Bewildered, befuddled and bruised by he comparison sites

tillster

I'm trying to help my parents change tariff, and so have been looking at the energyhelpline and uswich websites

My parents are with EDF and have an annual dual consumption of ca. 690 pounds, which will rise to ca. 868 pounds with the EDF price rises and a change to a capped tariff through to Oct 2009

However, neither of the comparison sites offer a capped tariff from anybody else is particularly competitive with this price, even taking into account the EDF price rises

Energyonline identifies the best deal as being 833 pounds a year, so ca. 30 quid cheaper

Uswitch best price is 881.71, so ca. 20 pounds dearer

When I hear of all the savings to be made, I am a bit confused that there is nothing particularly to be found for my parents.

I'm not from the UK, so it's a bit tricky to understand everything, but this does seem odd, doesn't it?

fossman

The capped prices should bring you to an annual cost of slightly less than after EDF's price increases.

The capped prises dont appear that competetive at the moment but "if" prices go up again they will be well below the increased prices.

jazzymike

When you entered details about current consumption did you use the amount spent or the actual KWh? The usage in KWh is the most accurate way of getting the best deal and its simple to work out from the last annual set of bills.

Also, you may find that because the price of energy is likely to rise again in the next 12 months a capped deal more expensive than right now could save you long term.

Don't forget to have a look at using the cashback sites to switch. Topcashback.co.uk (amongst others) pay £62 if you switch to Scottish Power capped dual-fuel, for instance, whereas the comparison sites only pay £30, if you're lucky.

Mike

tillster

Thanks for the replies people. Much appreciated

The calculations were based upon annual bills and not KwH (apparently the KwH are not on the bill and I'm not entirely sure what the units are that are on the bill, so it makes calculating the KwH a bitt tricky.............I think)

Fossman, the prices I mentioned for other suppliers in my original post were taking into account the 22% gas and 17% electricity rises, plus the 5% extra cost for EDF cap til Oct 2009, so the potential for increased prices for EDF versus them is removed, I think?

freddykrueger

Someone said on another thread that some of the price comparison sites have not quite caught up with the EDF price rise.....just a thought?

msmicawber

I believe the units on all bills for gas are cubic metres. In that case, here's the calculation to convert to KWh:

1. Multiply no. of units by conversion factor 1.02264
2. Multiply by calorific value 38.9
3. Divide by 3.6

e.g. 230 units x 1.02264 (= 235.2072) x 38.9 (= 9149.56008) / 3.6 = 2541.5446 or 2541.5 KWh

I hope that helps.

Even though I use the sites for a rough guide, I work through my old bills converting so many KWh at x rate then the remaining KWh at the second rate and comparing the standard charge and no standard charge amounts to find out exactly what I would be paying before making a decision.

I hope that helps a little and doesn't make your brain melt out of your ears.

Johan

As we live in Northern Ireland we don"t have anything to compare with as we are at the mercy of the Northern Ireland Electricity Service so we have no choice but pay the highest prices in the UK!!

tillster

Thanks for the KwH calculation for gas

Should I calculate electricity in the same formula?

Incisor

tillster wrote: »

Thanks for the KwH calculation for gas

Should I calculate electricity in the same formula?

No, electricity is metered in kWh to start with, rather than in cubic meters or cubic feet.

tillster

Thanks ever so much for the help.

Much appreciated

jazzymike

My bill shows consumption in cubic feet, so if yours does too, you can use the formula above and multiple by 2.83 as well.

Mike