Gas and Electric Meters? (Stupid Question)

jennyjudd

I have card meters for both Gas and Electric, and I'm really scared of changing them to normal meters in case I get really high bills and can't afford to pay them.

I've had these meters for about 12 years, and I pay about £15 - £20 electric and £5 - £10 gas per week (I have hardly had the heating on this winter, can't afford it)

Can you pay monthly with normal meters, does it cost more than having one quarterly bill?

Does anyone think it's actually a lot cheaper than having card meters?

espresso

You have not said who your supplier is but you would normally pay more for your energy when using a card meter. Why not get them changed to standard pre-payment meters and put aside what you normally feed these card meters each week. If you were to change to normal meters, you could then pay by monthly direct debit, which is normally the cheapest option with most suppliers.

Kimberley

I pay aout £35 per month for Lecky and £35 a month on gas with a keymeter, i find it's cheaper then paying by DD going by some of the threads

espresso

Kimberley wrote: »

I pay aout £35 per month for Lecky and £35 a month on gas with a keymeter, i find it's cheaper then paying by DD going by some of the threads

I don't see how it can be cheaper, as most suppliers charge more for pre-pay and you won't get an extra discount for paying by direct debit. Check out the actual figures!

:rolleyes:

Kimberley

espresso wrote: »

I don't see how it can be cheaper, as most suppliers charge more for pre-pay and you won't get an extra discount for paying by direct debit. Check out the actual figures!

:rolleyes:

How do i do that? Most people on here say their quarterly bills are around £200, i spend £120

I would like to pay by DD but i'm worried that i will end up paying more myself

espresso

Kimberley wrote: »

How do i do that? Most people on here say their quarterly bills are around £200, i spend £120

I would like to pay by DD but i'm worried that i will end up paying more myself

It is not what you spend that you should be comparing with others. If you know how many kWh you use, you can then find the supplier with lowest prices and get yourself the best deal. I am currently using Atlantic and pay by monthly direct debit which gives a discount. Their prices have always been competitive in my region and they also pay an annual loyalty bonus payment of one months direct debit payment, worth a further 8.3% discount. When you know your actual consumption in kWh from previous bills, you can then use the comparison websites like ukpower to find the best overall deal.

fkelanne

i p\ay about £25 lecky and £30 gas per month wif key and card meters, im with npower. i would sick to what you no best.

espresso

fkelanne wrote: »

i p\ay about £25 lecky and £30 gas per month wif key and card meters, im with npower. i would sick to what you no best.

But this is a money saving site and it sounds like you don't even know how much you are paying npower for each kWh used, so how do you know if you are getting the best deal?

:rolleyes:

fkelanne

how can you check how much you use?

newlywed

With the key/card meters at least if the gas runs out you can survive with extra blankets and no hot water for a few days. If you are on DD then you just get a bigger bill at the end because of using more with little control over it on a week by week basis.

I personally would change electric to direct debit and keep the gas/heating on the card meter. (We have electric cooker too though so gas is only for heating and hot water). I would rather have electricity.

wills34

gas would be around 11500kWh per annum at 2.334 per kWh used plus standing charges amounting to £69.02 per annum. This is what £30 per month comes to on their new pre pay gas rate from april 30th. Elec Rates vary from region to region so can't tell you that. Gas price is okay defintely better on market though. NPower tend to be expensive for electric pre pay especially in northern, yorkshire or midland areas