Fixed or Variable

riyaz_7

Hi

I am relatively new to this forum but I have picked up a bit of valuable knowledge. I live in a 3 bedroom mid terrace house with my wife and 3 kids. We have a gas fire in the sitting room and one in the kitchen-diner. Unfortunately we don't have central heating but have storage heaters (7 in total). We have been on the Websaver 8 tariff for the last year and it is coming to an end so time for a change. It was scheduled to expire on 01.10.11 but has been extended until 01.11.11. I have calculated the yearly usage as below:

Gas - 20,050 kWh
Elec day - 2150 kWh
Elec night - 8100 kWh

The cost of the above amount of energy for the last 12 months was ~£1500. I have entered the figures into energyhelpline and uswitch and the cheapest tariffs available are both with ScottishPower. The two tariffs are:

Online Energy Saver 15 - saving of £131 but could go up
Online Fixed Price Energy Dec 2010 - saving of £89 but fixed until Dec 2012

Of the two tariffs, I am leaning towards the fixed tariff but not completely sure.

Which tariff would you go for and why?

Any feedback is appreciated

Airmike23

Variable, any increase, if at all in 2012 will probably be small, and your contract with an energy company is a rolling 28 day contract, irrespective of tariff type taken with power co, meaning you can change supplier whenever you wish, so if there is a hike in 2012, and Online Energy Saver 15 is affected by the increase, you could switch away from Scot Pow without incurring £51.06 cancellation charge anyway, so why pay more on a fix.

macman

Your gas consumption is incredibly high for two gas fires only. 20,000 kWh pa is as much as many use for full gas CH and DHW.
Your choice of tariff will depend solely on whether you want the peace of mind offered by a fixed tariff.

riyaz_7

Just a quick update, I went for the fixed tariff with ScottishPower through Simply Switch so should get £40.00 cashback as well. Just seen on the news that Scottish Power have pulled the above two tariffs. I got a confirmation email from simply swiitch, did I change just in time or am I too late?!!

Thank you for the feedback guys.