Looking to save on gas and electricity - please help!

Devilfish_2

Hello saving gurus...

I've been meaning to switch my gas and electricity for a few months now, I simply haven't had the time, working 13 hour days, 6 days a week, when I get in at night I don't even have the strength to turn the laptop on lol.

Here's my details...

Supplier: Scottish Power
Product: Online Standard (No Standing Charge)
Fuel: Gas and Electricity
Payment Method: Monthly Direct Debit.

I've been with Scottish Power for the past 3 years on the same tariff so I've pretty much concluded that I'm being overcharged and can definitely get a better deal purely on the fact that I've not switched for so long.

Some more information...

3 bed end terraced house
family home, someone in all day, tv on all day, washing machine, gas cooker, etc. etc. you get the drift.
I've been entering in meter readings online at least every quarter so my account has been kept up to date and it's not an estimate. My direct debit has been £87 per month for a long time and now it's been increased to £103, circumstances in the home have not changed.

Here are my energy consumption figures for the past few years...



I'd appreciate any help or advice you can offer. I checked on uswitch and the only one they're offering is E.On.

Many thanks in advance...
Devilfish

jalexa

Devilfish wrote: »

Hello saving gurus...

Here are my energy consumption figures for the past few years...



I'd appreciate any help or advice you can offer. I checked on uswitch and the only one they're offering is E.On.

Good that you have a history of actual readings. Now add them up and produce annual consumption figures for the comparison - do not use monthly DD figures which are irrelevant.

Surprised at your E.on comment. Can you eleborate.

Tariff choice is personal, I mean if you want to waste money on a standard tariff, fine, but have you considered the "advantages" of a "fixed price" tariff?

Devilfish_2

Thanks for the tip. I've added up the total consumption for the past year and entered it into uswitch along with all other details and I've got loads more options now, thanks!

The cheapest offer on uswitch is E.ON SaveOnline 8 - is this a good tariff?

So whats the general thoughts on tariffs at the moment? Switch to a FIXED tariff or hold out until other providers announce their price increases and see what happens from there?

Thanks!

EDIT:

Oh, almost forgot, are any providers offers free energy meters? My friend was talking about one that he got free from his provider a while ago and it sounds great.

jalexa

Devilfish wrote: »

So whats the general thoughts on tariffs at the moment? Switch to a FIXED tariff

Personally I advocate fixing, partly for peace of mind, but also because there are still (or were yesterday) a small number of fixes available based on pre-increase pricing.

I you want an energy monitor, fair enough, but they are not expensive to buy. Concentrate on saving money with the tariff.

grahamc2003

I'd say do the following

- switch to the cheapest post-increase tariff. Pointless switching to a supplier on a variable tariff which hasn't been rincreased yet for the current set of increases. Or switch to a fixed if you, like me, expect rises to be over 30%pa for the next few years.I've just switched to Scot powers 2015 fix, the longets I could find, at a small increase to what I would otherwise be paying on my current tariff after the rise. Some suppliers offer cashbacks, either themselves or through quidco etc, but better to concentrate on the best tariff imv.

- turn your thermostat down to 19 and wear jumpers, don't heat bedrooms over 10, turn the radiators off in those rooms almost all the time

- ensure tv is not on during the day, surely everyone can find something better to do rather than watching daytime tv.

- if yopu haven't yet done it, replace all bulbs with fluorescent (I don't think leds are up to the job yet, in general). If you have banks of 50w spots in the kitchen for instance, then probably splash out on decent leds to replace those.

- you should be looking at pre-increase bills of around £450 each for gas and electricity (so £78pm on a decent tariff) Expect that to rise post increase to around £1100 (so £95pm) post increase.

-

notbritishgas

Devilfish wrote: »

Thanks for the tip. I've added up the total consumption for the past year and entered it into uswitch along with all other details and I've got loads more options now, thanks!

The cheapest offer on uswitch is E.ON SaveOnline 8 - is this a good tariff?

So whats the general thoughts on tariffs at the moment? Switch to a FIXED tariff or hold out until other providers announce their price increases and see what happens from there?

Thanks!

EDIT:

Oh, almost forgot, are any providers offers free energy meters? My friend was talking about one that he got free from his provider a while ago and it sounds great.

The reason EoN comes out cheapest is that they have not yet increased their prices, so do not be fooled.

msph321

Good day. I'm wondering if someone can help me.

Just to give some perspective, I'm an expatriate; I've been in the United Kingdom for a little over a year. This is the 1st time in my life that I've ever had to pay for gas & electricity on my own, since my landlord back in the States included both in my rent. So I'm new to this and, therefore, please pardon me if I'm repeating anything that anyone else has said.

I've been with Scottish Power since I moved here. I'm a single person, no dependents & no pets, and I was paying less than £70.00/month for dual. I went home for the Xmas holidays and forgot a payment. As a result, my payment increased to £117.00/month. It makes no sense to me because again, I'm single & I work so I'm only home for maybe 12 hrs./day during the work week. I was told that I could give a meter reading, which I did in May, but the price is still the same for some reason. When I asked why the price was so high, the woman on the phone explained it to me but I didn't understand what the hell she was saying. (I guess these power companies are like credit card companies - rules & fine print that doesn't make any sense to regular people.) I sent the company £234.00 less than 2 weeks ago, thinking that I was current, but I received another notice yesterday stating that I owe another £117.00.

Again, it's just me in the house. Almost everything in the house is unplugged while I'm out of the house. There's only 1 TV, 1 laptop (unplugged), 1 wireless router for internet and 1 refrigerator. All lights are off unless necessary, day or night.

Aside from switching, I don't know what else to do. I just told my co-worker about the situation and she said that that's too much; she said that she & her partner don't even pay that much for dual. I've gotten to the point that I feel helpless, and I don't even feel like calling Scottish Power to contest it even though I probably should. It's just so much f***ing hassle. I'm fed up & I'm tired of my meager paycheck being drained by this s***.

Any assistance/advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated, whether on this forum or by private message. Thank you.

elektra

Hi msph321

I see you have not had any replies (possibly needed its own thread), so although others can give better advice I thought I would start off with some.

Your usage in terms of £ does seem high especially for a single person and out at work during day.
As you have been in property nearly a year(I'm assuming from previous posts) you will have nearly a years KWH usage figures to compare if you need to switch.

But first take a look at previous bills and post tariff and elec and gas KWH figures. Also check that bills based on accurate readings, not estimates.

It maybe that

a) you are on standard tariff (ie. most expensive), this is quite likely if you just took on supplier previous tenant/owner had.

b) someone on here can advise on elec and gas usage ( to see if you can reduce it)

msph321

My usage is high (unless you meant doesn't seem high)? How so? I'm not asking to be rude; I'm genuinely curious. I'm out of the house at least 12 hours per day. When I come in, I don't turn on any lights until it gets dark, and even then I leave most of them off. I only turn on the heat if it's cold at night and even then, I have blankets, which eliminates my having to use it most of the time. I don't watch much TV (I just got Sky a few days ago, up from only having 5 channels since moving here); I may cook once per week since it's just me; and I only charge the laptop when necessary (it has up to 10 hrs. battery life). Aside from the TV & Sky & refrigerator & telephone (another thing that I use even less than the TV), nothing else remains plugged in.

I'm not exaggerating at all; I do the bare minimum because it's just me here. Again, I'm not asking to be rude; I'm genuinely curious because I'll do whatever else it takes to get this bill down. I'm tired of being financially drained by this. It boggles my mind that I went from paying less than £70.00/month for dual, to accidentally missing 1 payment and going up to £117.00/month for dual.

It's possible that I'm on standard; I took on Scottish Power from my landlord. I'll have to force myself to call Scottish Power and find out. :-/

Thank you for your help; it's much appreciated. Hopefully others will chime in.

elektra wrote: »

Hi msph321

I see you have not had any replies (possibly needed its own thread), so although others can give better advice I thought I would start off with some.

Your usage in terms of £ does seem high especially for a single person and out at work during day.
As you have been in property nearly a year(I'm assuming from previous posts) you will have nearly a years KWH usage figures to compare if you need to switch.

But first take a look at previous bills and post tariff and elec and gas KWH figures. Also check that bills based on accurate readings, not estimates.

It maybe that

a) you are on standard tariff (ie. most expensive), this is quite likely if you just took on supplier previous tenant/owner had.

b) someone on here can advise on elec and gas usage ( to see if you can reduce it)

jalexa

msph321 wrote: »

My usage is high (unless you meant doesn't seem high)? How so? I'm not asking to be rude; I'm genuinely curious.

Hopefully others will chime in.

Chiming in as invited. First of all the last poster didn't say what you quote at all, but something subtly different. Will leave for that poster to explain.


OK, what you need to do for starters is to get a handle on your consumption, not your spend. Take daily readings for a week, then weekly readings for a month, then take regular monthly readings.

Post the daily readings in a couple of days.

elektra

jalexa wrote: »

Chiming in as invited. First of all the last poster didn't say what you quote at all, but something subtly different. Will leave for that poster to explain.

I meant that what you are paying is high, whether that relates to high usage/standard tariff or incorrect billing we can't comment until you give us usage figures.

jalexa wrote: »

OK, what you need to do for starters is to get a handle on your consumption, not your spend. Take daily readings for a week, then weekly readings for a month, then take regular monthly readings.

Post the daily readings in a couple of days.

agreed, although history would be useful too

msph321 wrote: »

It's possible that I'm on standard; I took on Scottish Power from my landlord. I'll have to force myself to call Scottish Power and find out. :-/

Do you not have paper bills or online access. It should be on there.