Am I paying too much ?

A question about : Am I paying too much ?

Hi,

For while I've thought we've been paying a lot on our gas meter. I rang EON today and they said we are using about Ј7 a day so nearly Ј50 a week!! That seems an awful lot to me. We live In a small 2 bed semi. Granted we have heating on a lot due to it being an older house it does get quite cold when it isn't on.. But still. After talking to some friends who live in bigger houses with similar heating usage it seems the norm is about Ј50 a month, not week.

All EON said is to use the heating less. Which isn't really possible we have a child with special needs and medical problems and can't really have the house freezing ( which it is without heating on )

Just wanted to hear off other people as to whether they think this is too much also or about right?

Just to add we got into debt when we first moved in and so on a meter and so can't look at other suppliers we currently pay Ј3 a week off that debt. So gas is still Ј46 a week

Thankyou

Best answers:

• Hello cc1110
  You have answered your own question - you have the heating on a lot.
  I should think (if like me) the months fuel bill is 15% electric and 85% gas for CH and HW.
  How much you pay depends on how long the heating is on for = all day and a high bill?
  Insulation? it helps but winter is cold so live in a cooler house or pay more for a warmer home.
  Are you entitled to any heating grant?
• There are only two ways to reduce your heating costs
  1 - use less by turning stuff off or turning it down - Insulating and draught proofing can reduce your consumption. Improving your controls or use them better by turning the heating down, having it on for fewer hours per day, only heating rooms that are in use and using less hot water will all help
  2 - by pay less for what you use - If you are on a pay-go tariff you could probably save 20-30% by getting onto a fixed rate tariff and paying by direct debit.
• How much debt do you have? You may not be able to make it for the rest of this winter and not worth it for the few weeks left but do what you can to save up and pay off your debt this spring and summer. Do not stick to just paying off Ј3 a week. As mentioned by Matelodave you could then change meter and save up to 25 or 30%.
  If you have less than Ј500 debt you can also look at different prepayment meter tariffs as you can transfer that debt to a new supplier.
  Your current useage is not all that unusual.
• Good morning cc1110
  Good advice from the others, so thank you for this.
  As has been said, you do have the heating on a lot and this is the coldest time of year.
  As you have a pre-payment meter you can take the settings from the meter and go through these with one of our pre-payment guys, although it does sound like you may have done this, as you've already spoken to us.
  Did you have the meter installed to collect the debt? If so we would probably not remove this at the moment. But you can always check with other suppliers (depending on how much the debt is)
  Are you entitled to the warm home discount? There's lot's of info on our website about this. Also have a look at ways to save energy.
  I hope this helps a little.
  Helena
• Ј43 per month would be low on a yearly average-but you are quoting for the coldest month of the year!
  ЈЈЈ's per week don't tell us anything about your actual usage, so quote us your unit usage from the meter (and say if it's a metric or imperial meter) and meaningful advice can be given.
  But Ј172pm with the heating on a lot is not exceptional in winter-you won't heat a property for your estimate of Ј600pa.