Scottish Power

glitter123

My capped rate came to an end in September and Scottish Power offered me a further deal; Online Energy Saver 6 until July 2010.

I've been comparing other companies to try to make a decision. On all of the comparison sites my cheapest company has been First Utility but in second place is Scottish Power Online Energy Saver 7 until December 2010.

Is this a new (and better deal)?

bubblegumcola

I stayed with the capped rate til September 2010 with Scottish Power but when i called them yesterday to give meter readings they told me I could change tarriffs with them and not incur the £50 penalty they had previously said there was, as long as I stayed with them. The guy said that The Energy Saver 7 was very good and would be something to look at if I wanted to save money. The only thing is the prices are not capped so if they do go up again these prices will go up. He said from changing to my current capped rate to that one would save me around 6% and if you do online billings its cheaper as well. So on my current usage I would save around £60 a year by swopping , as long as the prices do not go up!

I'm going to check out the stuff online at their website, if you have a current bill with your usage then you should be able to work out if it will be a good move to change.

bubblegumcola

Doesn't look like I can change to Economy 7 tariff with Scottish Power. Reading all the bumf on the website it says for that tariff you need a dual meter, which I presume is like what they used to call "white meter". Had that in my old flat but don't have it in the place I am now. Grrr, would have been good if he told me it was for that type of meter. They must have other tariffs I could change to but haven't the time to check at the mo.

mattcanary

Scottish Power should be able to arrange for your meter to be changed, if necessary. Your landlord does not own the meter in your flat so you can arrange for it to be changed.
For E7 tariff, you need to have a meter with 2 readings on it and a either a teleswitch or timeswitch attached (or inbuilt on many newer meters). This would apply with any supplier.

mattcanary

Also bear in mind that if you don;t have storage heaters, it is not normally best to be on E7 tariff. The 7 hours of cheaper electric during the night would nort compensate for the higher price you pay during the rest of the day on this tariff.
There are exceptions, eg: if you use a lot of electrical equipment such as washing machines overnight, or maybe if you are a shift worker.

Also bear in mind that the times of the 7 hours cheaper electric vary at random. Eg, could be between midnight-7.00am, 12.30am-7.30am, 1.00am-8.00am or even split, eg: 10pm-2.00 am and 4.00am-7.00am). this is to lessent he strain on the electric network.

Finally, during the summer months (BST as compared to GMT), the times of cheaper electric start an hour earlier and finish an hour earlier than during winter. The time on your meter (or timeswitch) do not change when the clocks change. If you have a teleswitch, I believe they do alter when the chocks change so this doesn't then apply.