British Gas EnergySmart

rlzzzz

Hi,

I'm currently on the british gas fixed until march 2011 tarrif, can I add the energy smart thing to get the free electricity monitor then when the tarrif ends in march move to something cheaper like the websaver tarrif? Would I have any cancelation fees to pay by doing that?

Just trying to cut back at the moment as we are using £115 electric a month and £79 a month for gas!

Thanks

CharlieBilly

No wonder you want to cut back given what you pay now thats unless of course you were in debt and paying back

I noticed they said in Daily Mail today interest rates going up just what many of us need, not

Yellowcard

You can indeed, there would be no cancellation fees involved.

rlzzzz

Yea they increased our DD by about £15 to pay off a little bit extra but I've been taking meter readings and somehow we are actually using £100 of electric a month! Even the gas seems excessive.

I think I'll get that meter then to see whats the worst offender, then transfer to the web saver whenever possible.

Thanks

dogshome

Hi rlzzzz - The rough rule of thumb is that over the Winter your Summer gas bills will rise by 80%, and your Summer Elec bills by 20%

We are all cringeing at our heating bills at the moment, but your Elec bills seem very, very high - £92 a month in Summer?
You may well know the reasons for this, but if not please post size of dwelling and the family for pointers as to what may be wrong

rlzzzz

I think we just do everything wrong at the moment! It's only a 3 bed terraced house with 3 people.

For the electric we have 2x fridge freezers which can't help, 2x TVs on in the evenings and a few computers! I recently changed a lot of the lights from those spotlight fittings with 4x 40w bulbs to single 10w energy saving bulbs to try and cut back on that.

For the gas I know that our insulation in the loft isn't that great so we probably lose a lot of heat that way.

Lots of things I need to do to make us more energy effiecient!

rlzzzz

Also our gas charges seem to have been the same all year round! I'm not sure how realiable previous meter readings were though. I've only just taken over looking after all these things due to family circumstances so I guess I'll just have to keep a close eye on things going forward.

penrhyn

OP If you are prepared to read your meters weekly then you can enter them into a site like www.imeasure.org.uk and get graphs of your spend, carbon footprint etc.

rlzzzz

Thanks, might take a look at that. I've been recording electric daily in excel at the moment and it's between 20-40 (the higher end being at the weekend). Think I might start recording gas as well.

Yellowcard

rlzzzz wrote: »

I think we just do everything wrong at the moment! It's only a 3 bed terraced house with 3 people.

For the electric we have 2x fridge freezers which can't help, 2x TVs on in the evenings and a few computers! I recently changed a lot of the lights from those spotlight fittings with 4x 40w bulbs to single 10w energy saving bulbs to try and cut back on that.

For the gas I know that our insulation in the loft isn't that great so we probably lose a lot of heat that way.

Lots of things I need to do to make us more energy effiecient!

That still seems exceptionally high for what's being used

dogshome

Hi rlzzzz - Unless you are running electric heaters as well as the Gas CH, the poor insulation will have no effect on your Elec. bills, though it will increase your Gas bills

For the household you have described, your Elec consumption is way, way too high.
CHECK that the meter No. on the bills matches that on the meter - If it doesn't inform the supplier
CHECK the Immersion heater if you have one to see that it's not on 24/7
TURN everything off and note the meter reading, then after a half hour check it again to see if it has moved - If it does check again that you really have turned everything off. If you have, then pull all the fuses - If this stops the meter you may have a wiring fault so call in a local Sparks to check - If this doesn't stop the meter it could be supplying something other than your house, so get onto your supplier.