EBICo - as good as it seems?

benjdr · 30 November 2007 at 6:55PM

Evening all,

I'm currently renovating my first house, and am nearing completion so I will be moving in in the next month or two. The previous owners were using BG for both gas and elec, so we just carried on using them.

I've been looking around at various discussions and comparison sites, and one message that seems to be coming across is that EBICo is great for low usage people. That should mean us: young professional couple, house not occupied in the day etc...
We also have a wood burner which can heat the downstairs on its own so the central gas heating would not be used as much as usual.

I've just done the calculations on our first quarterly bill from BG.
Gas:
BG: 315.33 kWh @ 4.266p = £13.45
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Equigas would be @ 2.55p = £8.04

Elec:
BG: 200kWh @ 16.717p, 38[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]kWh[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] @ 8.647p = £38.89
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Equipower would be 238[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]kWh[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] @ 11.35p = £26.67[/FONT]

Are there any other options worth considering or should we go for it?
The house is still unoccupied during the week, so it would be a good idea to switch immediately, right?

Cheers guys.

Farway · 30 November 2007 at 7:12PM

As an Ebico customer I am biased, but yes switch, not only for the reasonable costs, but easy to understand bills, no standing charge or hidden catches, pay however you want [I opted for whole bill quarterly DD], but also an ethical not for profit company

My last gas bill was much as yours would have been BTW

penrhyn · 30 November 2007 at 8:45PM

I'm biased too as an Ebico customer, if you are a low user its ideal.

benjdr · 30 November 2007 at 9:45PM

Can anyone help me find some southern energy rates? I can't find them anywhere on their website.

Also, exactly how did you guys switch to Ebico? Does a nice company like USwitch do it all for you?

Terrylw1 · 30 November 2007 at 10:39PM

Do whats best for you now. If you are still getting a feel for your usage, there is nothing stopping you moving onto Ebico and then if someone else becomes cheaper later, just switch to them.

You only need to watch out for anyone using lock in contracts. Otherwise, you can switch every 28 days if needed.

Think of it this way. It's winter now, the time when yo will use the most gas for heating. So, do you want to pay X pounds extra to BGas when you could avoid that with Ebico?

benjdr · 30 November 2007 at 11:27PM

Well, Swalec (Southern) on Price Fix 2008 seem pretty darn good too.

Elec: 11.86p for first 364 then 8.57p
Gas: 2.83p for first 1143 then 2.00p

I'm not really sure who to plump for...

far · 1 December 2007 at 4:02AM

If your last quarter's bill is typical of your average usage then Ebico do work out cheaper for you than even Southern Electric Price Fix as they charge a flat rate for gas and electric. Your usage for gas especially is so low you would be hit by the higher first tier unit charge everytime if this quarter's usage was typical.

benjdr · 1 December 2007 at 8:15PM

far wrote: »

If your last quarter's bill is typical of your average usage then Ebico do work out cheaper for you than even Southern Electric Price Fix as they charge a flat rate for gas and electric. Your usage for gas especially is so low you would be hit by the higher first tier unit charge everytime if this quarter's usage was typical.

It isn't really typical, because the house has only been occupied on weekends when I've been renovating, but thanks for your comments.

Terrylw1 · 1 December 2007 at 10:19PM

At this stage it doesn't sound like you have any data to understand your usage. So, why not consider how the national average comes out - gas 20400Kwh and elec 3300Kwh. Would you use more than that or less? So, try to work around that and see where Ebico & Southern come out.

You could monitor your usage now for 7 days on each meter by taking a reading each day for 7 days. Then multiple it into a quarter and use that figure for now. With it now being colder, it should be close to your winter usage and by the time summer comes, you will have enough data to understand your typical usage.

Take readings every month or quarter so you can understand your per annum usage patterns. That will allow you to always switch to the best deals for you.

melbury · 2 December 2007 at 6:44PM

I've been with Ebico for over a year now for both gas and electricity. The comparison sites say I could save over £100 by switching, but I certainly won't be. I pay by quarterly cheque, the bills are clear - estimated one arrives and I just phone in my exact reading to their meterline and a few days later correct bill arrives. No hassle and no sneaky direct debit increases. It is well worth me paying a bit over the odds for the peace of mind and good service.

computerwoman · 2 December 2007 at 7:32PM

southern electric/swalec are ebico...you just go through the ebico website to get it abit cheaper...

http://www.ebico.co.uk/

use this link to go through the ebico website or

http://www.you-switch.org/electricity-suppliers/equigas-equipower/?sid=g_ebico

this site to get some cashback as well with uswitch...still ebico still southern electric just cheaper...hth's:D

EBICo - as good as it seems?

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