Wanting to switch...

IWantToBeFree_2

But I am not actually sure which tarrifs I am on with my current suppliers and it means that I am finding it hard to compare...

By way of background, I moved into my current house just short of a year ago and for ease we just stayed with the suppliers who supplied the previous owner, Npower for electric and British Gas for gas.

Just had my latest 2 bills (to take me upto the full year) and they show that I am £85 in debit for Gas and £75 in credit for electric. The gas bill for the last quarter seems extortionate seen as we are not in all day, and spend most of the weekends not at home...

Anyway, my OH has been nagging me to look into switching for a while to ensure we are getting a competitive deal, but when I look I am faced with so many different tarrifs and I am not completely sure which apply to my current set up...

The price per unit for gas on my latest bill is:

6.805p for the first X units and then 3.234p for the remainder, and upto 18th feb these figures were 7.149p and 3.587p/

The price per unit for electric on my latest bill is:

15.790p for the first X units and then 14.720p for the remainder, this was the same for the whole period from 16th Sept 08 to 16 March 09.

I have always presumed these were just standard tarrifs but wondered if someone with more knowledge than me could help, I have looked at tarrifs online and my prices don't seem to correspond to any....

Magentasue

For a meaningful comparison:

- Work out your annual consumption for each fuel in kwh (or ask suppliers)
- Put this into comparison site against standard tariffs from your current suppliers
- Using your unit prices above, calculate annual bill for your annual kwh so that you can check it against what the comparison site calculates

I'm sure there are plenty of options cheaper than your present tariff.

IWantToBeFree_2

Thanks for the advice, the cost wswitch has worked out is pretty accurate, within £20 combined for both gas and electric based on my annual consumption.

The biggest saving is Dual Fuel V14 with Npower, however, I feel a bit put off with the standing charge, should I be?

Also, dislike the half yearly bills from Npower, rather than the quarterly, and a bit annoyed that they put up my electric direct debit when I was £5 in credit however now I am £75 in credit they haven't seen fit to reduce it!

1carminestocky

IWantToBeFree wrote: »

But I am not actually sure which tarrifs I am on with my current suppliers and it means that I am finding it hard to compare...

By way of background, I moved into my current house just short of a year ago and for ease we just stayed with the suppliers who supplied the previous owner, Npower for electric and British Gas for gas.

Just had my latest 2 bills (to take me upto the full year) and they show that I am £85 in debit for Gas and £75 in credit for electric. The gas bill for the last quarter seems extortionate seen as we are not in all day, and spend most of the weekends not at home...

Anyway, my OH has been nagging me to look into switching for a while to ensure we are getting a competitive deal, but when I look I am faced with so many different tarrifs and I am not completely sure which apply to my current set up...

The price per unit for gas on my latest bill is:

6.805p for the first X units and then 3.234p for the remainder, and upto 18th feb these figures were 7.149p and 3.587p/

The price per unit for electric on my latest bill is:

15.790p for the first X units and then 14.720p for the remainder, this was the same for the whole period from 16th Sept 08 to 16 March 09.

I have always presumed these were just standard tarrifs but wondered if someone with more knowledge than me could help, I have looked at tarrifs online and my prices don't seem to correspond to any....

:eek: :eek: Oh crikey, you are very probably with THE most expensive combination possible there! Best thing is to contact your current suppliers and ask them for you annual consumption figures (they are legally obliged to give you these). Then come back here and let us save you hundreds.

IWantToBeFree_2

My annual consumptions are as follows:

Gas: 7,753
Electric: 1,576

Taken these directly from my bills

scrape

thats seems low

johncolescarr

scrape wrote: »

thats seems low

depends on the household. Ours is about the same, live in a 3 bed new build and house is unoccupied during the day. (for anyone wondering, no we don't wear lots of jumpers - house is toasty warm on this energy usage!)

IWantToBeFree_2

scrape wrote: »

thats seems low

Its taken directly from the bills and we always submit readings, none of them have been estimates.

We both work during the day and dont spend much time at home on a weekend, we have the heating set to come on for an hour in the morning and then a few hours on a night although through the summer we tend to just turn it on for 5 minutes a week so the water runs through the system.

Never leave any lights on if we aren't in a room and all plugs are switched off unless they are in use. Don't have a tumble drier, or a microwave, or a fire (gas or electric!)