British Gas and EnergySmart: yes or no?

podgy

We're on BG's Websaver 11 (dual fuel) with EnergyExtra. I just gave them an on-line meter reading and noticed an option on their website to sign up to their EnergySmart (apparently free) facility.

It is unclear from the website exactly how you save money with EnergySmart (we already pay monthly on-line with paperless billing and submit our own meter readings on request), and whether there is any actual cost.

Grateful for any advice on the pros and cons of EnerySmart???

Perelandra

podgy wrote: »

We're on BG's Websaver 11 (dual fuel) with EnergyExtra. I just gave them an on-line meter reading and noticed an option on their website to sign up to their EnergySmart (apparently free) facility.

It is unclear from the website exactly how you save money with EnergySmart (we already pay monthly on-line with paperless billing and submit our own meter readings on request), and whether there is any actual cost.

Grateful for any advice on the pros and cons of EnerySmart???

Pros: You get accurate monthly bills, and an energy-saving widget.
Cons: Websaver tariffs are excluded from EnergySmart, so you would need to switch to one of the other BG tariffs if you wanted to be an EnergySmart customer. You could switch to the "Online Fixed" tariff.

I think the Websaver 11 saving is greater than the Online Fixed saving, though, so unless monthly billing would significantly reduce your consumption, you would pay more by switching to EnergySmart.

I work for British Gas. Thoughts expressed here are my views, not necessarily those of my employer.

ihateyes

emergysmart is on the more expensive tariffs, so i think the you can save is misleading, when you CAN save by going on a cheaper non energy smart tariff

yoda011087

There are also cancellation fees, even if you switch tariffs internally - Websavers are £60 to cancel for dual fuel, so it'll more than likely be cheaper to stay on it.

DUTR

podgy wrote: »

We're on BG's Websaver 11 (dual fuel) with EnergyExtra. I just gave them an on-line meter reading and noticed an option on their website to sign up to their EnergySmart (apparently free) facility.

It is unclear from the website exactly how you save money with EnergySmart (we already pay monthly on-line with paperless billing and submit our own meter readings on request), and whether there is any actual cost.

Grateful for any advice on the pros and cons of EnerySmart???

In the summer my bills were dropping in at £17 per month, that said last December it was £152, so you pay on a month by month basis for what you use, the tariff is lower than the standard but not as generous as the websaver tariffs, the energysmart meter is for the electric and does not save you money per se, but helps you keep an eye on how much electric you are using and can adjust your usage accordingly. There are no exit fees on the tariff.

pimento

My Energy Smart gadget has turned me into a gibbering miser. My bills have never been so low. As soon as the gadget starts measuring more than the minimum, I start twitching.

I had no idea how much power some things burn.

podgy

EnergySmart (although BG dont make this so clear on their website) - but i will still look at getting an electricity monitor off ebay or somewhere.