Can this be right?

gelato_cat

Hi all

I've just plugged my details into energyhelpline.com to see if I can save by switching my gas and electricity providers. I've never switched so am still with Powergen for electricity (£240 per year) and BG for gas (£270 per year). I put the £ into the checker as when I put in the kWh it calculated my expenditure wrongly.

The checker is telling me that I can save £££ by switching to Powergen for gas and BG for electricity (ie the opposite of what I have now)! I pay quarterly bills at the moment and am being quoted at least 25% savings, more if I switch to monthly DD (which I am tempted to do - and I HATE DD with a vengeance, but it'll save me another £20 a year).

Can this be right? I assumed both companies were really expensive (obv they are for what they originally provided ie what I have now) - esp with all the recent negative publicity surrounding British Gas' prices. BTW, the cheapest gas and electricity combo with quarterly billing seems to be Scottish Power.

I've disregarded all the Equigas results it gave me as I'd rather stick with a name I've at least heard of.

Any thoughts? I spose I could switch and see if it really is cheaper than last year, then switch again if needed but I'd rather do without the hassle - I want to switch and be able to forget about it for a bit!

Suze

Cardew

BG for gas is usually one of the most expensive - no question; however their Electricity is usually pretty competitive. This depends to some extent where you live as regional electricity prices vary and BG might be the cheapest in, say, East Midlands but not Scotland.

Can't understand why entering kWh into the comparison site gives the wrong results - this is normally the only way to get an accurate comparison.

We would all like to "switch and be able to forget about it" but bear in mind whatever results you get now could be redundant in a few weeks - a dilemma we all face!! The only way to do this is to go for one of the fixed tariffs(to 2009/2010) but that is a gamble! - which millions have taken to prevent the "hassle" for one reason.

gelato_cat

Thanks for the info. I'm surprised about the BG electricity thing!

Dunno why the kWh thing came out wrong but it was saying "you spend £500 per year on gas". Erm... nope! The electricity thing is a whole different story as there are three price bands (two for day and one for night) so I don't know how the website decides how your usage is split (it doesn't ask you unless you're on Economy 7, and even then that doesn't take into account the two day bands). So neither the total spend nor the number of kWh is going to give an accurate result.

I see what you're saying re switching but as I've never switched I'm bound to be better off at least for a while. Powergen and BG would have to increase their prices by over 33% for me to be worse off than before I switched - anything's possible, but I'd like to switch now and see how it goes. I'm looking to emigrate next year anyway so probably won't have to worry about it for too long.

cheers!

Suze

Cardew wrote:

BG for gas is usually one of the most expensive - no question; however their Electricity is usually pretty competitive. This depends to some extent where you live as regional electricity prices vary and BG might be the cheapest in, say, East Midlands but not Scotland.

Can't understand why entering kWh into the comparison site gives the wrong results - this is normally the only way to get an accurate comparison.

We would all like to "switch and be able to forget about it" but bear in mind whatever results you get now could be redundant in a few weeks - a dilemma we all face!! The only way to do this is to go for one of the fixed tariffs(to 2009/2010) but that is a gamble! - which millions have taken to prevent the "hassle" for one reason.

pawpurrs

Thats because gas readings are in cubic meters I think, so you have to convert it to kw before imputing in to comparasion site, I made the same mistake, you need to ring your gas supplier and they will tell you how many kws you used over a year, hth

gelato_cat

Thanks for the tip. I checked and it's defo the kWh that I put in, not the number of cubic metres. I'll try again tonight...

Suze

pawpurrs wrote:

Thats because gas readings are in cubic meters I think, so you have to convert it to kw before imputing in to comparasion site, I made the same mistake, you need to ring your gas supplier and they will tell you how many kws you used over a year, hth

smartie1976

Don't forget, whomever you go with, Dual Fuel (both with the same supplier) and a direct debit tarif will save you the most.

Don't be tempted to keep your gas and electric with separate suppliers, irrespective of what uswitch says!

Chances are prices will increase in the future, but we need a crystal ball to predict when and by how much. I would recommend any kind of fixed/capped tarif (don't worry about 'get out' fees - these only apply if you wish to swap supplier, and why would you do that if you'd got a decent fixed tarif!)

gelato_cat

Thanks for the info. I know this much: I'm switching to DD!

However, I'm now confused - how do I find the best dual fuel deals if the comparison sites can't be trusted?

Suze

smartie1976 wrote:

Don't forget, whomever you go with, Dual Fuel (both with the same supplier) and a direct debit tarif will save you the most.

Don't be tempted to keep your gas and electric with separate suppliers, irrespective of what uswitch says!

Chances are prices will increase in the future, but we need a crystal ball to predict when and by how much. I would recommend any kind of fixed/capped tarif (don't worry about 'get out' fees - these only apply if you wish to swap supplier, and why would you do that if you'd got a decent fixed tarif!)

matto

I'm not sure dual fuel deals are the best at the moment.

My cheapest option is British Gas for electric and Ebico/Equigas for gas with PowerGen a close second for gas.

dap_3

I'm tempted to switch to a fixed/capped tariff - is anyone aware of whether they can put the prices up still through? (i.e. if the wholesale price goes over by too much)

Although the prices are higher than the standard tariffs, after considering the depletion rates we are having in the north sea, etc etc, i think it will turn out to be a wise choice.

Cardew

smartie1976 wrote:

Don't forget, whomever you go with, Dual Fuel (both with the same supplier) and a direct debit tarif will save you the most.

Don't be tempted to keep your gas and electric with separate suppliers, irrespective of what uswitch says!

Chances are prices will increase in the future, but we need a crystal ball to predict when and by how much. I would recommend any kind of fixed/capped tarif (don't worry about 'get out' fees - these only apply if you wish to swap supplier, and why would you do that if you'd got a decent fixed tarif!)

Regarding Dual Fuel being best - below is a quote from Martin's guide

Dual Fuel isn’t always cheaper.

Logically dual fuel (gas and electricity from the same supplier) should be cheaper, and often it is, yet not always. Compare the cheapest standalone suppliers too.

It largely depends on where you are in UK. Sometimes the discount for dual fuel doesn't match the savings getting gas and electricity from different companies.

Xbigman

Switching is a nightmare. If you use Kwh and you click the wrong tarif option for your current supplier (easy to do as some suppliers have similar named plans) you get the wrong costs and therefore wrong savings estimate. The other way around, put in £££ and click the wrong tarif and you get the wring usage, therefore the wrong savings costs.

If you want to know what your costs will be forget the comparison sites figures and only use them to get tarif information. Work out your usage by reading all your meters every month, write it down and keep a record. Once you know your actual usage and tarif costs, work it out yourself.
Regards


X