We have just received our electric bill for £402 per month (we pay by direct debit). The electric is on nearly 24 hours per day through winter, we do not have gas.
I went online and did a cheaper tariff check to see if I could get a better deal. I went onto the website of the company I am now with and typed in all our details, got the information and to double check I then rang the company and lo and behold, they have given me a new tariff until August 2014 for a price of £235 per month this takes into account our electric usage for the past year. I have saved £167 per month.
They say that it is the customers that have to check the tariffs themselves but there is a new law coming out where they have to inform us of a better tariff.
We also get a refund from the company that provide the Oxygen concentrator so that will be more money back for us.
So it is worth checking.
I also applied for the Warm Home discount scheme for people with a disability but found you have to be on income support, the only benefit we get is Attendance Allowance, which is not included.
We are at the moment sorting out getting our house cavity wall insulated and the loft insulation done free of charge so that should also help.
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Hi sweetthing, It seems as though it has to be a certain kind of ESA to get warm front. I'm on contribution based ESA and this stops me from getting the warm front discount. I don't understand just because I have paid in for over 30 years that excludes me from the help someone who has never worked would get.
Tony. (who works these thing out)? Stay warm and healthy sweetthing.
Hi sweetthing, £402 for a month? That's outrageous!! My gas bill was just over £300 for 2.5 months and I've had the heating on night and day since winter started. I did gulp a bit when the bill came, quite a bit higher than same time last year. Electric is negligible in comparison, about £20 a month. Libby
Thank you, we are having cavity wall and loft insulation done in the new few weeks so that should make things better, but if he would spend some money on new gas central heating it would be cheaper still, but he won't spend the money on it but will throw it all away on electric bills.
I got the Warm Home discount because I have COPD. Iwas turned down in the first place but as soon as I explaned what COPD was and that I needed my heatingI on regular they granted it to me.
Well done to all those who have saved on their heating or managed to manoevre the Warm Home discount scheme. I managed to work out the complicated rules and realise each fuel company is using different criteria so it can pay to change companies for fuel even to get the best deal on Warm Home Discount and save on costs. It's still a mine field when it comes to best fuel deals for your circumstances and some people need help to compare or find the best deal for them
Well done! I too only have electric and pay £50 per month to EDF. I've told them that's all I can afford so take it or leave....and they took it!!
Of course I owe them well over a thousand pounds but tough! £50 a month it is!
Mike
Spoke to N Power today about the warm home scheme and because we do not get Income Support we cannot have it. It is also income related, in other words, (and here we go again), if you have saved all your life for your retirement you get nothing.
We also don't get anything from the warm home scheme because we are not receiving pension credit, my husband receives a small private pension, £40 a month, so that puts above the limit. Like Puff I rang and told them I had COPD but it made no difference. Keep smiling.
Carole x
can you get your meter checked ? seems farrrr too much
We had a new meter installed two months ago, and we have got an electricity checker. It is the tumble dryer, the fan heaters and the convector heaters that are causing the problem. My husband refuses to have new gas central heating installed, our old one is now out of date and won't work and needs ripping out as it has been in over 40 years, everyone in our street has had theirs replaced apart from us so we are stuck with these high bills, he is throwing money down the drain. We are having cavity wall insulation and loft insulation done in the next few weeks and with summer on it's way at least I can hang my washing out, so that will save using the tumble dryer I can't hang clothes over a dryer in the kitchen because there is no heat and it would cost damp, so I have no other way of drying them unless I put them in the tumble dryer, I still have sheets and bath towels waiting to be washed but I am having to wait until I can hang them outside. It is like living in the dark ages, no hot water on tap and no central heating. When I was 10 years old we had a coal fire that warmed the water so we could get baths and wash up without boiling kettles or putting the immersion heater on. I have to boil a kettle to wash up, I have to wash my hands in cold water but luckily our shower heats the water as it is being used so at least I can get a shower. He won't let me use the immersion heater as it says it costs too much.
All I can think of is that when he dies I can get the house modernised and buy all new furniture and carpets for the house as I love living where we do, it is so quiet, but he won't spend a penny, I have to lie to him about how much money we spend on the grandchildren for birthdays and Christmas. He even asks me how much the grocery bill has come to, we have it delivered and I have to chose a delivery from 10 am to 6 pm as the delivery charge is cheaper so I have no idea what time it will be delivered, I can't take the dog for a walk as I don't know what time the shopping is coming so I have to let him out in the back garden I am stuck in the house from 10 to 6 waiting for delivery., as he refuses to answer the door if anyone comes if I am lucky the shopping will be delivered early, all this to save £2.50 on the delivery charge..
Each morning I look into his bedroom and see he is still alive' and think by the time he does die, I will be too old to want to get new stuff for the house or I will die first. I am a terrible person but that is the way I feel, we have the money to spend but it is in the bank making hardly any interest at all so we may as well make our last few years comfortable but he won't hear of it. He is controlling and domineering. I can hear him getting out of bed now so I will have to go and see to him otherwise he will be banging on the floor, sometimes when he is out of breath and wanting my help I wish I had the guts to walk away and see what happens to him, but that would be murder and I would get locked up.
Hi sweetthing, do you have storage heaters to heat you home? I only have electricity so have a storage heater in my lounge and therefore qualify for Economy 7 electricity. I also heat my water, run my dishwasher and washing machine during the night to save money. If you contact your electricity supplier they will organise the Economy 7 meter for you, but you must has the storage heater installed first. Talk to them it may be worth you while. good luck Maximonkey
Hi and thank you for your comments. I have spoken to my husband about Economy 7 before, we can afford to have new gas central heating installed without any problems whatsoever but he will not do it, he says when he dies I can do what I want so there is no point in buying all new storage heaters for around the house. I have told him that if he isn't dead before next winter, I will kill the miserable so and so myself. But thank you for this information. A few weeks ago we had to go to the hospital and I told him I wanted to go for a cup of coffee at the restaurant in the hospital, well, you should have heard the moaning and groaning about how much everything cost. I know they charge an arm and a leg, but once in a blue moon isn't going to make us bankrupt. He has told me that under no circumstances have I to tell him how much the electric bills are, he does not want to know as it will upset him. When we got the last bill for over £400 per month direct debit, I told him just for spite and said this is what we will have to pay if he does not get the central heating installed. I have not told him I had got a new tariff and had the bill lowered by £167 per month, otherwise we would never get new gas central heating installed.
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I don't know if everyone knows about this so am blogging it just in case. You can get a reduction on your utility bills
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So Frustrated with Oxygen Supplier in SE (Surrey)!
