Changing to Gas

[shaun127]

Hi Guys.. some advice please

MY elderly mother owns her own ex council house which is all electric, i.e. lighting, cooking emersion heater and night storage radiators. Her electric bills are now £89 per month and going up to £100 per month direct debit. she uses 3000 less units below the national average per year according to Powergen

I reckon she'd be better of having gas installed, some of the houses on the estate have had it done, next door included. How much approx would this cost? (3 bedroom house) and does anybody know if there are any discounts available to pensioners, goverment schemes etc.

anybody got any advice or ideas.

cheers Lads

 

[v14]

m8 pensioners get a grant from british gas to get heating put in

edit sorry its not BG its Scottish Executive

CENTRAL HEATING PROGRAMME SCOTLAND

What is it?
Funded by the Scottish Executive, it is a non means-tested scheme, providing free central heating and insulation packages for those whose system is broken and beyond repair, or who do not have one at all.

Who is eligible?
Residents in Scotland aged 60 and over who are home owners or rent in the private sector. They must have been resident at the address of application for at least a year and it must be their main home and not subject to a demolition order.

The address must be self-contained and have no central heating, or the existing central heating system must be completely broken and beyond repair.

How much?
Up to £3,500.

How to apply?
Telephone 0800 316 1653.

 

[shaun127]

Thanks V13 but She Lives in England mate, anybody know if there is something similar in England,also her system aint broke just feckin expensive.

 

[v14]

yup
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6043288.stm

im sure it wouldnt be to hard to make your mams heating not work

 

[shaun127]

Thanks a lot mate I'll have a good read of that,

Cheers Im greatful

 

[Mick]

my electric bill for 3 months was just 360 quid and im not happy about it lol

my gas was just £97 for 3 months

now she wont be using the heating as much as thats where her money is going on keeping warm i reckon she should have very low bills in the summer time ?

 

[shaun127]

Powergen calculated the payment of £100 per month direct debit, over the year , So that it balances out over winter and summer I guess, so basically shes paying £1200 per year electric all in including heating, still seams a bit steep to me.?

anybody live in an all electric house with cheaper average bills and different supplier to powergen confirm that it is expensive?

 

[Mick]

dont she have a meter ?

they cant average it because what if one year shes away for 6 months ?

or something like that

tell them you dont want any estimated bills (i had this row) you want someone to read the meter.

to be honest pal when using the heating via electric its bloody expensive its like boiling a kettle (well not that high but still) it needs to also keep the temp at whatever level is set and this will also depend on the insulation in the house, how well draft excluded it is and how often your mother puts the heating on and what temp she likes.

but i think somehting is a little strange here and you should tell them you want your meter read for your bills in future (but might then make her winter bills very high i dunno)

gas is much better and if she has the pipework already in place they will just need to put a boiler where her imersion is and a gas inlet of course.

new boilers are much better at burning now than the old ones you would be surprised how much a good boiler will save you

 

[shaun127]

yeh she has a meter Mickie. She's on some special tarif for elderly customers called "Staywarm" LOL. I dont understand it either. Im gona look into this gas etc, think she will be better off.

Ive been on the powergen and asked for a new meter to be put in, "economy7." Loft and walls all insullated double glazing put in and new doors etc.(draft excluders.) To be honest shes 71 and never in thru teh day, she volunteers at an Old peoples home every day, all day. so she's only in at night. heats one room and cooks one meal a day.

Cheers mate

 

[Rs2k_Rider]

I had an issue with powergen over electric at our old flat, they tried to bill me over £2200 for 9 months electric...!! yes thats right £2200 !!! now i called them and called them to tell them they have cocked up but do you think they would have it,...... no such luck. had to take THEM to court in the end to sort it out. Id say get the bills checked very carefully. We Live in a house now with mostly electic and pay between £10 -15 per week ..... only thing gas is the heating that dont get used... and hot water of corse.... but even so, your mums bill seems a bit too expensive espech as shes below the average.

 

[ronster]

we had issue with PG on gas, they said estimated bill was £380. We disagreed so they sent someone to read the meter and turns out we were £35 IN credit! cheeky fockers

 

[Mick]

does she not already have econamy7 ?

this meter turns on after 11pm and off before 6am because electric is cheaper at these times.... but you will still have your normal meter it will be an addon to the meter and you will see a small red cable will go into the middle of the meter and this will input a small live onto the meter which will slow it down as the night time tarif begins.

but you need special type heaters that have a kinda brick that stores the heat in them and releases it when you want (via controlls on the heater) does your mother already have this type of heating or does she have pipework like normal and an imersion that runs the heat around the primary and flow?

 

[shaun127]

She has something called a "Reduced Hour Meter" put in by scottish power when house was still council. and she has the heaters your on about wth bricks etc. So Ive requested a economy 7 meter be installed while I look into gas. Its getting installed free of charge.

 

[Mick]

putting gas in is going to be a small problem pal

because you will need floors up (or surface run pipes which is now classed as dangerous because of kids) and its a big job for the council, i believe she should have whatever method of heating she wants and also believe that 100 a month is wrong

i dont argue mine because my kitchen is like a nuclear reactor with the stuff my mrs has running lmao and underfloor heating aswell, pc's etc.

but for your mother who is out in the day and only in at night it should not be so high.

once she has the economy7 installed your bill should drop by a huge amount the bill for nighttime tariffs is pennys and make sure they do meter readings for the bills and fook off that "keep ripped off warm" tarriff

regards
mickie