Anyone not going to have heating on at all ?

[Bycandlelight22]

So apparently my electric bill is going to be 2344.57 a year. And my gas will be 3363.23 a year.

According to the bill I just got between 8th-15th September I used 29.82 in electricity. And between 8th--15th September I used 2.22 in gas.

When winter sets in I'm planning on not having the heating on at all. We will wear extra layers and have blankets etc. Then my gas should be very simlar to what it is now?

I have heard that I could save money by using an air fryer ? And simlar gadgets is this true or is it just a trend ? Are they suitable for large familys ? Is there anything else that could help ?

Is this what you mean ?

In pounds

That's it!
So theyre estimating 20,600kwh of gas and 3818 electric?

So Electricity 3818kwh and gas 20600kwh

Electricity looks OK but the gas is high

What do you have that is gas? Do you have a hot water cylinder that is heated by the boiler? Is it on a timer or on all the time? Do you have a timer and thermostat for the heating?

At this time of year we do, we obviously use more in the winter, particularly gas. Sorry I read your OP as 2 weeks usage but I see it’s one. Your estimate is still really high though for your usage. It may be as they don’t know your patterns yet if it’s your first year.

On the new price cap, so 34p/electric and 10.3p/kwh gas
£2122 gas
£1298 electric
£273 standing charges...

£3695 / year, as opposed to £5707

^ That's assuming their estimate of what you'll use (and they will presume you'll be using heating in that estimate) is correct.. Regardless, they normally overestimate anyway.

I remember going away on holiday one year in January and switching the heating off. We came home, late at night to a house that had been sat and not even aired. It was freezing and damp and took two days to start to bring it back to normal.

i will be turning mine well down, and making a supreme effort to use less energy but it won’t be off.

As a kid I can remember no heating. Apart from a gas fire in the living room. And it being put on just in the living room.

So you did have heating. The ‘no heating’ brigade is living on cloud cuckoo land. If you live in Northern Europe you will need a source of heating. Even cave people had fire - it was kind of a survival essential.
People who don’t heat their homes can and do get seriously ill. If not from being too cold, then from health conditions that are exacerbated by cold. And by breathing in all the damp and mould that will build up in your home. And wearing damp pants and socks because you can’t dry your clothes properly.

I'm getting very confused 😕 I have a smart reader and send readings in at least once a week. And pay it once or twice a week on line. So I'm not doing it via direct debit. I can only think that they bare making an assumption that I will use that much.

I posted a picture of what I think the kwh are . Ut was on the back of my bill but not 100% if that's what people meant. But I posted it up thread.

I'm glad I'm in a terraced house - I'm hoping the neighbours on both sides have their heating on to swaddle us in a heat sandwich a bit!

I'd rather eat toast for breakfast, lunch and dinner than sit in a freezing cold house. I will, and have, cut back on my heating but going with no heating at all, absolutely not.

The estimates in £ vary depending on what they want to charge you per kwh that you use. It's going up in October, but nowhere near as much as predicted.

Stick to checking the unit price per kwh, then multiplying that by how many kwh you're using/are predicted to use to work out the cost.
It might also be worth switching to direct debit, as the price per unit/standing charge can sometimes be slightly cheaper.

Prices can also be slightly higher if youre on a prepayment meter too.

I had no heating. My only ‘heating’ was a hot water bottle in bed.

It's the gas that confuses me the most. How do they make out that it will be around £3363.23 a year if I'm only using £2.50 a week. All I can think is that are making an assumption that I will use lots of heating in the winter.

Gas wise I have gas hob. And the boiler water wise we won't have Any more showers than we do now in the winter

@BeanieTeen - I agree, I’ve seen lots of we don’t use heating we just light the wood burner etc. That is a form of heating!!

OP, I think the consensus is that worst case if they're estimate is right then you are looking at a bill of £3700. However, the view is that they have overestimated the gas you will use, so it will be lower.

I'm in a 4 bed semi and I'm estimating worst case about £200 a month. I'm currently paying £114 a month and I'm in credit

Heated throws are electric blankets and throws combined. They cost about £40 and cost 4p an hour to run. I'm loving mine. I've also got an urn that we fill with boiling water first thing. This saves us reboiling the kettle and looks to save us £1 a day. You can also reduce the temperature of your boiler (both water and heating) and turn off pre heat. We're also now washing out hands with cold water rather than running the tap until it's hot. Also we've stopped using our dryer and only use economy settings on the washer and dishwasher. I've got low energy bulbs throughout and have smart plugs to turn off things when we're not using them.These all help saving money.

By the way, assume you have good double glazing, but if not, out bubble wrap on the windows as it acts like secondary glazing. A roll big enough to do a house is £20 on Amazon. It sounds nuts, but it reduces up to 50% of heat loss through the windows.

I was going to try this but need to bear in mind about the damp

However its a bit of a cheat in our house because we do have a log burner and also some free wood we already have, so some of that will obviously help. But I do plan to try to use as little as possible

People concerned about damp would be better off getting a dehumidifier than running their heating. We got one from freecycle and were astonished at how much water it pulled out of the flat! And it makes not having the heating on much more bearable as it doesn't feel as cold.

Yes they're assuming you'll use heating.

If you do end up using 20600 kwh at 10.3p/kwh - assuming youre on a standard tariff and not a prepayment meter, it will come to £2122 (or thereabouts) plus your standing charge for gas, under the price guarantee

The person said they had "no heating, apart from". They didn't say the didn't have any. Their only fault was using a full stop where it should have been a comma, but it was understandable despite that.

I think the "no heating brigade" are talking about not using their central heating as that's the stuff that's usually powered by gas which is the stuff that for me has already tripled in cost since last year.

Not had heating on for about the past 7 years due to cost. Since 2020 due to broken boiler we haven't had hot water either apart from electric showers. Last Winter we used the gas fire in the lounge at night, electric blanket on bed, electric throws, fan heaters and layers. We are renovating so keeping warm doing DIY

Ref free wood, we've got a chainsaw and are happily looking at Facebook for any wood (furniture , palettes etc) that people are getting rid of. We've got a good stock of the stuff but also 2m3 of hard wood and a full coal bunker.

@Bycandlelight22 they're basing the cost on you using that amount of gas. If you use a lot less gas than they are predicting then you will pay a lot less too. Bear in mind it's only an estimate and not set in stone that that is your usage.

I dont think you need to turn your heating off but be mindful of how long your heating is on for and how high your thermostat is set.