To be annoyed by Warm Home Discount criteria

[SmedSmoo]

I'm not eligible for the Warm Home Discount because of the age of the property I live in. Despite the property being all electric which is much more expensive to run.

I'm in fuel poverty - monthly bills £200 and in a lot of debt. I live in a small two bedroom flat and live frugally on UC. No heating ever, washing machine only used once monthly. There's literally nothing else I can cut back on. I’m unable to work currently due to disability.

I just don't think the age of the property should have any bearing on eligibility.

"The Government has prioritised low income households living in properties estimated to have the highest heating costs"

I'm low income and have extortionate energy costs so I'm not actually sure who they are prioritising…

It could well be that.
Have you got any instructions for it? If not try googling the make & model or ask the landlord for it.

But if you DO have storage heaters you need to be on Economy7 or similar so you can take advantage of the cheap night time rate for those. Perhaps discuss it with your supplier if you can.

Heat pumps are only effective in certain situations.

Do I still need it if I never use them? And I don't do anything at night anyway

If you had Economy 7, maybe you could afford to use your storage heaters. I also used to do all my washing at night when the rate was cheaper.

Also, is the immersion tank lagged? It needs to be if not.

If you have storage heaters and and immersion heater then you should have 2 rates of electricity - cheaper at night and more expensive during the day. The storage heaters should be wired into the night supply to charge when it's cheaper. Older style ones only have the night supply and just discharge heat throughout the next day, newer style ones also have a connection to the day supply - this allows you to better control when the heat is discharged. They may have a boost which uses day power too. You might also have panel heaters in some rooms - they use day rate. Your immersion heater should also be connected to night rate to heat up, but may also have boost on the day rate.

Economy 7 is a tariff specifically for storage heaters - cheaper electricity overnight (when your storage heaters take up the heat) and more expensive electricity during the day (when your storage heaters aren't using electricity). If you don't have storage heaters, you don't want to be on economy 7. That being said, even if you are on economy 7, I'm still surprised you're managing to use £200 per month so I think it's worth sorting that issue, then you hopefully will have a lower bill and be able to use your heating.

In case you ever want to use your storage heaters, assuming they're the older grey dimplex style ones: You switch them on at the wall, there's then two dials in the panel at the top of the heater - one labelled 'input control' and the other 'boost control'. The 'input control' controls how much heat the storage heater makes and stores overnight on the cheap electricity. So if its cold you want 4 or 5 (ie make lots of heat), if it's milder 1 or 2 (ie make less heat). The 'boost control' lifts and closes a flap inside the heater which determines how much heat is let into the room or retained within the heater. Overnight you want this at 1 (ie flap closed) so the heat is kept in the storage heater and not let out. When you want the heat to be released during the day (eg during the afternoon or evening) you set the 'boost control' to 3, 4 or 5 which opens the flap and lets the heat out. You then have to remember to turn the 'boost control' back to 1 (ie shut the flap) before you go to bed otherwise the heat is let out at 1am!

Some storage heaters also have a convection heater for instant heat - that tends to be expensive. Properties with storage heaters also tend to have panel heaters in bedrooms (smaller and thinner than the storage heaters) which again provide instant heat but are expensive. I've lived with storage heaters for 20 years but it took me a good 5-7 years to get them properly figured out!

If you're on an economy 7 tariff, your daytime rates will be higher than someone on a single rate tariff.

Economy 7 is really only ideal if you are using your storage heaters. If you aren't using them, you'll be paying over the odds.

Storage heaters are shit to be honest.

So your immersion heater is usually ON 24/7? If so that is what is costing a fortune!

You should only be switched on for about an hour a day for a full tank of hot water.

We are in a 3 bed bungalow. Heating is on from 8am until 3pm.
Then we have the fire on until bed time about 11pm.
We pay £118 per month and are in credit. With Scottish power.

It sounds you are paying too much.

Increasingly untrue, as they improve- which is happening rapidly.

With immersion heaters you only turn it on when you are about to have a bath/shower etc, or an hour or so beforehand. Be sure to switch it off afterwards.

That's a good idea OP and changing suppliers might help too. Octopus are good and very clear in their billing.
200 per month sounds way too much for your home. I live in a huge draughty house and although the bills go up high during cold snaps, they are around £100 a month in warmish weather and £200 in moderately cold weather. That is with having a modest amount of heating on, say 3 hours total on a cool day.

I have the same problem due to properties age, my gas comes in with my rent at just over £60 per week and my electricity is around £30 a week and I can't get help with these bills at £90 per week, it's ridiculous.

Also some people are saying about rent costs being covered not all rent costs are covered, due to the benefits cap and some people still have to pay for service charges.

It's true for the type of house/location we live in, which is what matters.

If you have E7 you have it timed to come on overnight, at cheap rate.

Your bills sound massive.

Tbh I'd just put the heating on and tell them to whistle for any debt, in your shoes. You're on a fixed income and they can't get blood out of a stone. No way would I be living cold and miserable for the sake of the actual millionaires that own fuel companies.

Loads of people are in fuel debt since the discount scheme changed to only cover houses with very high bills. Most of the time citizens advice can help them to either get the debt written off or only have to pay back minimal amounts at a time. So, just do that.

I'm in a 2 bed flat & pay £80 dual fuel a month. I'm massively in credit, they keep on trying to reduce my payments, but I put them back up as I want a healthy cushion ready for when I migrate to UC. I would get your meter checked & get a smart meter.