviously people with Smart Meters can see this on their display.

But if you still give readings and wait till the bill arrives, I think there are going to be some real surprises. Gas use is at its highest over the next few months.

I know people will have the £66 off their bill - but it's going to be high.

At least with Smart Meters, you can see daily use. Submitting a reading and then getting a statement and bill is going to be a shock for some people.

We are with Eon we have a letter with a barcode on and we just pay a set amount very two weeks at our local news agent through pay point latest bill showed us we are £159 in credit at the moment for busy working people it wouldn't be convenient I suppose having to find a shop that does it and queue but my DH is retired so has plenty of time to do it.

@ThisGirlNever
There was a poster on a thread a few weeks ago who posted a graph showing the spike in costs as the boiler comes on and heats up then the drop in energy usage once it's at temperatures.
It was really helpful to see how switching on the heating for short bursts was more costly than letting it run for a while longer.
I'll try and find the post and link if I can

For me it’s about budgeting, I’ve always paid an amount that gets me into credit over the summer when we use less energy, so that when we continue to pay that same amount over the winter the credit balances out what we owe.

For me that’s how I’d rather do it, to spread the costs evenly every month.

I don’t get paid any more during the winter when I use more energy so I prefer to cover the bills this way.

Isn’t it? You might want to check the title of your thread 🤔

Your OP comes across as patronising, not informative.

And your title makes it all about smart meters and DD.

Your messages read as defensive and annoyed.

I hope most people will be aware and are able to pay once they receive the bill.

but I agree with the op, some will be surprised by the amount they need to pay.

You might want to read it:

But it's clear that people think there will be no shock to some people this winter when people submit meter readings and get high bills - even if they know that fuel prices have risen.

Did you actually read the OP?
Or did you just read the title and react to it?

Maybe I should have said 'some people' in the title - but if you read the OP (and subsequent posts by me) you might understand what the OP is about/

There is more to an OP than the title.

It’s going to hurt regardless when we read how much it’s cost totalling up. No point panicking for months ahead. They will just put my DD up and I’ll send a couple of lump sums here and there. Looks like a bloody winter wonderland outside my house right now it’s freezing out there anit not going to put the heating on because it’s around £1 an hour.

I’ve slept on it and still don’t know who this thread is for. 🤷‍♀️

Clearly not for people who don't want a smart meter, who go online and submit their readings, who pay by fixed DD,who understand their energy bills and who know that the cost of gas has increased 2.5 times. That much is clear from the responses.

Clearly. Which is people on MN. So the public service thread is for people who will never see it...

I think that most on MN do know and any that don't are quickly put right by other posters, we did have a few at the beginning that thought that the price cap was like all you could eat but they were quickly put right about that

Agree!

Don't know why OP is getting so uppity.

Clear as mud.

Yep, and yet again you’re coming across as incredibly patronising.

I’m perfectly capable of reading your OP which mentions smart meters twice, I’m really not sure why you’re trying to claim it doesn’t make that the topic of your thread.

Who are these people you think aren’t expecting an increase in their bills who you think you are educating here?

You really are one of the most patronising posters I’ve read on here OP. ‘Now, let me explain, clearly no one understands except me’ and then getting shirty when people point out that they do understand. Just odd.

So you’re hoping to reach the people who come on MN and will read this thread, but haven’t read one of the hundreds of other threads about energy prices increases and have also missed the media reporting of the same issue? Well fingers crossed that this thread gets to them!

Actually OP i think you are probably right. Lots of people will be thinking its gone up but won't be aware of how much. I think it will effect high users more in fact (particularly when you take into account the £66 which is a big part of the extra for
lower users). There are lots of reasons why a household might be a higher user. There are 8 of us in my house for example (6 dependents) so it is difficult to cut back completely. We barely had the heating on yestersay. Intook it up to 16 degrees in the morning. I heated the water for half an hour and yesterday evening it was 13 degrees inside my house. Smart reader was reading £8.70 for gas. To put into context i was paying about £130 a month last year for gas and regularly had the thermostat on 22. Electricity doesn't seem to be a big deal for me, i did 3 loads of washing and tumble dried yesterday and meter was at £2 at the end of the day. Days where i have had the heating on, but not hot, i have hit £26 on gas alone. The benefit of the smart meter is that it is real time.

A friend of mine is at over £1000 a month for energy.

I never read it as treating us as idiots etc.

It's just highlighting that for many people, millions perhaps, that energy price rises have not yet hit the general population & that whilst we might be well conversed with energy consumption, many are not.

If i put a thread up saying that my local NHS trust runs a foodbank for nurses, would you say that was patronising because you don't use one and have no problem balancing the bank shopping in Waitrose?

btw shockingly, it does.

A friend of mine is going through similar with British Gas (I mentioned it on another thread). When she finally got through to speak to a human, after hours of trying, he accused her of lying. Why on earth would anyone lie about a problem with their smart meters?

It was left with BG man saying, 'oh it'll probably start working again soon'. That was the 'support' she got.

You work for a charity op, you haven’t mentioned which one. I have also been involved with the charitable sector. You are talking to the wrong demographic here which is why some feel patronised and are irritated. MN overall has an education level that is higher than average. It is pretty obvious just by the standard of grammar especially as it is just an online forum.

You also need to remember that people often mix with people of a similar demographic to themselves.

If people do not personally know or work with deprived groups it is a possibly a complete shock as to just how poor literacy levels are. It is estimated that around 16% of the UK population is functionality illiterate. These are the people you are concerned about.

And that should read functionally not functionality but I have auto correct on.

Yep read the full post it was def all about smart meters/ DD!