Help please?

sharalee99

I hope someone will be able to advise me!?
I am currently a customer of Scottish Hydro Electric and my tariff which I inherited when I moved in to my property is THTC (Total Heating Total Control).
I cannot find another supplier with a similar tariff to compare.
Can anyone come up with any suggestions please?
Thank you kindly in advance

evilmonkey69

Don't compare other deals...yet! Comparison sites show a plethora of energy tariffs, however none relate to your meter type, which is non standard. Suppliers have a range of tariffs for standard and economy 7 meters, although a minority of households don't have this meter type.

Firstly, contact Hydro (SSE) and ask them about the THTC tariff, you will likely have between 7.5 - 10 hours ( i think it's 8.5) and find out what hours of off peak heating you have and find out what the rates are (if you don't know already) Be aware, the rates may be a little complex (standing charge, heat rate, night rate & day rate).

Try and find out about the expected usage at the property (not perfect but will give you an idea). This can be broken down to day, night, heat usage and an overall annual kWh figure (this may be important). Ask for the expected annual cost of electricity usage on the THTC tariff. Ask Hydro using the annual kWh figure how much this would cost on their cheapest online tariff, if you had your meter replaced with a standard meter. Compare this to the THTC tariff, if the THTC tariff is cheaper and seems to be the best option keep with this and review in 3-6 months once you start getting bills.

If the THTC meter and off peak hours does not seem suitable for you and if you do not have night storage heaters you may want to consider asking for a standard one rate meter. Once this is done, compare online as normal using annual kWh figure.

Hydro could also recommend as an additional option moving to an economy 7 meter (ask for cheapest online version). It will be difficult to give a quote to you for changing to this meter type, and whether this is best is dependant on type of heating in the home, usage pattern, usage amount.

Sorry it's difficult not to be my straightforward in my reply but it is difficult to compare and decide on the best option when you inherit a non standard meter and a THTC tariff.

Good luck!!!

sharalee99

Thank you..........I think lol. Gosh, quite complicated stuff!
But I see what you mean. Definitely worth doing some research on this first.
Thank you again for taking the time to respond.

jalexa

sharalee99 wrote: »

I am currently a customer of Scottish Hydro Electric and my tariff which I inherited when I moved in to my property is THTC (Total Heating Total Control).
I cannot find another supplier with a similar tariff to compare.

First of all how happy are you with the effectiveness and economy of your heating?

THTC is not just a tariff but a particular way of connecting all your heating appliances. The storage heaters, water heating and permanently connected wall and focal heaters are "cheap-rate" 24 hours a day.

If you switched to E7 then all daytime heat would be at the E7 tariff daytime rate and you would lose the storage heater daytime top-up. Plus you probably would require an electrician to modify your wiring.

Perhaps you could help the forum by posting the THTC tariff unit prices.

sharalee99

Well Jalexa, the reason I want to be able to compare my tariff, or My particular way of connecting my heating appliances, is so I can compare the price. I don't know how economical it is, as i can't compare it to anything else. I actually can't stand storage heaters, but have very little choice, as I live on a small offshore island with no mains gas and where a huge percentage of people use peat for open fires, or oil fired central heating. Now I can't afford to put in central heating, nor can I convert to an open fire. So, you see my point? I just wanted to know if anyone knew of a similar tariff, for me to judge if what I currently have is economical or not.
Thank you