help! Total control total heating...despair!

Fifeshire

Hi everyone, new to the boards today and I have a query

Moved in house a year ago, I am with Scottish Hydro Electric with Total Control Total Heating. I telephoned them today to ask if I could change tarrifs, I went on to uswitch and EDF gave me quite a considerable saving but when I asked SH Electric about changing Tarriff they said I couldnt move at all as they were the only supplier that did Total Control etc, is this the case? Am I stuck with them for ever?
I am out every day working and feel there must be a better solution to this. I got a quote for gas to come from street into house, £1000 so that's not an option. Like everyone else Im trying to get as much for my money as I can! Anyone give any advice please? Thanks in advance.

Premier_2

Yes, they are correct.

Fifeshire

for your reply. I suppose then the only choice I have is to replace the meter with a single one and look for a better deal or go down the route of getting gas central heating...so confusing. The heaters are not woeking too well, cold at the bottom roasting on top despite me managing the dials as best I c an. He ho!!

Premier_2

If you want to change things, I would suggest you get a qualified electrician in to give you advice on what is need to be changed.

You may need to change the installation wiring and possibly some of the appliances. It may not be as simple as just changing the meter.

You may be better off just moving home.

Fifeshire

dont think I'll be moving home...too expensive...only moved in a year ago!! However I will ask an elelctrician to come in...thanks:)

Owain_Moneysaver

Total Control is one of those tariffs which is usually specific to the local electricity provider, and it may involve the heating and power being metered seperately.

You may need a meter change to a standard single or dual rate meter, then you can choose from standard tariffs such as Economy 7 or Economy 10.

You may need an electrician to change some wiring at your consumer units at the same time as the Hydro change the meter.

Do you have storage heaters, and do you want to continue to do so.

perthperson

I moved house in May and am on this tariff. I was a bit apprehensive about the cost of the storage heaters having heard horror stories. However, have to say they've not worked out as expensive as I feared - bills are literally half what they were in my last house which had lpg central heating.

The advantage over 'normal' storage heating for me is that as well as storing heat during the night they also come back on for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon so there isn't the problem that the heaters are cooling down in the evening, just when most people want the heat the most.

The disadvantage is that unlike E7 or E10 it's only your heating (and also possible for immersion and shower) that are wired into the cheaper rate meter. Everything else is on the 'standard rate' meter so there's no advantage in running washing machine etc at night. But for us, with just 2 adults in the house, out all day, I don't feel the cost of washing machine, cooker, telly etc is a big factor in the bill.

The way I've used them is I keep the input at max and the output at min all the time (I also have an open fire in the sitting room) I also have an oil heater I did use occasionally for short spells when we had the absolutely baltic weather recently.

This is a rented house so I'm not going to be making any changes to the heating system but I have done all the draughtproofing I can, lined curtains, topped up the loft insulation. Old stone walled house with single glazing so never going to be scorching hot.

I think you have to weigh up what's best for you in your circumstances. Gas is obv much cheaper t and also would give you more heat when you need it but you would need to take into account the cost of installing it and also maintenance costs. Then again, if you were planning on selling at some time in the future gas central heating probably adds to the value of the house.

And, as said above, definitely check out the situation before you make any changes to the meters.