EDF Blue June 2014 vs March 2015

andi320

Hi, does anyone think it would make sense to change from EDF Blue June 2014 to EDF Blue March 2015? They are both fixed price tariffs, however the March 2015 has higher prices.

The details are (London prices, inc VAT, standard meter prices):

Edf Blue June 2014
Exit fee £0
Electricity daily standing charge £ 0.1890
Electricity unit price £ 0.1301
Gas daily standig charge £ 0.2625
Gas unit price £ 0.03982

Edf Blue March 2015
Exit fee £70.00
Electricity daily standing charge £ 0.1890
Electricity unit price £ 0.1423
Gas daily standig charge £ 0.2625
Gas unit price £ 0.04244

I don't worry about the exit fee, considering that I might be able to fix prices for yet another winter ahead. However, paying 9.4% per kwh of electricity and 6.6% for every kwh of gas more from now on is a lot (especially for electricity).

Any thoughts on this? Thanks

brewerdave

Always a gamble - for instance,on MY usage patterns that change of tariff now would DEFINITELY cost me ~ £180 more by June 2014 vs any saving I MIGHT make by the March 2015 fix being better than any deal I could get in June 2014 for the extra 9 months/Winter period.
Personally I wouldn't take it:)

dogshome

You are obviously well up to speed with your Utility bills, but the only way to make a 'best guess' decision is to apply your own actual Annual Kwh consumptions to the two tariffs and see just how much extra you will be paying from now till the end of your present June 2014 tariff

Obviously, the suppliers are professionals with a great deal more information on which to base a 'best guess' on future prices, but I think there is a clue for us consumers.

Apart from the price rises, the March 2015 tariff has re-introduced a Lock-in feature to the tune of an expensive £70, and this is after a series of Blue tariffs without one.
Suppliers aren't daft, and to issue Fixed Tariffs without a lock-in shows that their thinking was all suppliers prices would only be going up, and they wouldn't need handcuffs to keep their customers

But with Blue March 2015 haveing a lock-in, it suggests that the suits at EDF are thinking they need some handcuffs as future prices will stabalise, or even go down a little, which would make Blue March 2015 uncompetitive

macman

Basically you will be paying a big premium for surety of maximum price. It's an insurance policy-do you want to take the risk, or pay the extra to avoid the risk? Only you can decide.
For many, the reintroduction of a substantial ETC will be the deal breaker.

andi320

Thanks dogshome, I haven't thought of the exit penalty as them thinking prices will stabilize or even fall. It does make much sense and sounds logical.

Brewerdave is right, that I need to calculate using my own consumption. Should probably have added that I don't know our current consumption as we moved house 3 weeks ago. We used to have a gas heating and electric hot water and cooker, now heating, hotwater and cooker are all gas fired. So, it's really difficult to estimate our actual consumption.

Knowing our consumption from the old home, the electricity tariff doesn't seem interesting, but the gas tariff might be worth looking into. But as has been said, is it really worth paying 5% more for the next 18 months to have a garanteed price for 27 months? I'll probably have to try and project our annual consumption using the 3 weeks data I have...

jalexa

andi320 wrote: »

I need to calculate using my own consumption.

Not necessarily. Within a wide range of actual consumption, if you enter "average" consumption into a comparison website (3,300 electric and 16,500 gas) the listing order will be correct and the "% savings" returned will be accurate enough for comparison purposes.

macman

Pro-ratia-ing just 3 weeks during the winter peak (and including Christmas and New Year) will give an extremely inaccurate projection of consumption. Much better to use national averages, as jalexa suggests.

Wywth

andi320 wrote: »

Thanks dogshome, I haven't thought of the exit penalty as them thinking prices will stabilize or even fall. It does make much sense and sounds logical.

Brewerdave is right, that I need to calculate using my own consumption. Should probably have added that I don't know our current consumption as we moved house 3 weeks ago. We used to have a gas heating and electric hot water and cooker, now heating, hotwater and cooker are all gas fired. So, it's really difficult to estimate our actual consumption.

Knowing our consumption from the old home, the electricity tariff doesn't seem interesting, but the gas tariff might be worth looking into. But as has been said, is it really worth paying 5% more for the next 18 months to have a garanteed price for 27 months? I'll probably have to try and project our annual consumption using the 3 weeks data I have...

Use a comparison site and see just how the EDF tariff compares to the rest of the market

You must know what your annual consumption is likely to be as it would have been used when you decided upon the EDF Blue June 2014 tariff a few weeks back.
(Call EDF if you no longer have those details)

pickoftheday

Gas and electricity prices are already 23% higher than they were last year so the longer you can hold them the better. Personally, I would go for Edf Blue June 2014.

andi320

Wywth wrote: »

Use a comparison site and see just how the EDF tariff compares to the rest of the market

You must know what your annual consumption is likely to be as it would have been used when you decided upon the EDF Blue June 2014 tariff a few weeks back.
(Call EDF if you no longer have those details)

I actually signed up for the tariff when it was first introduced in September-ish. Back then we didn't know that we had to move house. We've stayed on the contract for the new house, as it was the cheapest when checking for average consumption in December before moving.

Any sort of price comparison website will of course not show Blue 2015 as the better option, as it is 6% more for gas and nearly 10% more for electricity compared to Blue 2014. (not considering all other suppliers)

The actual question is "Is it worth the gamble?" Is it worth paying more for the next 18 months, knowing that prices will be fixed for 27 months?

Thinking about our consumption, it probably isn't. We were low users up to now, despite our old home having single-glazing windows and a 1960s hot air heating with 50% of the heat being wasted through the chimney. - Our new home had new windows installed this summer, a fairly new heating (with radiators and thermostats in each room), smaller rooms and some insulation. Cost for heating is most likely going to be less...

I think, I have made up my mind. I'll stay on the 2014 contract.

brewerdave

andi320 wrote: »

I actually signed up for the tariff when it was first introduced in September-ish. Back then we didn't know that we had to move house. We've stayed on the contract for the new house, as it was the cheapest when checking for average consumption in December before moving.

....sorry,but just moved house?? Your electricity/gas will be with the existing supplier for the property -the old "deemed supplier" routine - not necessarily EDF - it normally takes 4-6 weeks to switch.:)