Some advice for you on gas and electric

[andreaaa]

I haven't been on as much lately but since I've been trying to catch up today I have seen so many posts on the prices of gas/electric etc.

This is what I do for a living - but I'm not promoting my business here btw just wanted to give some tips.

If you are on prepayment meters and don't have an outstanding balance then get a normal meter installed asap. Most suppliers will do this free of charge. Prepay meters can charge anything up to double the amount that you would pay on a normal meter.

Put your gas and electricity with the same Company - there are incentives for doing this and it often works out cheaper.

Pay by monthly Direct Debit but please ensure that you give your supplier a meter reading on atleast a quarterly basis. This will ensure that you do not fall into debt with your supplier and likewise if you are massively in credit then you will know and be able to drop your monthly payments - the money is much better off in your pocket than in theirs!

If your supplier puts your budget direct debit up by more than you see fit then call them to discuss this as their payment increases do not look at individual circumstances - i.e if you are already majorly in credit then you shouldn't have to increase your payments.

Change supplier but beware of switching sites as they are NEVER independent. I have actually tried this with a very popular "switching site" (no names mentioned ). I told them I was with Company A and they advised me to switch to Company B - I then said I was with Company B and they advised me to go to Company A! They are just a switching site - they get paid for switching you to another supplier.

If you read Which? Magazine they recently did a survey of their panel and came up with the best and worst suppliers. Companies like Which? are independent. Also ask your friends and family who they would recommend - they will atleast give you their honest advice.

If you have any questions then fire away and i'll do my best to answer them

ETA: I am advising against Capped rates now as the price of oil has halved since July (from $148 to $74) and energy prices are sure to come down in the spring in the same way as petrol prices have. Also capped rates are on average 20% more than standard rates.

 

[sarafet]

thanks andrea, thats really helpful!!

 

[andreaaa]

Thanks hun

I sent you a message on facebook about your situation chick

 

[keli]

I've been wondering.. should i turn my boiler off when i'm not using it?.. like over night..i've got a combi boiler so when its on doesn't it burn fuel all the time? Its on 24/7. xx

 

[Emma58]

We have a gas pre payment meter that was already installed when we bought the house. I was under the impression once they were fitted you couldn't have them taken out. Will be getting ours removed if this is the case!

 

[andreaaa]

I've been wondering.. should i turn my boiler off when i'm not using it?.. like over night..i've got a combi boiler so when its on doesn't it burn fuel all the time? Its on 24/7. xx

Do you have a programmer? If so, set the timer so that you only have the heating on when you need it. I.E in my house the heating comes on at 5 a.m, goes off at 8a.m, comes on at 4p.m and goes off again at 11p.m. If i need the house warming in the day I can just press the boost button on the programmer. Also my stat is set at 18' at the moment and as it gets colder I will turn it up to 21 max. Turning your stat down by just 1' can cut 10% off your fuel bills.

HTH

 

[andreaaa]

We have a gas pre payment meter that was already installed when we bought the house. I was under the impression once they were fitted you couldn't have them taken out. Will be getting ours removed if this is the case!

Your gas supplier will not volunteer to change your meter, you have to push them for it as obviously they will be making less money out of you. It would really benefit you to get it changed and will save you a fortune. Most companies will change it for free, if they wont change to a supplier that will

 

[Penstraze]

we're with british gas and have had 2 years of nightmare with them trying to get bills in our name we tried to get pre-payment meter fitted to avoid bill problems {we get the demanding letters for not paying bills but never any bills) but they twice sent the engineer to wrong address 2 wasted days off work, we want to switch suppliers but because of bill problems wanted prepayment meters are there any companies that dont rip you off as much with pre-payment meters?

 

[andreaaa]

This is a bit more complicated hun, have pm'd you

 

[Tangerinedream]

Great thread, andrea

My question: is it more economical to run your heating 24/7 on a low setting or have it coming on at the times it is needed (ie in the morning and in the evening?) and having to warm the whole house fom scratch.

 

[claire2711]

Great thread, andrea

My question: is it more economical to run your heating 24/7 on a low setting or have it coming on at the times it is needed (ie in the morning and in the evening?) and having to warm the whole house fom scratch.

oohh good Q i was wondering this too

 

[andreaaa]

This is tough because it depends on your house and boiler...

I was always advised by my mum to keep the heating on low constantly. However I use less units when I have it programmed to go on and off.

It does depend on your house though. My house is a 3 year old 4-bed detached with quite an economical boiler. It doesn't take long at all to heat my house from cold because I have atleast one radiator in each room and 2 in the larger ones. Therefore it makes sense for me to have it on as and when i need it.

However, if you live in a house that takes a good while to heat up it would probably serve you better to have the heating constantly on low.

 

[Tangerinedream]

Thanks for that. my house is fairly new so will continue using the timer

 

[nori]

Just a quick question.. do you think it would cost more to use the gas central heating to heat up the bedroom or plug in one of those oil filled radiators? Im thinking of nightime for the baby.

Claire x

 

[daftscotslass]

Fabby thread Andrea.

Do you know anything about Economy 7 tariffs? We have electric storage heaters and currently only have them on at night. When Becky moves into her own room we will have to keep that heater on all day to have the room warm enough - will it be more expensive during the day? Fankoo xx

 

[Suzie and Faith]

Fabby thread Andrea.

Do you know anything about Economy 7 tariffs? We have electric storage heaters and currently only have them on at night. When Becky moves into her own room we will have to keep that heater on all day to have the room warm enough - will it be more expensive during the day? Fankoo xx

ditto to this question,

plus - we're thinking of moving to somewhere with central heating and slightly, (maybe a room and a half?) bigger than what we've got now. At the moment we have horrible gas heaters in the 2 bedrooms and in the living room. Is it likely to cost a lot more in the centrally heated house? We're paying £65 for gas and elec combined at the mo

 

[andreaaa]

Just a quick question.. do you think it would cost more to use the gas central heating to heat up the bedroom or plug in one of those oil filled radiators? Im thinking of nightime for the baby.

Claire x

Hi Claire, do you know the wattage rating of the oil rad? i.e 1000 watts or 1500 watts?

Just to give you an example, if the oil rad is 1000 watts that is 1kw. If your electricity unit rate is say 12p per kwh that would mean it costs 12p per hour to use. (this example is based on the radiator being on full power).

If you use gas central heating, were you planning on only having the gas radiator on in the bedroom and turning the others off? Or heating the whole house?

Even though the gas prices have gone up more than the electricity prices, gas is still cheaper than electric (average gas kwh is 4p and average electric kwh is 12p)

 

[andreaaa]

Fabby thread Andrea.

Do you know anything about Economy 7 tariffs? We have electric storage heaters and currently only have them on at night. When Becky moves into her own room we will have to keep that heater on all day to have the room warm enough - will it be more expensive during the day? Fankoo xx

Economy7 is much more expensive to run during the day than at night. An example I have in front of me: Night rate = 3.5p per kwh and Day rate = 14.715p per kwh.

So yes, it will cost more to have that heater on during the day. Sorry

 

[andreaaa]

Fabby thread Andrea.

Do you know anything about Economy 7 tariffs? We have electric storage heaters and currently only have them on at night. When Becky moves into her own room we will have to keep that heater on all day to have the room warm enough - will it be more expensive during the day? Fankoo xx

ditto to this question,

plus - we're thinking of moving to somewhere with central heating and slightly, (maybe a room and a half?) bigger than what we've got now. At the moment we have horrible gas heaters in the 2 bedrooms and in the living room. Is it likely to cost a lot more in the centrally heated house? We're paying £65 for gas and elec combined at the mo

As i don't know the full circumstances of your current house, i am basing this on the fact that you probably don't have radiators as well as the gas fires? And that you'll be turning the central heating off at night in the new place?

Central heating is a lot better than standard gas heaters as you get and keep a lot more heat in the house. It's hard to say without knowing how economical the boiler at the new place is but I would say if it's a fairly new boiler (especially if its a combi-boiler) then it will most likely cost the same as you are currently paying, even though it is slightly bigger. And it will be a lot cosier

 

[nori]

Just a quick question.. do you think it would cost more to use the gas central heating to heat up the bedroom or plug in one of those oil filled radiators? Im thinking of nightime for the baby.

Claire x

Hi Claire, do you know the wattage rating of the oil rad? i.e 1000 watts or 1500 watts?

Just to give you an example, if the oil rad is 1000 watts that is 1kw. If your electricity unit rate is say 12p per kwh that would mean it costs 12p per hour to use. (this example is based on the radiator being on full power).

If you use gas central heating, were you planning on only having the gas radiator on in the bedroom and turning the others off? Or heating the whole house?

Even though the gas prices have gone up more than the electricity prices, gas is still cheaper than electric (average gas kwh is 4p and average electric kwh is 12p)

Yeah i was going to turn off the rest at night and keep just the bedroom oil rad on (havent actually bought one so cant give you the wattage) I was always told those hot air blowers were expensive to run so assumed the oil rads would be the same.

Oh and another question, both me and my OH have a bath or shower in the morning and occasionally a shower at night (if we are going out) how long should i have the hot water on to heat it up. At the moment i put it on for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours at night. Is that too much?

Claire x