To not be feeling the pinch with energy costs?

[MyWillyBrokeTheDogBowl]

Firstly let me apologise, the title might seem goady but honestly I am at a loss.

I am on a pay as you go meter for both gas and electric. I put £40 on both (so £80 total) at the start of the month and it lasts almost exactly til the next monthly top, usually with a few pounds left to spare.

2 bedroom house, quite old but in good condition, although single glazing and very large Victorian sash windows. Myself and 2 children at home.

Heating is on 4 hours a day total, sometimes 3 hours. That’s 2 large 5ft wide radiators and a smaller 3ft one. 3 baths a week and a shower every night. The house rarely gets cold because of the bursts of heating.

Electricity wise we are average I would say. Always a couple of lamps on, a tv, tumble dryer and washing machine both on once per day. Charging things sporadically as most do, like phones and what not.

3 days a week I am at work and both kids in nursery / school, so between 9-5 three days a week no one home, but the rest of the week we are pretty much always here.

I am at a total loss. I have friends and family who are crippled by the rising costs, everyone I know is saying it’s become a living nightmare. I have called our supplier (SSE) twice now (just off the phone to them there now, which prompted this post) to check there is not something seriously wrong with the meters! Both times they have said no, nothing that they can see on their system.

Now on top of this anomaly, SSE text me once a month with a top up code for £33 of free electric. I have no idea why, I have questioned this and just told if I receive the texts then I am entitled to use it. So not only am I not feeling the pinch, my bill is £33 lower than it ever has been. I’m somehow better off since this crisis than I was before, it makes absolutely no sense.

I am at a total loss and panicking because I’m convinced something is amiss and I will be hit with a huge debt.

Is there any way I can look into this properly? Frankly it seems massively unfair and I am baffled by it all. Some people close to me are saying they can’t put their heating on and they sit in a cold living room, I’ve put £20 on their meter for them a few times now as a top up but it goes in days!

is anyone else in this bizarre situation? It can’t be right surely.

I don't know how pay as you go meters work, but could you be on a fixed rate that hasn't gone up yet? We are, the increase won't hit us until April.

Would you like a chocolate medal?

That's nice for you

I am shocked at how much electricity and gas it turns out a lot of people use. There should probably be a household limit that can't be ignored just because you have money and will pay.

OP we're not finding it too bad. Have a 3 bed flat. maybe it is because it is a flat? I'm not sure. Also the £66 month discount from the gov seemed to help.

If you’re not wearing gloves and woolly hat in bed nobody’s interested, only martyrs on here

Why have two posters been sarky? 🙄

It's a perfectly legitimate question and yes OP, it is a bit baffling.

I was talking to them for 43 minutes today trying to find out what was happening, I don’t appreciate the comments that are suggesting I want a chocolate medal 😳 I just want to figure out what’s happening so I can pay my way fairly and not potentially have a huge debt. I’m just asking if anyone else is in a similar situation and why. It’s been a long week please don’t lay into me guys, it’s an honest question 😞

I'm on pre payment and am putting around 120 per month on my gas....and I think I use it less than you appear to do.

Thanks to the people who are being helpful, I appreciate you x

I'm in exactly the same situation! Our flat is quite warm generally but we are on pre pay meters after a previous tenant didn't pay their bills. I thought it was going to be a disaster over the winter and got very stressed.

I've been grilling our provider to see if there is something not right and we're due a huge backlog bill (not even sure how that would work with pre pay, all the electricity went off once when it ran out). Apparently we pay nearly 13% more than those on other meters but it seems to have worked out. Who are you with?

Precisely this, this about what neighbours and family are paying for a similar size home. I am genuinely worried I’m going to have a huge bill. I don’t know who else to call or ask at this point, SSE aren’t interested in the least.

That sounds bizarrely low for your use, especially the tumble dryer which even before the energy crisis I considered a real luxury expenditure. Agree with a pp - are you still on some old fixed rate. Do you know what your actual monthly usage is?

A washing machine & tumble dry every day, I would think that was high usage.

Can I ask what sized household you're running on that? We use gas for hot water and the hob but it's been so much lower than the electric these past months that I can't figure it out? Gas is around 40 per month including standing charge, electric 3 times that!

I too am surprised that my heating bills are still quite low. I have a 3 bed modern house well insulated. Last year gas and electric together were approx £70 and the March increases have made my direct debits £120 in all. I was expecting a horrific price jump. I work 5-6 days a week but I have the heating on on the evening. I've just been into my EDF account to check what's going on.

I don’t really understand how the point of this post?
A 2 bedroom house is quite small and obviously your energy consumption is likely to be lower than average considering the house is smaller than average size.

I imagine your estimate of when you use your heating is probably off too.
My timer is on for about 3.5 hours a day, sometimes we use it more on a cold weekend day and our gas bill for the last 3 months was considerably higher than the equivalent of £40 a month.

If you are on a pay as you go meter where do you think a big bill is going to come from ?

Have a look at your actual kWh used. Should be easy enough to work out if it's right.

It should be £66 or £67 per month you get rather than £33 unless you're getting 2 x £33 each month. This will stop after March I think as it was a government payment totalling £400 paid from October '22 until March '23.

Check with your energy provider and submit a meter reading, i got stung before as the pre pay meter didn’t have the correct price per unit and there was the additional amount to be paid - hopefully not but best to check

It seems very low, I agree. We are being exceptionally stingy with gas usage in particular, having the heating on way less than last year. Our bill was nearly £400 last month in a 3 bed mid-terrace.

Are you terraced?

You home sounds lovely, but it is smaller than the average family home. If you are mid-terrace you may also be getting a bit of free insulation/warmth from either side too.

Agree with PP, the only way to find out is to check what kWh you are using and work out if the tariff you are on is consistent with this.

You must be on a fixed rate. I'm not actually paying anything atm, the gov money is covering it. But I run the washer twice a week if that and I don't have the heating on. Its currently 16. I put the electric blanket on the bed. I feel very lucky that it's been a pretty mild winter.

Nope I've also been better off since the energy price guarantee plus the £67/ month.

That's how averages work though - some lower users will be better off whilst others will be more affected if they have very high energy needs, poor energy performance.