How much was your gas bill

[Margaret Pilkington]

Well, I have just got mine and I have to say that while I am not as prudent as MargaretR, it was not as much as I expected.
I opened the bill with trepidation(despite trying to economise on things we did make full use of the heating during the cold snap....figuring it would be cheaper to heat the house than risk a burst)......my bill was £170.39.......so not bad when I look at what others on here are paying.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by jenibrindle

Snap Ken! Our dual fuel reached £125 two years ago & we installed log burner. I know what you mean about coal merchant's face .

Bothers me though that despite this, my duel fuel now stands at £145 (although am a childminder, so use central heating during day).

Moneysavingexpert says I need to swap though as have been with same provider (Scottish Power) four four years.

Unfortunately, my experience has taught me that for the small savings you do make by switching, they're all as equally inept as each other.

Powergen weren't even aware that I was paying them for gas and electric when I moved in and wouldn't replace my pre-payment meter with a credit meter. Bye bye.

London Seeboard Energy paid money out of my account to a random woman in Chichester and then sent me a huge unpaid bill. Bye bye.

British Gas wouldn't replace my pre-payment meter either and said I was too much of a liability, even though I was with them for 12 months with a gas credit meter and never defaulted a payment. They also twisted my mother-in-law's day and night readings so she ended up overpaying them £450 in a year and then told her it was her fault for not noticing. When she passed on, I wound up her affairs but once I had told British Gas they immediately wrote to her saying that they were sorry for her loss. Bye bye.

npower were even worse and decided that I owed them over £1000 in unpaid electricity bills, despite it being impossible to rack up any sort of debt with a pre-payment meter. They threatened to take me to court and then realised that they had sent me an automatically generated letter by mistake. They wouldn't replace my pre-payment meter either, so bye bye.

I am currently with the money-grubbing Scottish Power, whose sales pitch revolved around me paying a £120 deposit to replace my pre-payment meter or waiting 12 months and they would do it for free. As I couldn't afford the deposit at the time, I waited 12 months and then they decided that policy had changed and I would have to pay £144 that I wouldn't get back at all plus £95 for the meter. They also informed me that I couldn't get my meter changed anyway as I owed them £175 in unpaid electricity bills (which I couldn't possibly have racked up).

In desperation, I wrote to Greg Pope and the whole situation was sorted in six days but I didn't really feel comfortable writing to my MP for something so trivial.

Scottish Power are currently teetering on the edge of my patience and it is only the upheaval of moving to yet another company that is stalling me.

The regulator is a joke and Energywatch won't get involved unless every possible avenue has been explored, including paying disputed bills. You pay a £1000 bill you don't agree with and then they might look into whether it is unfair or not.

Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by MargaretR

I am surprised that you ever used that warm air heating system.
I soon replaced it with wall mounted electric panels for the couple of years before we got the radiator system.
It must have played havoc with your asthma. I got severe rhinitis, was tested for allergies (negative), and the conclusion was - the sheer volume of airborne dust from the vents was irritating my nasal passages.
I had noticed that the amount of sediment in my air filtration machines had increased.

Back on thread topic -
I have realised another possible cause for my gas bill being so low
(other than a possibly faulty meter and good insulation)
My hot water use is negligible, because of my difficulties in using the bath
(as explained in my 'Hyndburn Homes shower install' thread).
Warm wet flannel wipe downs, and a shallow bath once a week seems to have saved money.

HBC fitted special filters Margaret, which I was monitoring until the works department was closed

[pipinfort]

Well mine was cheap (actual reading) and they even halved my direct debit...........result.

[Gremlin]

I just moved into a newly built bungalow and it has got or course the latest condenser boiler (whatever that is) we have eight radiators, a warm home and lots of hot water, cooking hob is gas and when my bill from British Gas arrived on line this week I was only stopped from falling over by being sat down.
It is half as much as my old property which had a gas back boiler and I was amazed at the bill which covered just about the whole of the time we have lived in our new home. We had a very small bill for the few weeks after we moved in before the start of the winter quarter. The winter bill is below.

Gas you used this period » £ 107.15 Your discounts » £ 4.06 in credit VAT at 5%: £ 5.15

I think the new more efficient system contributes to the savings.

Gremlin R.T.

[lindsay ormerod]

£101 a month for gas and elec from Scottish Power, and that's with online saving and at a capped rate!

[Taggy]

£53 per month for both Gas & Electric, online from EDF!...Ive found them pretty good to deal with too, once an intial cock-up over meter readings when a new meter was installed was sorted!

Best Regards - Taggy

[shillelagh]

mine was £156 .. and still in credit .. with british gas ..

am on one of the budget schemes .. pay fortnightly .. saves having a big bill at the end of the quarter

[derekgas]

Multiple masses of adverts on tv, commission paid to moneysupermarket (and the like), and to salespeople, many, many other advertising campaigns, and keeping fatcats in the manner to which they have become accustomed!!! Yet it seems many people assume they are paying for gas and electricity! There is a reason coal/multifuel stoves are increasing in popularity. Oh, and many condensing boilers have not paid for themselves by the time they need replacing, though this is more due to poor installation than the actual unit.

[jenibrindle]

Just wondered if anyone had any experience with this company?

Fair priced energy, cheap gas and electric for many with robust carbon offset

Some kind of Christian Organisation that says they are non-profit making. Their blurb says

"Ebico was set up specifically to help counter the market pressures that are increasing poverty and heightening social inequity. Our guiding principles are:

* to seek out ways to support those most disadvantaged by dominant market trends
* to redress the bias towards profit in the energy market by offering viable alternatives that are equitable and fair
* to initiate and practise wise stewardship of resources.

These principles are motivated by and based on the Christian gospel. To find out more about our ethos, meet our directors. "

[MargaretR]

I have resurrected this thread from 3 years ago, because my annual fuel bill has increased from £876 to £1906.

I ceased using gas last summer for medical reasons and bought two electric convector heaters (1KW and 1.5Kw). They have a built in thermostats so I can control the heat at 24C in the lounge and 22C in the bedroom. (No heat in bathroom and kitchen, but doors never close here.) I expected electric heating to cost a bit more than gas - but I didn't expect it to more than double!, even taking into account price increases

I recall it is not long ago that the press were saying that the fuel costs of a three bed semi were about £1800 - I have a one bed flat with low ceilings.

When I ceased using gas last summer I switched to Scottish Power because I wanted to avoid a gas standing charge. I am used to switching procedures because I have switched often.
I got onto a fixed lower tariff which will end in July so this £1906 year forecast will be at fuel price standard rates.

I went to Moneysupermarket and Uswitch and did a comparison based on annual KWH usage and was advised that Scottish Power is the cheapest option at present.

I will be looking at those sites again in July when my 'cheaper' tariff expires - fingers crossed for a better deal.

[gpick24]

Hi Margaret,
I`ve used these heaters in the past and they are very expensive to run.
We had a monitor that shows you how much electricity you are using and with just one of these heaters on, the usage went up by 10p per hour. If you have two on for 15 hours per day, thats £3 a day just for heating.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by MargaretR

I have resurrected this thread from 3 years ago, because my annual fuel bill has increased from £876 to £1906.

I ceased using gas last summer for medical reasons and bought two electric convector heaters (1KW and 1.5Kw). They have a built in thermostats so I can control the heat at 24C in the lounge and 22C in the bedroom. (No heat in bathroom and kitchen, but doors never close here.) I expected electric heating to cost a bit more than gas - but I didn't expect it to more than double!, even taking into account price increases

I recall it is not long ago that the press were saying that the fuel costs of a three bed semi were about £1800 - I have a one bed flat with low ceilings.

When I ceased using gas last summer I switched to Scottish Power because I wanted to avoid a gas standing charge. I am used to switching procedures because I have switched often.
I got onto a fixed lower tariff which will end in July so this £1906 year forecast will be at fuel price standard rates.

I went to Money Supermarket and Uswitch and did a comparison based on annual KWH usage and was advised that Scottish Power is the cheapest option at present.

I will be looking at those sites again in July when my 'cheaper' tariff expires - fingers crossed for a better deal.

Well, as you know we live in nearly identical properties Margaret and I too keep temperatures on an even keel, mine are 24c in the living room, bedroom and bathroom, kitchen no heating on. my heating is gas, I have duel fuel deal with British Gas paid on a monthly DD which cost me around £1100 per annum, which I think is fine really

[MargaretR]

I am desperately trying to get my allergies under control so I can use gas again.

I have tried Benadryl - nausea, - infra red light treatment up my nose - no help, - Butterbar extract - nausea again , - Prevalin nasal spray - slight relief only.

The silver birch trees I am surrounded with are in full scale reproduction mode right now.
The tree pollen count is 'high' here today and tomorrow.
I have had some Loratadine lozenges delivered today - fingers crossed for some relief.

I am hoping that control of pollen allergy will have a secondary effect of lessening my reaction to natural gas - by lessening my histamine production.

I have three Air-Free machines which are supposed to incinerate pollen and dust mites, as well as two air filtration machines.

I am trying ( Less will agree )

Having no gas causes no hot water on tap - filling a bucket from the electric shower is very inconvenient - thank goodness I have a dishwasher.

[davebtelford]

Originally Posted by duggie

Struth just received my winter bill, looks like asda is going to suffer for the next couple of months, Aldi here I come. £360, not bad some may think but I am out at work from 7.30 till 6pm
Is this an average sort of bill or is my boiler eating the stuff

Yours is an impossible question to answer without knowing what period the charge covers & details your property, level of insulation, heating system, thermostat settings, lifestyle - baths, showers, laundry, etc. - and number in family.

I live on my own in a 2 bed flat, good insulation & double glazing, combi gas boiler (not condensing) for radiators & hot water, room temperature 22 day/18 night, electric shower (so no gas used there), washing machine used about once a fortnight. I pay by monthly direct debit - about £25 per month for gas.

PS. I have changed energy supplier about 6 times since it became possible to do so & sorted out the cheapest tariff with my present supplier (npower) when a fixed price deal recently ended.