Heating and hot
water usage

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How much heating and hot water you use in your home depends on a number of factors. This includes your property type and size, the number of people living there, your lifestyle choices, your preferred temperature and several other variables.

Your bill will show you your daily heat and hot water usage in kWh. You can use the below guide to compare your usage with the UK average household.

If you’re using more than the average and you’d like to reduce your usage, please see our helpful tips.

Heating saving tips

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Ways to pay

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We offer flexible ways to pay, that work for you.

Direct Debit

Pay when you get your monthly bill

Pay As You Go (If applicable at your home)

Need help with paying your bills? 

We understand that sometimes it can be difficult to find the money to pay for heating your home.

We promise:

  • We’ll do all we can to help
  • We’ll work with you to agree a plan
  • We’ll give you details of places you can get independent advice and support
Help with paying your bills

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Save heating,
save money

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You could reduce the amount of heating you use and save money on your bills by making some small changes around your home.

If you’re struggling to pay your heat and hot water bills, we may be able to help.

Find out more

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Pay As You Go
(PAYG)

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Pay As You Go (PAYG) is a simple and efficient way to manage what you’re spending. You add credit to your account before you use the heating and hot water and you can top up at any time over the phone or online.

Is PAYG right for you?

The easiest way to pay is by Direct Debit, which automatically handles your payments each month. 

For more control, PAYG lets you manage your heating and hot water spending by paying in advance, avoiding unexpected bills. 

PAYG might not be suitable if you need constant heat or have trouble topping up.

Customers who have payment difficulties sometimes use a PAYG meter as a way to better manage their finances. If you’re experiencing any difficulties with paying your bills or topping up, then let us know as soon as possible and we’ll see what we can do to help.

How does it work?

You add credit to your meter to pay for your heat and hot water. As you use them, the credit decreases. If the credit runs out, your supply will be disconnected until you add more.

A daily standing charge is also deducted from your credit (Direct Debit customers also pay the daily standing charge). Keep your meter in credit to avoid interruptions and prevent debt from building up.

Important Information

Heat unit rate

The rate for heat is the same for both PAYG and Direct Debit customers. PAYG does not cost more.

Standing charge

This daily charge is applied to your meter regardless of whether you use heat and hot water or not, therefore an outstanding balance can build up that will need to be paid. This charge helps cover the costs of buying, maintaining, and managing the heat network, community heat hub and equipment. This cost is the same for both PAYG and Direct Debit customers.

How to top up

You can top up at any time over the phone or online. If you live on our King’s Cross network, you can also use a payzone card.

  • Phone (automated): We have an automated top up service available 24/7 on 02920 100346
  • Website: You can top up in your online account – using your credit or debit card

It can take up to three hours for the updated balance to appear on your account once you’ve topped up. You can see your account balance by checking the Heat Interface Unit in your home, logging into your online account or giving us a call. We’ll also send you an annual statement.

Low
credit

When your balance falls below a certain value, you will be reminded to top up; your meter will either make a beeping sound or the light will change to red when you run out. 

Emergency credit

If you run out of credit and can’t top up, you can use “emergency credit” to keep your heat and hot water for a short time. If you use all the emergency credit, the supply will disconnect. 

This borrowed credit must be repaid when you next top up. Your account must have credit to reconnect your supply.

For more information, please get in touch.

Friendly
credit

(where applicable)

There are certain times of the day where we won’t disconnect you if you run out of credit and you will instead go into ‘friendly credit’.

Your meter will still record what you’re using, and you’ll need to pay for that when you next top up.

If you don’t top up before the end of the friendly credit period, your heating and hot water supply will stop.

For more information, please get in touch.

Moving home

If you move into a new home and there is no heating and hot water available, it may be because the meter has been set to PAYG. Just give us a call or register online and the heating and hot water supply should become available once you top up or set up a Direct Debit.

If you’re moving out, please let us know your move date so that we don’t ask you to pay for the daily standing charge after you’ve moved out.

Moving in / moving out

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Submitting a
meter reading

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If your bill is based on an estimated meter reading, if you provide us with an accurate reading, we can update your bill right away and you’ll see your new balance. 

Billing on demand

Sending us a meter reading is the best way to keep your account up to date and ensure you’re paying the correct amount for your heat and hot water usage.

If you’ve used more than you’ve been paying for, you may have to make catch-up payments.

How to submit a meter reading

It’s easy to send us a meter reading, and it will help us make sure you’re only paying for what you use.

The heat meter, usually inside the HIU, records your heat and hot water usage and sends remote readings to us. You can also check it yourself on the HIU’s front screen by looking for the number of kWh.

Use the ‘Submit Meter Reading’ button in your online account. If you don’t have one you can contact us and we’ll be happy to submit it for you.

Submit meter reading

If you need some help reading your meter

If you’re having trouble reading your heat meter, don’t worry, you can request our engineers to read the meter for you.

Get in touch

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Priority Services
Register

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We understand that we have customers who may need some extra support, so we’ve developed a range of free services to help make it easier for them.

What is the Priority Services Register?

This is a free service that gives extra help to customers who might need it.

We offer a range of services and support, from sending out bills in an alternative format, speaking with someone else about your account on your behalf and helping you find a way to pay for your bills.

We’ll find the right support for you, no matter your age, health or life circumstances.

We’re always improving our services to better support customers who need extra help, both now and in the future. Our Vulnerability Customer Strategy details what we’re doing to help and support anyone in a vulnerable scenario.

Who we can help?

Joining our Priority Services Register is easy; you can contact us or login to your account to update your preferences.

Log in
Get in touch

You’re deaf, hard of hearing or have a sight difficulty

English isn’t your first language

You have a low income or are struggling financially

You’re pregnant or have a child under five years old

You have restricted mobility, or a disability, or you need to use vital medical equipment

You have learning difficulties

You’re experiencing mental heath issues

You’ve gone through a recent bereavement, break-up or job loss

You’re over 65 years old

You have difficulty speaking

If you want extra reassurance when we visit your property

If you need help managing your account

Services we offer

  • We’ll arrange for someone of your choice to help you manage your account
  • We can provide a bill reading service (we’ll send you an audio file of your bill in the post)
  • We can provide bills in large print or braille
  • We’ll work with you to find a flexible payment plan when possible
  • If English isn’t your first language, we can provide translated bills or documents
  • You can change our website to meet your needs
with our Recite Me toolbar
  • We’ll let you know as far in advance as possible if there’s going to be a supply interruption in your area
  • We’ll offer you priority fault repair and provide an alternative supply of heating if the supply is interrupted for more than 12 hours
  • We’ll read your meter within five working days, if you’re finding it tricky and would like our help
  • We’ll never suspend your heating and hot water if you are listed on our Priority Services Register

How to sign up to our Priority Services Register

If you think you need extra help and you’d like to be added to our Priority Services Register, please contact us, or log in to your online account.

Log in

If you want help
managing your account

If you’d like a trusted person to help you with your account, you can nominate them to 
deal with us on your behalf. This can include checking and paying your bills, booking appointments, or making a complaint. Just give us a call or use the third-party nomination form, and we’ll arrange it.

Nomination form

If you want extra reassurance when we visit your property

Unfortunately, sometimes criminals who may pretend to work for utility companies try to gain entry to people’s homes. We refer to them as ‘Bogus Callers’.

For added protection and peace of mind, we operate a doorstep password scheme which is free and open to all our customers. Once you have set up a password, any employee from Metropolitan will need to quote this before entering your home.

Set up doorstep password

If you want help with your heating and hot water bills

We understand that managing bills can be tricky. If you’re worried about paying your bills or need extra support, we’re here to help you. There are a number of ways we can help, including setting up a payment plan, or giving you some breathing space. 

Help with paying your bills

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Your bill
explained

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Your bill gives lots of information on your usage, payments you’ve made, as well as payments that are due, and more. 
You can even see at a glance how your usage varies over the seasons.

Hover each point (●) for an explanation.

This is your account number. You will be asked for this number when you contact us.

Your account balance is the total amount of money owed, either to Metropolitan or to you. The word “debit” or “credit” will appear to the left of the sum to show this. Credit means we owe you. Debit means you owe us.

The summary of account displays how your account balance was calculated. This includes your previous balance, the payments you’ve made since, and the new charges from this bill.

This confirms the date your payment is due and how we will collect payment.

This box shows the past 6 payments you have made to Metropolitan.

If you pay by Direct Debit, this will show a forecast of your future payments over the next 6 months.

This shows the billing period for this bill, the meter readings we have for you, and the number of days the bill relates to. This will be used to work out how much you owe to Metropolitan.

This shows the volumetric charges for the services you take from us. Volumetric charges relate to the amount of heat and hot water you have used in kWh per day.

This shows the standing charges for the services you take from us. Standing charges is a fixed daily amount that contributes to the upkeep and management of the heat hub and network.

This gives average usage figures for different sized homes. You can use this to see if you are using more or less than the average UK household.

This chart shows how much heating and hot water you have used over the last 12 months, broken down by month.

This bar graph tracks your average usage per day in kWh, over the last six-month billing periods.

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