(just our electric costs us £250 at least monthly and we managed to put it down compared last winter,

gulp--that IS a lot. by comparison--i just had my quarterly bills in--£100 for elec--and £240 for gas------but i was a trained energy adviser so i practice what i used to preach. i dont turn the central heating on till 4 pm most days.

but you can see what i was driving at--utility bills of £1000 a year are crippling to many household budgets.