the last messenger has hit the nail on the head having worked in the industry myself it is so important to check you actual readings against bills if they are inaccurate you can fall behind or end up in too much credit. Having moved into a property the energy comapny can only use averages to base the monthly payment on, your actual useage determines eventually what a realistic payment will be but this can only be determined once they have some 'history' on your useage and as there are big seasonal differences this takes time so you should not rely on them to such a degree, if you have been underpaying your payments will go up more than you might imagine, up to cover your useage being higher than they anticipated AND to cover the amounts underpaid, this will eventually level out but no matter what, as he said you have to pay for what you use.

Economy 7 can work out a little cheaper but you really do have to make very good use of it, it is of no advantage for the likes of the odd use of the washer or dryer at night it was really for those people with night storage heater to gain a greater benefit and to be honest if you were to ask the Fire Service about using appliances at night like this they do not approve of it due to fire risks

Summer/winter gas consumption will swing dramatically.

I have a 6 bed detatched house -with cavity wall insulation ( saves about 25% off the heat requirement) . 2 adults and occasional student daughter.

I pay £199 per month, which seems to be about right. The actual bill for Sept - Dec was £569.Current quarter is likely to be circa £700.

Gas consumption July /Aug was a daily average of 24KWH per day, Jan 189 (convert meter reading to KWH- detail on your bill) Cooking is electric, and the washing machine and tumble dryers seem to be on all the time.

Despite the gas CH, I am Economy 7, and actually save some money (Fridges, freezers and outside lights use of peak as well as on peak, the dishwasher goes on overnight, and if poss the washing/drying gets put on to benefit from the cheap rate. I sem to recall a requiremnt of something like 15% off peak to benefit - it's not a lot, but "every little helps!!"

Important thing is to make sure you have actual meter readings, and that you pick the best tariff -sounds like you are on monthly direct debit, and how about on line readings?

Sounds like original estimate from EON was way too low, so assuming you have some proper readings, ask them to put you retrospectively on the best tariff. Unfortunately, even if they've got it wrong, you will still have to pay ( unless you can persuade them to write some of it off - always worth a try, though without further details of your situation, I suspect you might find it difficult to plead poverty.

43 years in the Electricity supply industry allows me to claim some professional knowledge, although more on engineering than energy supply.

Best of luck

Anon

CEng MIET

We moved into a 4 bedroom detached house in May 2008 and the bill from June to October was £339.00 which averages to £85 p/month. We are currently paying £58 pm which was advised by EON at the start. The are supposed to contact us when they think we should increase our monthly payments but they haven't bothered. So when I contacted them offering to pay £150 per month they said no and that I should be paying £260 p/m! Which is a massive difference.

We just received our bill for the nx quarter, from October to January which has come in at £690 which I think is a lot. We had quite a few staying with us over xmas so the gas cooker was used more and the heating was on more over xmas but do you think this is correct?

I have checked the readings and they are correct. We used 375 units of Gas in the last quarter which seems an awful lot compared to the quarter before where I think we used about 80 units. Someone suggested that EON may be charging us for the wrong type of meter? Is this a common thing? Does anyone know any more about this before I approach EON about it cause I would rather have a good knowledge of it before contacting them!

There is normally 2 adults living in the house. And the price is for gas and electric.