Help!

Bakie

Can anyone explain this? My dual fuel contract expires 1st July and I have been shopping around for a new deal. I read the meters and calculated the past years actual usage (minus 4 days) and input this figure into the comparison websites with the existing plan/supplier. They calculated my last year cost an estimated £500, when the reality, having added up the direct debits paid over this past year, total £1005. Three different comparison websites came up with almost identical figures, and all advising the same best option for me now. But can they be trusted? How can they be so far out on the existing plan? I've double checked my readings and calculated from the readings at the start of the plan. Anyone understand????

macman

The comp sites don't give historical prices, they give forward prices. So your current trariff would have been calculated on the basis if what it will cost you now and 12m forward, not back.
Also, your DD totals do not equate to your actual 12m usage cost,unless your account is currently at zero, and started at zero.
If you feed the comp sites accurate annual kWh figs, then they give accurate results.
if you still think it's wrong, post your tariff, region and kWh figs.

Bakie

Firstly thanks for your response. Just so that I understand correctly the comparison websites are quoting me £500 for the next year if I were to stay with the same supplier/same tariff (which ends 1st July)?? How does that work when the same cost me £1000 last year and prices have risen?? Am I being really thick here?

macman

Unless you post your stats then no-one can really answer that.
But several times a week people come on here claiming the comp sites are inaccurate;when asked to post their evidence it invariably transpires that their own calcs are wrong.
As I said, adding up your DD's does not tell you what your annual consumption is actually costing you. You need to total your billed (actual not estimated) usage from your quarterly statements.

notbritishgas

Just a thought;).
Did you convert the gas meter readings into kwh or just input the difference in the readings.

PS Sorry to doubt your intelligence if I am wrong.
(and did you use the correct formula depending on the type of meter you have?)

Bakie

Double checked all the figures yet again and calculated that using last years usage at quoted prices then I have overpaid and should expect a very healthy rebate then the plan comes to and end and I move supplier

Bakie

Oh no I just input the difference in figures!!! However I ran all the figures with the prices quoted on E-Ons tariff and actually up with the same prices as the comparison websites, so now I'm expecting a healthy rebate when the plan ends

4$£&*(£$&*(!

notbritishgas wrote: »

Just a thought;).
Did you convert the gas meter readings into kwh or just input the difference in the readings.

PS Sorry to doubt your intelligence if I am wrong.
(and did you use the correct formula depending on the type of meter you have?)

I forgot to do that once and thought 'hmm that's a low quote!'

Of course once I realised and converted the gas meter readings to kwh everything made much more sense.

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Bakie wrote: »

Oh no I just input the difference in figures!!! However I ran all the figures with the prices quoted on E-Ons tariff and actually up with the same prices as the comparison websites, so now I'm expecting a healthy rebate when the plan ends

Your quotes will be miles off then. You have to convert your meter readings to kwh, if you have all your bills for the past year it's a case of going through each one and adding up kwh for each bill.

Bakie

Can anyone please supply me with the calculation? I have a mechanical meter (rotating counters). I presume from the previous responses that it does not read the number of kwh used. Does that apply to both gas and electricity meters? Both of which are mechanical. Many thanks

macman

No, your electricity meter reads in kWh-no conversion necessary. Your gas meter reads in cu m or 100's cu ft (no gas meters, however modern, read in kWh. They register volume, which has to be converted by a variable into billable kWh units). Is it a metric or imperial meter (it will be stamped on the front)?
Once you know which, convert to kWh using this site:
http://www.energylinx.co.uk/gas_meter_conversion.html