Southern Electric iPlan

PTB0706

Hello,

We received our electric bill from Southern Electric yesterday and the envelope contained a leaflet promoting their new iplan scheme.
By switching to this new plan they send you a smart energy kit that will allow you to see how much electric you ]are currently by using the free monitor they send you and also by syncing to your online account.
Having read the leaflet and looked at the website it seems like a very good idea, however we can't help wondering what is in it for them and that you get nothing for free in this life.

We are hoping that one of you kind forum users might be able to help us decide if this is actually a good scheme or point out something we have missed that is glaringly obvious.
The website address is southern-electric.co.uk/iplan

Many Thanks

Premier_2

As Martin say, don't go for a tariff simply because it gives away a 'free' gizmo.

Use the comparison sites to get the best deal for you. An energy monitor only costs about £30 - you may be able to save £100s p.a. changing supplier/tariff. You might even get about £100 cashback for switching.

Use imeasure to monitor energy consumption online if you want that sort of thing.

macman

The only thing that is relevant is: what are the unit prices on this iplan tariff? That should be your sole criteria-not a free gimmicky monitor, which is not accurate anyway.
You already have a highly accurate monitor installed to enable you to measure your electricity consumption and cost-it's called a meter.

penrhyn

This has to be the greatest tariff ever, after all it begins with an i .

Everyone knows that stuff with an i prefix is better than the rest.

If it was green and eco as well, wow!!

secretmachines

edit - just read this on Which
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/09/free-energy-monitor-with-new-smart-energy-tariff-229697/

"Which? energy expert James Tallack says: 'SSE says iplan costs the same as its standard energy tariffs. However, standard tariffs are among the most expensive energy deals around.

'For an average household in the East Midlands, iplan with Southern Electric would cost £1,087 a year, compared to £949 on Southern Electric's Go Direct 5 online tariff (a saving of £138). At £865, Eon's SaveOnline 3 is even cheaper. Use our free switching service, Which? Switch, to easily compare tariffs from all the suppliers.'"

think these are the prices:
Electricity standing charge (per day) 8.589p
Electricity tier 1 11.429 p/kWh
Gas standing charge (per day) 29.368p
Gas tier 1 3.109 p/kWh

Workingitoff_2

I was also curious to find out more about this tariff but as soon as you find that you can't see the tariff costs at the simple click of a button/link the alarm bells rang.

What would make sense is that the iplan gizmo bundle should be available on all their tariffs. I'm currently with one of their green dual fuels but with this behaviour (and my latest bills in front of me) I think it might be time to change!

Bombay_Cat

I got the gizmo in July 2012 and put in the 3 batteries. SSE then wanted me to sign up online to using it but I didn't, I just use it to see what electricity I'm using. I'm on their 2 year tariff but as I've not set up the iplan gizmo online I think it's made no difference. It's been on for just 6 months and went blank this morning Jan.13. I changed the batteries but to no effect. Has SSE switched it off I wonder? If so, how? I won't ask for a new one so it's been a waste of time.

macman

No, SSE can't switch off an energy monitor remotely, it's a cheap Chinese made one and it's probably just died. You already have a highly accurate device in your home to tell you how much electricity you are using-it's called a meter!