Help, being fitted with gas and electric meter. How do I maximise usage/save money?

[bumbleandbumble]

I have never had this before and am terrified honestly. What happens if I am home alone and my children are in bed? Do they just turn off the heating and gas when the credit funds out?

How do I prevent this? Can you pay large sums or do you only top up say £20-40 at a time...how often do you top up? I have heard they cost more than normal...how do I save energy?

Ours have a £5 emergency credit function so if it runs low you can still use power which you repay back when you next top up. Maybe yours might have a similar function?

We keep an eye on the balance and just top up as and when we need to. I've kept all the receipts to keep track on how much we spend each and to give us an average over the year/months. During the summer months when we use less gas I still like to top the meter so when the heating comes on in the winter we have a bit of a buffer and its not so much of a big hit straight away.

As for being more expensive, well that depends on which energy supplier you go with and how much you use. There are loads of tips online how to use less power. Draft excluders, low energy light bulbs, turning the thermostat down, unplugging appliances etc.

I'm with EDF and even if the emergency runs out between 6pm and 9am the electricity stays on. Suppose it's cheaper for them than having to,come out to people in the dark.

They are more expensive because you can't get the fixed deals and the standing charge is a bit higher. British Gas charge the same standard tariff for PAYG and contract I think we get something like £6 emergency credit on each (different suppliers) - you just press a button on the meter. You can get a small dual fuel discount from some suppliers.

I was worried when we moved in to a place with meters (they were already here and we thought we'd give them a go), but it's worked out well for us. Although we pay a little bit more we know we're not going to be getting huge bills at the most inconvenient time. I made a spreadsheet and logged how much we were spending - daily, at first - until we got a handle on it. Also, I found it made us much more aware of our energy usage, and therefore more careful about not leaving stuff switched on. There's nothing like pounds disappearing off the meter to focus the mind!

If you are having PAYG meters because you have a debt it will be more expensive as they gradually reclaim the money, so if you top up £20 they may take a fiver back immediately.
I think you can top up £50 at a time and there is a maximum amount you can have at any one time - £200 rings a bell - but we've never got close to that

You can save energy by being really careful with useage. I resent paying them anything because of the huge profits they make off people whose homes aren't energy efficient.

Anything that heats or cools costs lots to run. So, hot water is pricey but if you have a hot water cylinder make sure the thermostat is set to 60c & put it on for 20 minutes a day using the boiler if you have a choice between using gas or immersion (electric).

Make sure the tank isn't giving off lots of heat, if it is it needs another jacket on it and lagging on the pipes. It really shouldn't be emitting a lot of heat.

Only heat the rooms you need & keep the doors shut with draught excluders on the doors. Closing the doors makes a massive difference.

If you have GCH switch it off when your out and overnight. There's a myth it's cheaper to run heating 24/7 but its not true.

If you haven't got 270mm of loft lagging some companies are doing it for free (british gas was one) to comply with their Eco obligations. If you rent then the ll needs to give consent but its improving their property.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/2156325-Preparing-for-a-very-frugal-Autumn-Winter-anyone This threads good.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/1324074-For-those-who-cant-afford-to-use-central-heating-this-year-How-are-you-going-to-cope

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

You can top up whenever you like. For the first couple of weeks keep a record of how much you use to give an idea for budgeting.

I top up the same amount all year even though we hardly use any gas in the summer. That way we usually have about £200 - £250 credit on the gas for winter so that we don't have to find an extra £20 a week when it gets cold.

We use about £50-£60 a month on electric, the washing machine is on twice a day on average and tumble dryer every other day. Gas is about £20 a month in the summer and £80-£100 in winter. I usually put £15 electric and £20 gas on a week so the gas builds up quite quickly in the summer, there's not much credit left by march.

There's 2 adults and 4 kids and ds2 and I are in most of the day so have the heating on for about 8-10 hours a day in winter.

To help keep the heat in, cover some cardboard with tin foil, shiny side up, and put it behind the radiators. Its surprising how much heat is reflected back into the room. Its also better to not let the house get too cold before putting the hearing on, mines been on a few times already. It seems to take longer for my house to heat up if it gets too cold.

I had meters put in after getting some horrific gas and electric bills last year, On the 1st of October all our debts are paid and we are loads better off. I am with SSE, they really helped us. I changed all the bulbs to energy savers, took some bulbs out where we had lamps, stopped using the tumble dryer as much, used up the oven when it was on and only put the heating on when we really needed it.

It is a bit disheartening in winter putting 20 quid a week on the gas and still having to be careful, but I LOVE January because we don't get nasty big bills anymore. I got a letter the other day showing a graph with half the recorded use of the previous year, FTW! :)

Just remember if you move address or supplier you must give meter readings or they are within legal rights to produce estimated bills. The meter is not exactly pay as you go so there is usually some credit/debit. The estimated bills can be £800 (worked in energy collection department) so you need to remember to do this, it's easy to forget when on a meter.