Dont know why Gas & Electric is costing me so much..want to switch..need really help!

picklednut

Hi

I'm really in a pickle at the moment and I can't get my head around the cost of my Gas and Electric.

My current gas supplier is British Gas and I have dual fuel with them and pay them by monthly direct debit. Over the years the direct debits have fluctuated to reflect changes in seasons and currently (up to a month ago) I was paying £45 per month for electricity and £55 for gas.

I got my recent gas bill and I was £150 in credit. British Gas then decides in order for me to cover gas usage over the winter they were DOUBLING my direct debit to £112 per month for gas. This to me seems ridiculously high - we live in a 3 bed end terrace, there are only 2 adults in the house who work full time, we have central heating system on a timer and had a new boiler installed about 4 months which is on a thermostat (so turns itself off when the temperature reaches a certain level).

I phoned British Gas to see if they would use the £150 I have in credit against the next couple of months usage and I would pay slightly more in direct debit but they were having none of it! I simply cannot afford to double my direct debits.

Having spoken to my hubby he wants us to install a token meter as everyone he has spoken to who has a token meter pays significantly less and he thinks this is the best way to go as we can "pay as you go" and really see how much we are paying..but I'm not too sure, I've heard token meters charge higher per unit costs for gas and electric.

Anyway, the second option is that I've used Uswitch.com and moneysupermarket.com but I don't seem to be saving much per year when I put in the annual usage for my gas and electric.

My annual consumption has been:

Gas = 21,062 KWH / 653 units
Electric = 4946 units

I can't understand how we can be using so much and I'm frightened if I move to another supplier and they charge me a standard £50 for gas, £50 for electric price plan that I'll end up in a load of debt / arrears that I won't be able to afford.

Can someone please give me some help as I don't know how I can reduce the amount I am paying for gas/electric per month but at the same time be paying enough to cover the gas and electric I am using.

On a final note I did a recent gas meter reading and we had used 46 units (1465kwh) of gas in 19 days - is this extremely high?

Thanks in advance

Magentasue

Looking at 14p kwh elec and 4p kwh gas, your annual bill without discounts and VAT is about £1535. A twelfth of this is £128 so I'd say BG have got it about right. You'd have to use your kwh costs to calculate more accurately.

Sorry, just re-read and see that your total DD is going to be £157 (not £112) which does seem a bit higher - how much does your annual bill work out using your actual costs from your tariff?

oliver2008

I have token meters for both my gas and electric, gas with scottish gas, power with scottish power and I pay between £10-£15 on each a week which would be about the same as your current direct debits.

I also stay in a three bed roomed end terraced but have four kids, one being a toddler so the heating/hot water is on a lot, and god knows how many times I am switching things off behind them :rolleyes:

Cardew

You don't say where you live(that affects the electricity price a little)

Assuming you are on BG's standard dual fuel tariff, for my Postcode(Midlands) your consumption would cost £1,587 a year - so £132 a month.

So as you have been paying £100 a month you will have not been covering your costs and BG are quite correct that you will be well in debt on the gas account by the end of the winter unless it is increased.

Your husband is quite wrong about moving to a token meter as it will cost you a lot more(husbands are not normally wrong!!)

Apart from cutting back on consumption(especially electricity) the easiest way to save a lot would be move to an internet tariff. British Gas Click 6 would save me(using your consumption figures) £367 a year. Your savings could be more or less than this, but not significantly different.

picklednut

Hi All

Thanks for replies. I live in Leeds, West Yorkshire and am already on the online Click Energy 6. I haven't had my electricity bill in yet but presume BG will probably raise that as well. As it stands now I would be paying £162 for gas and electric (£112 and £50 for electric - presuming they don't increase the electricity price).

Does anyone know which energy providers are cheaper that BG? I phoned Southern Electric as a few of my friends are with them and they are going to charge, based on my consumption, £629.55 per year for Electric (£52 per month) and £722.30 per year (£60 per month for gas). Their rates are Electric - for first 182 kwh - 16.14 then 12.14 per kwh - and Gas is 4.22p for first 1143 khw and then 3.22p per kwh). This seems a lot cheaper but I feel really skeptical that I'll pay £112 per month for both gas and electric and then in the 6 month review in the summer I'll be in massive arrears that I won't be able to afford).

This has been going round my head for weeks and I need to sort it out.

Cardew

The £112 will not be permanent, it is just to get things to balance by the review date.

BG Click 6 comes out top, or very near top, on most websites for dual fuel.

You may be slightly better off by getting your gas and electricity from separate suppliers.

missblogg

Hi, i have had the same problem as you, i am with npower they doubled my electicity to £110 a month because i was £90 in debit with them , there was no compromising with them they said that is what i use and that is what i have too pay, i am now in the process of switching and i seem to be better of with separate companies instead of using a dual fuel company, equigas come up tops for my gas and ebico for my electricity, i will save more money going seperate than opting for british gas click 6 who came up top for dual fuel, i will pay less to start with, and i know that will not last long but it gets me out of the big direct debit payments at least, and i will make sur i put money aside to cover myself when i end up in debit again , i plan to pay off what i owe each time i get my bill so my monthly payment stays low.

Cardew

missblogg wrote: »

Hi, i have had the same problem as you, i am with npower they doubled my elctic to £110 a month because i was £90 in debit with them , there was no compromising with them they said that is what i use and that is what i have too pay, i am now in the process of swithching and i seem to be better of with separate companes instaed of using a dual fuel company, equigas come up tops for my gas and ebico for my electricity, i will save more money going seperate than opting for british gas click 6 who came up top for dual fuel

Ere - Equigas and Ebico are the same company.

I can understand gas being cheaper if you are a low to medium user; although Npower gas is pretty competitive.

However I am surprised that they are cheaper for electricity unless you really are a very low user.

Are you sure you have your figures correct?

mellomello

We have similar,if not bigger problem. We were paying £70 per month dd for gas & electricity to Npower. We have now been told we are £1200. in arrears and they now want us to pay £664 per month. Our usage is 6300 kwh for electricity and 3900 kwh for gas, we are on Npower duel fuel tariff.

Magentasue

mellomello wrote: »

We have similar,if not bigger problem. We were paying £70 per month dd for gas & electricity to Npower. We have now been told we are £1200. in arrears and they now want us to pay £664 per month. Our usage is 6300 kwh for electricity and 3900 kwh for gas, we are on Npower duel fuel tariff.

3900kwh for gas or 39000kwh?

Cardew

mellomello wrote: »

We have similar,if not bigger problem. We were paying £70 per month dd for gas & electricity to Npower. We have now been told we are £1200. in arrears and they now want us to pay £664 per month. Our usage is 6300 kwh for electricity and 3900 kwh for gas, we are on Npower duel fuel tariff.

£70 a month will hardly cover your electricity bill.

Do you mean 3,900 gas units? if so that is about 42,000kWh

Lots of people enter gas units in the comparison websites instead of kWh.