A Glasgow man has been stuck in a position of choosing between heating his home or eating this winter after his energy bills shot up from £50 to almost £300 a month.
Gary Proudfoot, 39, from the Somerston area of the city has been fighting with his energy company, Scottish Power, for almost 11 months after a new heating system was installed in his building.
The Maryhill Housing Association resident says his mental health has been destroyed with him left unable to even dry his own clothes because of fears over energy costs.
Speaking to the Daily Record Gary said: "It's so cold in my house that I can see my own breath, but I can't afford to put the heating on.
"I'm on benefits and this is absolutely hammering me. I'm sitting here in tears and I only have £15 left in my bank account. I'm stuck in a position of heating or eating.
"I can't even wash my clothes, because I can't dry them."
Gary, who has lived in the home for two years, says that the huge price hike in his bills came after Maryhill Housing Association installed Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) in January to replace the old electric storage heaters.
But despite the new systems promising to be more cost and energy-efficient, Gary says his bill increased fivefold overnight after it was installed.
He added: "They came and installed the new carbon heat source pumps which are meant to be more energy efficient and cost-effective and ever since then my bill has gone from £50 a month on the old system to easily £300 a month on this new one.
"Heating just one room for four or five hours is costing around £6. It's just not cost-effective.
"Turner Heating Solutions, who installed the heat pumps, said we needed to get our meters changed too, but I've now made over 30 calls to Scottish Power. I'm still on the old meter because it's not been done yet.
"I've made numerous complaints and they say they are going to call me back, but they never do and when I'm on the call they keep hanging up.
"They just keep palming me off. One minute they agree that I qualify for a new meter and the next they say I don't.
"Then they are telling me the numbers are wrong on my current meter. But that's because it needs to get swapped to a new meter because of the heating system and they are not doing it."
Gary believes the situation is now getting dangerous and is risking his health.
He continued: "t's really having a detrimental effect my health. I've had pneumonia in the past and I'm getting wheezy.
"I'm sitting here in tears because this is really affecting my mental health too. I also play for a mental health and wellbeing football club, but I've not been able to do that because I don't have clean or dry clothes."
Gary is urging Scottish Power to take action and change him onto a single rate meter.
He added: "I've been trying to get this changed since the 5th of January. I'm asking for one simple thing, just to get my meter swapped to match the new heating system."
A Scottish Power Spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear about the issues Mr Proudfoot has experienced. We are investigating and will work to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”
A spokesperson for Maryhill Housing Association said: "We want to remind all our customers that support is available and that they should contact us if they require cost of living advice or would like to speak with one of our energy advisers."
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