Originally Posted by Expatrick

Apparently the export of firewood has now been banned.

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary

You can avoid the nasty surprise of a catch up bill following the annual reading by opting for monthly billing which is calculated from the meter reading that you can enter on-line. The annual meter reading still happens but this is only a verification of what you have entered throughout the year and (if you read the meter properly) shouldn't be any/much different from the monthly payment.
I do this for all my meters, I have a couple of rented flats and putting in monthly readings means that the utilities are always up to date so no issues if the tenants change. One down side is that the gas bill reflects the actual month so there is no averaging of the gas cost summer to winter.

I am waiting to see the detail. I have seen already that additional allowance will be made for 3+ children but what about the night rate, the disabled, pensioners and those without the ability to have gas. In my situation I have no gas and no mains water so my electricity usage is and must be higher because I can't use the gas allowance, all my hot water must be done with electricity (night rate) and I also need electricity to pump my water.

Oh and I also heard from a local last week that in this area it now impossible to buy firewood, so I expect the firewood price to increase in proportion to the price of gas.

Originally Posted by Jack_Russells4ever

I did not know about monthly reporting but as poor as my Hungarian is I am certain somehow I would mess things up. I will just let them read it and deal with it when it becomes payable via the yellow posta checks.

Originally Posted by hobgoblins

Same for me, the meters get read once a year, around July / August, I get the bill and pay with the yellow ticket, although I have considered asking to pay monthly.
One thing I'm not sure about considering there is a price cap in place ... if I have used the same amount of electricity during the last year as I did the previous year, is my bill going to be the same as the one last year or will it be higher ...

Originally Posted by Expatrick

As I understand it (?) if your bill is above the average, then it will not be capped, therefore your next bills are going to be considerably higher, that's what I'm assuming anyway. So, if this does apply to you maybe consider paying monthly to spread the load?

Originally Posted by Jack_Russells4ever

I did not know about monthly reporting but as poor as my Hungarian is I am certain somehow I would mess things up. I will just let them read it and deal with it when it becomes payable via the yellow posta checks.

Originally Posted by Sachina

I have a Baxi Combi boiler for my central heating and hot water and use gas for cooking. As I also have wood burning stoves in every room If necessary I can turn off the central heating and light the stoves to keep the house warm. One of them I can cook on if needs be, although I have a microwave and small tabletop electric cooker I can always use.

I still have nearly 5 cubic metres of wood which just needs cutting up which is sufficient for the winter.. Hopefully my son and grandson will do that job for me when they're over in September.

Originally Posted by Sachina

I still have nearly 5 cubic metres of wood which just needs cutting up which is sufficient for the winter..

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary

Once you are registered entering the data is easy. The Eon web site has a link to the telephone numbers where there is an English and German help line. It may be worth calling then to ask for help with registering for online meter reading submission if you want to go that way.

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary

Best to check what your usage for last year was to see if it goes over the price cap amount, if it doesn't then no need to panic. From an environmental point of view burning gas is much less polluting than burning wood. Whilst gas is a fossil fuel the air pollution with wood is much greater and is causing air quality issues in many places (even with modern high efficiency wood stoves)

I phoned Eon this morning to ask about the price / kWh after the 210 kWh allowance, answer = They don' know yet !!!

Originally Posted by hobgoblins

That's a healthy stockpile, far more than I have at the minute but I'm adding to mine every week ! I bought a new wood burner for the main part of the house last winter and it gives out a ferocious amount of heat ! I also bought a traditional wood burning stove that makes a good alternative to the ancient 1950s electric cooker that I rarely use ... my slow cookers and the microwave keep me going but the wood stove will be a life saver if the power goes out. I also bought some candles over from the UK as I can't find any ordinary household candles in my local town, just fancy candles and strange candles that are encased in plastic sleeves ... no idea how they work !

Originally Posted by Sachina

I'm given anything from 2 to 4 cubic metres for free every year under the Hungarian version of the UK "fuel allowance", I had so much that I sold 2.5 cubic metres earlier this year, There's probably another 1.5 cubic metre in my woodshed. In addition I have 3 trees that need chopping down plus all the old wood from the repair of my garage/woodshed roof and replacing the tongue and grove under my porch.

Originally Posted by hobgoblins

I'm not sure how that system works ... a couple of my retired Hungarian neighbours get a free delivery every year but I'm a few years away from the UK retirement age and even when I reach the official retirement age, I'm not sure if it's only available to Hungarian citizens or whether residents can get it as well ...