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 ?

Do you have no partner op, is the father not on the scene?no family who can step in and care for them, even if it was just for you to do a Saturday job?

how old are they, can they attend school or nursery?

But can’t their father take care of them while you do some weekend work, or can’t he take on some additional work himself?

Are you saying that you do no work at all? Are neither of your children in school yet? You have no-one who could babysit for a few hours while you get some part- time work done?

Also do you get all benefits for your children, inc carers allowance?

I don't usually heat the upstairs, but my daughter is in the loft and dies study there so thinking of getting a portable heater for her - there are some that don't require much energy.
But I'm will use the heat - I don't think you can say now when the weather is still mild what you will do in freezing temperatures.
But your bill estimates seem very very high (is that after the cap?) - especially for a new build which should have very good insulation. I live in a Victorian four bed terrace and my estimated increased costs for both combined are £2600/year as I have a gas fire I used frequently last year.

Even if your only income is benefits there are lots of top ups now. It's not the same as when I had my baby 20 years ago. Councils have specific funds that they give to people in financial hardship for eg, there are grants, energy company payments, you can even enter into agreements with an energy company when there's a cost you can't cover. Honestly OP do that rather than making your children be in an unheated house in winter.

Probably have central heating on for an hour each morning/evening.
all adults now so it’ll be onesies, throws and hot water bottles. We have a bio ethanol fire too when a cosy quick blast is needed in sitting room.

Am I right that the energy price increases are not actually relevant op? You say you were in an older house before and didn’t heat it then either for two years. So well before the increases.

I think thr key questions are how you get out of this poverty trap, so checking can the father take them more or do a second job, can you do work of a weekend or evening if someone will take them , checking you’re claiming all allowances and benefits . Use of food banks so you Save on food to spend on heat, even if it’s just a little heater for the kids.

you say the kids are in school earlier, so can you work when they are`?

We are separated. Their father is quite ill and not able to look after them.

I do get DLA for 1 child but not the other. I can't leave one of them alone as he's not safe to be left for a length of time or with other children as it would not be safe. He is of school age but is not in school.

Ok OP, it's new build and you haven't had a winter there- how on earth then are they estimating your useage ??? I've got a 4 bed 80s detached - I've had the heating in last week and also obviously lots more lights etc. my electric for a week is much lower than yours and my gas is way lower than these figures I've seen. Octopus have estimated £237 a month dual fuel. I smell total bullshit on the figures they have given if it's a new build with no previous history, - although I think maybe£160 a month if you have the heating on sensibly would probably be about right.

When it's cold in the mornings . I get my children dressed super fast and then they are off to school so I know they will be reasonably warm in the day whilst at school

so you have 3 or more kids and one is home all day with no heating with you?

@Bycandlelight22 They just want you to pay a nice big fat monthly direct debit- people are doing it too. The energy companies then stick this money on money markets and make fantastic interest. I honestly think people are really gullible doing this- pay a sensible DD figure , (maybe 1/3 more than you paid in last year) keep doing meter readings monthly , keep using sensibly and by December you will have a much better idea what the cost actually is! Don't let estimates build up- monitor it.

I’m finding this quite hard to understand. You are disabled, your husband is disabled, you have a new-build house for your children, one of them isn’t attending school, and neither you nor your husband is able to work?

What happened? How did you go from being able to support a family to this, with both parents disabled and why is your child not in education, and how, if none of you works are you in a new-build house and your husband has managed to get a home of his own?

It all seems very strange.

Regarding not heating the old home for 2 years. That was because the installation was so bad. And half the house did not have double glazing and the windows would not close properly. So the heating was constantly escaping. So I was basically throwing money out of the window. And the house was never warm even with the heating on so there was just no point.

I would not class my self as in poverty low income yes but not poverty. Had theses price hikes not happend I could have properly been able to have heating on in the winter for a reasonable amount of time.

I'm also not in the situation of going without food. Or having to use food banks. I have changed the way that I shop so it a bit cheaper.

A few people have said similar. But I give readings once or twice a week. I'm starting to think either the meter has been set up wrong. Or they are actually trying it on. But im not sure how to tackle that as they will just say well that's what your meter reading says.

@ImNotGreta - are you aware that social housing associations build houses? Thousands of them. Brand new.

Your posts are coming across really ignorant. As are posters suggesting oh just get a job for 5 hours a week. Do you have any idea how much childcare costs? How are you meant to find it on the weekend if you have no family help? Have you ever tried getting a job like that? There was a thread on here recently about this. Supermarkets/retail etc are offering 10hrs a week but won’t give set shifts, they want you to be available at any time to work so there is no way to fit it in with other job/childcare. It’s really hard to find weekend or evening only work.

I never said I was disabled. I said I have 2 children with special needs. I also don't have a husband. I had a partner we are now separated. He does not have his own home he lives with relatives. 1 chikd does not go to school due to his needs.

The new house is council. Not my actual own house.

Could we lay off picking on the OP for her circumstances, this could be any of us.

We are all worried about stuff at the minute, extreme stuff like not heating your house is not the answer.

Bit of maths and some budgeting is.

Just to reiterate
Their initial projection was £1327.75 a year for electricity
£1748.03 a year for gas, so £3017 in total.

Using the same amount of energy as their estimates over the year at the new price guarantee rates would be £3693 altogether for gas/ele/standing charge. The hike isn't as huge as you seem to be expecting - the difference works out at £23 a month.

Why are you assuming that the OP has no family who could babysit?

To be honest at this point I think I don’t believe the OP. The story just doesn’t make sense, and the ever-increasing reasons that she’s going to have her child with SEN freeze through the winter are not believable.

So, an unmarried mother who had two children, a father who has abandoned you, and a list of reasons why you can’t do any work at all.

And people wonder why some of us get upset at having to pay 47% tax to fund this.

They are trying it on lovely. Tell them you will pay on a bills basis - monthly. There is 'NO' compunction as far as I'm aware to pay monthly DDs- they just make people feel that's the only way. I would like to take bets that with modest use your monthly bill for both- even at the height of winter is no more than £175 . Your electric does seem quite high though at £29 for a weeks use. Any particular reason- ? Do you wash a lot? Tumble dry a lot? Use a dishwasher every day etc? You might want to look at that - mine is around £20 a week but I only wash twice on Saturdays and tumble dry twice and use dishwasher every other day. Then again it's only 2 of us- !

To be accurate though you do need to know someones circumstances, there are tweaks and lifestyle changes that could be made for all of us that we havent thought of

You don't even know what sort of SEN my children have. What makes you think they need to be anymore warmer than any other child. What makes you think that not having heating on would make their SEN worse . You have made massive assumptions half the things you said in one of your other post I had not even said.

You don't have to believe anything you don't want to. That's your choice

Ok hopefully your right maybe just seeing the figures are scaring me a bit. I don't do DD I just do the Meter reading and it tells me what I owe within a few mins and I then pay with my card so I don't have a big bill at the end of the month.

Op you’re saying uou won’t even put it on a couple of hours a day. That it’s “heat or eat” so yes this is signficant poverty.