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.

Unless someone has been on a holiday to the Moon they will know exactly what their energy is costing.
Regardless how they pay for it!

Thanks @UsingChangeofName and @PurpleButterflyWings :) glad it's not just me who feels incredibly patronised!

Don’t have a smart meter, don’t need it and don’t want it. I can work out the cost pretty easily and when I put my readings online it lets me know what I’ve spent in case I don’t want to calculate it.

Prepayment meters are only really good if you have such a tight budget you can’t spend even a penny more (or if you don’t have many devices) and even then they aren’t great (in a large home you will pay lore because the companies will never give you the best deal).

Remember people who pay via direct debit cannot be disconnected, get the best deals, & companies will be much more lenient to them when they do need help. With prepayment meters you basically freeze until you can top it up.

Like I said
I work for a charity, Part of it is trying to make people aware of what's coming.

But sadly - there are many people who don't understand their energy bill, who don't understand the conversions and who will get bills in January and April that are going to be massive.

Even so - I don't bother working it out - but I know that instead of paying 60 odd I'll probably be paying 150 +. A struggle perhaps but not a surprise!

@cakeorwine do people who use your charity live on the moon?
The cost of energy is everywhere and has been for months.

There can’t be many people who are unaware that energy prices have more than doubled. If people have a rough idea of what they used in the same period last year, their bills shouldn’t come as a surprise.

See - I think that there are some people who will have no idea

And who will only find out when they submit their reading. And get a bill

I talk to these people.

Then speak to those people about it.

There's no need to come on here and act like anyone without a smart meter is a simpleton who doesn't understand electricity.

Then they live in the moon or in denial but they know

The people that have trouble reading or ‘getting online’ aren’t going to be seeing this public service announcement thread on MN…

S

No smart meter here and no we won't be in for a shock.
I send monthly meter readings and receive a statement after, so know exactly what we're using.

I just check my meters weekly on a Saturday morning as well as reading them on the 1st of the month. I don't know why I bother with electric as that hardly varies, about 20kwh a week, just habit. Gas is just over £1 a metric unit as the conversion is about x11 then I pay 9.7p per kwh.

Smart meter posts are now joining HM ones in my hidden stuff.

@cakeorwine
no, I think most of us are just finding your posts patronising with a touch of 'point out the fucking obvious' & are failing to see why you listed such a completely pointless thread?!

There are many threads on here asking for what it costs to run a device or to heat a home.

There are people who have no idea about the cost of an electric heater or the cost to heat a home for a day when it's cold. You can tell them that gas is 10p per kWh and electricity is 34p per kWH.

It won't mean much to some until the reality of a winter fuel bill comes in

I agree that a lot of people struggle with understanding bills and working out their usage and probably a lot of people have their heads in the sand about how much it's going to cost. I'm not sure the OP coming on here and addressing people as if we are idiots who need her handhold and her concern because she works for a charity and Knows This Stuff Better Than The Rest OF Us is helping, though.

I'm very capable of taking a meter reading and I know what the costs are.

Shocked, no. Feeling hugely sympathetic towards the hundreds of thousands losing sleep over fuel bills, yes.

Really so around £13 per week for Gas?

Surely people who are concerned will just work on the theory that the bills will be at least double what they were last winter , we don’t have a smart meter , and I’ve no intention of getting one until it’s a legal requirement and I’m quite capable of working out my bills.

I think the people that have no idea that prices have gone up (therefore must be unable to understand the messaging on this from the media over the past 6 months) would also struggle to understand what a smart meter would tell them. I hope those people have support in place to help them navigate it.

I think you had had a bit of a hard time @cakeorwine.

There will definitely be a cohort of people who are fairly oblivious to what their energy costs could be over these winter months. Even with a smart meter, unless you have an in-house display or use your energy provider’s app, you could still be oblivious as to how much energy you are using. If you have a traditional meter or a dumb smart meter unless you take regular readings, you may not know how much energy you are using until you receive a bill.

There are loads of people out there who never read and submit meter readings and whose bills are estimated and they could be in for a shock depending if their bills are under or over estimated. Some people have meters that are inaccessible and therefore can’t read their meters.

Lots of people really don’t understand their bills and some don’t understand what the price cap means. I expect you have heard a lot of people thinking that they most they would have to pay a year was a maximum of £2,500. I have come across a small number of people who thought that they could use what they wanted and only pay £2,500.

We are only billed every 6 months with one of our bills coving all of the winter period other than October. For the first time in decades I am now keeping my eye on thing where I never used to in the past.

There's no need to come on here and act like anyone without a smart meter is a simpleton who doesn't understand electricity

Did you read the OP or just the headline

"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"

"Submitting a reading and then getting a statement and bill is going to be a shock for some people"

i have one for electric but not gas but I pay by direct debit so will just up that if needed, I'm expecting it to be very high as we have the heating on all day but it will be high whether we have a smart meter or not as having one won't encourage me to sit in the cold