New property utilities

jcubie

Ok so we're moving in to a newly re-furbished 2 bedroomed flat in early March. If I remember correctly, there are 4/5 radiators and it's gas/electric. One of the bedrooms is a single and it's not a big flat, all carpeted and double-glazed so not leaking heat.

Currently we live in an open plan studio apartment with no heating (we just use a 1/2kw convector heater) and there is no gas so although I know roughly what we spend a month on electric I have no idea of the standing charges or unit price as our landlord basically pays the bill and tells us how much after submitting our meter reading (not ideal but it was only a 6 month private lease).

So my question is how to figure out which plan to go on for gas/electric or maybe even dual fuel? We spend around £65pcm at the moment (2 of us) but in fairness we've had the heater on alot and there's a laptop and computer running. The estate agent says we'll most likely pay £25/30 for each and around £25 for water but what's the best way for me to work out which tariff would suit us best, as now we'll have gas?

Thank you for reading my rather long-winded approach to asking a relatively simple question and for any answers you might have

HappyMJ

Where in the country do you live? You can look at your local water company website to estimate that. We has a thread earlier today and the estimates on that thread were £100 for gas/electric and £30 for water. The primary rates on my gas bill are 8.186p for 4,572kWh so that's £30 a month already and that's extremely low usage. It would be cheaper using electricity to heat with assuming an 80% efficient boiler and good standard rates.

edit:looked at the bill to get exact figures.

jcubie

Ilkley near Leeds

HappyMJ

jcubie wrote: »

Ilkley near Leeds

According to Yorkshire water that's £335 per year for 2 people average usage. http://www.yorkshirewater.com/your-water-services/water-meters/water-meter-calculator.aspx

jcubie

Thanks, that's probably about right for us. As for £100 a month for the other two utilities?! Seems extreme to me

HappyMJ

jcubie wrote: »

Thanks, that's probably about right for us. As for £100 a month for the other two utilities?! Seems extreme to me

It depends on who the supplier is. The cheapest standard rates in my area paying by direct debit are £1,131 per year. The cheapest fixed rates are £1,059.

jcubie

So what do you recommend for finding out suppliers?

HappyMJ

jcubie wrote: »

So what do you recommend for finding out suppliers?

It's hard to know before you move in. A 2 bedroom flat will still "leak" heat no matter how well insulated. Hopefully the people who live below you have the heating on high and you get to use their leaked heat. I'd stay with whatever supplier you get for a few weeks until you get an idea of what energy the property uses then think about switching to a cheaper supplier based on your usage. I wouldn't fix yet just pick the best standard rate (with no penalty for leaving) and compare again in a few months once you have more usage figures.

£30 a month on each of gas and electric is very low. In my area that would get you nearly 6,000kWh of gas and 2,000kWh of electricity.

Now £60 on gas and £40 on electric would get a much more reasonable 15,000kWh of gas and 2,800kWh of electric on standard rates. You should be able to use less than that and switch to a better tariff to get it slightly cheaper.

jcubie

I'll go by what uSwitch says, is that a good idea?