http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/9979785/Five-million-households-in-debt-to-energy-firms.html



Over a million households falling into arrears in a year is a very worrying figure...

The short sighted energy policies of various Governments has led us to this and the problem is only going to get worse as energy prices increase.

I had an email from my provider saying that I had used more than they expected and they would be taking an extra £35 by direct debit this month only.

I agree - we've used far more gas than we usually do so I'm happy with paying the extra payment. A lot of people just can't do that though and I feel for them.

I'm waiting for my monthly payments to be increased, just as my usage plummets due to Summer

_________________
Lets be careful out there !

well i still have my heating on since last June , and they owe me money , i dont understand it , i only pay £105 a month duel fuel
and i either leave it on a timer to come on at 3 pm , so its warm when i get home
or usually , just leave it on low about 23 degrees to keep the chill off , then put it on max when i get in

Turn your thermostats down to about 18/19degrees C...

The amounts you save will be astounding.

There is a huge difference between keeping a room at slightly lower temperature rather than sub tropical....

It comes even harder when retired as most people stay indoors when its cold and on pensioners fixed income the sums don't add up if winter drags on or temperatures stay down for an extended period.

_________________
Its not always the biggest and the bestest, its them that make the least mistakes.

19 degrees , might as well turn it off ,its not the 1930 s
i like it about 27 ish ,so i put on max , and always have a couple of windows open , as its not healthy
to close up a house
but i do try to switch it off midnight to 5 in the morning
as far as i can make out my bill is very low , compared to most

We are both at home all day and only put the heating on when we are cold. It's on all evening from 5.30 but not on much during the day. I tend to get extra layers of clothing on to save running the boiler

I agree John - at 19 degrees I wouldn't even know the heating was on I turn mine on morning and evening but its set at 24/25 degrees ....

_________________
I do not suffer fools !!!!!

Geezer, that is a suggestion that has become pure political propaganda. In fact it is an almost meaningless statement. And for the aged it can be a recommendation that greatly increases the risk of death.

Whenever this statement is made it never takes into account WHERE the thermostat is sited. It NEVER acknowledges that any artificially heated space such as a room has a temperature gradient, mainly between floor and ceiling. The statement NEVER appreciates that the temperature gradient between floor and ceiling becomes steeper as the external temperatures fall. And it NEVER takes into account any resident inaccuracy in the thermostat - the dial may indicate 21 degrees but there will be a tolerance on that indication; there will also be the inevitable hysteresis (the backlash between the ON and OFF states) the hysteresis can be a degree or more.

When the external ambient temperature is 'normal' say about 21 degrees C, then there is virtually no temperature gradient in the room between floor and ceiling. In this situation the temperature on the floor will be virtually the same as at the ceiling. With an external temperature of 0 degrees C and the wall thermostat set at 21 degrees, it is very likely that in an artificially heated room the temperature at the ceiling will almost certainly be very much higher than 21 degrees; whilst the floor temperature could very well be as low as 12 to 15 degrees C, and very much depending on the external temperature and the heat losses throughout the room.

Old people tend to spend a lot of their time sitting in low chairs, near to the cold floor where the temperature is nowhere close to minimum 21 degrees recommended by Age Concern and others involved with the elderly. The elderly are far more sensitive to low temperatures than are fit younger adults who are mainly making the suggestion to reduce the thermostat setting. Most thermostats are about 1.5 metres above the floor, significantly higher above the cold floor than the average old person's chair.

The only place I am aware that a temperature gradient is recognised by a domestic appliance producer is in cooking ovens. And to overcome this problem many ovens are now fitted with a fan to stir up the heat within the oven to equalise the oven temperature from top to bottom. But even in this example, I have never seen it spelled out that the original problem is one of an unwanted temperature gradient.