What's average!!

primaryteacher

Hello, just looking for a bit of advice / comparison really. We moved house 12 months ago - to quite a large old house, built 1928 with gas central heating but NO double glazing - still the original windows. These do let enormous draughts in and we have some with secondary glazing over them now and are working on getting a few more done! The loft is fully insulated.

We inherited an account with E.On for gas and electricity. I've just done the latest metre readings for the last quarter and phoned them through. Our bill for both combined is just over £400. Does that sound reasonable? We are quite careful and always put jumpers on etc! It's a manageable amount but you always wonder if you are paying over the odds! We have heating on for a couple of hours in the morning and then from about 6pm - 10pm. We also have an electric woodburner in the lounge (couldn't have gas as recess isn't deep enough to let fumes escape)

I asked if we were on the best tariff we could get and was told 'yes' because of our metres. The elec metre is one with 2 readings to take and the gas metre is out of the ark and situated at the back of a kitchen cupboard!! I was told it costs about £56 to have metres changed but it depends on the house wiring!

In our last property we were with Atlantic elec & gas and I was always quite impressed with them. Any advice / comparisons appreciated!

Thanks

HappyMJ

Stop using the electric woodburner...Expensive....considering you have gas central heating that could be used. You should only ever need the electric fire in an emergency or on a really cold day and when I say really cold I mean minus 20 outside.

Wywth

primaryteacher wrote: »

Hello, just looking for a bit of advice / comparison really. We moved house 12 months ago - to quite a large old house, built 1928 with gas central heating but NO double glazing - still the original windows. These do let enormous draughts in and we have some with secondary glazing over them now and are working on getting a few more done! The loft is fully insulated.

We inherited an account with E.On for gas and electricity. I've just done the latest metre readings for the last quarter and phoned them through. Our bill for both combined is just over £400. Does that sound reasonable? We are quite careful and always put jumpers on etc! It's a manageable amount but you always wonder if you are paying over the odds! We have heating on for a couple of hours in the morning and then from about 6pm - 10pm. We also have an electric woodburner in the lounge (couldn't have gas as recess isn't deep enough to let fumes escape)

I asked if we were on the best tariff we could get and was told 'yes' because of our metres. The elec metre is one with 2 readings to take and the gas metre is out of the ark and situated at the back of a kitchen cupboard!! I was told it costs about £56 to have metres changed but it depends on the house wiring!

In our last property we were with Atlantic elec & gas and I was always quite impressed with them. Any advice / comparisons appreciated!

Thanks

I'm not sure why you were informed you were on the best tariff because of your meters.

Many people have a 2 rate electric meter. If you are on an E7 tariff, then changing tariff or supplier should be quite easy
(If it's an odd tariff like E10 etc, then attempting to change supplier invariably will end in tears and the supplier usually only has one offering ... so then the advice you were given would make some sense for electricity)

As for the gas meter, it doesn't matter how old it is or where it is situated.

I suggest you follow the MSE article, even if it's just for gas
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

primaryteacher

We're on E.ON EnergyPlan which is their standard tariff... yet they tell me that's the cheapest we can go on??

HappyMJ

primaryteacher wrote: »

We're on E.ON EnergyPlan which is their standard tariff... yet they tell me that's the cheapest we can go on??

With E-ON it probably is but there are many other suppliers to choose from.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi primaryteacher

With two readings, it's possible you've an Economy 7 meter?

If it is, there'll be 7 hours at night where all electricity used is charged at a lower off peak rate. In this case, if you have timers, it's best to use as many appliances as poss during these 7 hours.

Depending on the region, you need to use between 40 - 55 per cent of electricity during the off peak times to benefit from Economy 7.

Economy 7 tends to be most beneficial when used with electric storage heaters. However, as you've gas central heating and a wood burner, I doubt if you have these.

Do you know if storage heaters were fitted in the past?

Switching times vary depending on the region and the type of meter. Give us a call and we'll let you know when the off peak rates are active. Alternatively, drop an email to the address in my Profile if you prefer.

If you're not able to use enough electricity at night to benefit, you can still have the Economy 7 meter but be charged on an unrestricted tariff. Here, all we do is add the day and night registers together and charge as a single rate. No need to change the meter.

Is this what our advisor meant when they said you were on the best tariff for the meter?

If, as Wywth says, we're looking at an odd metering set up like Economy 10, then we only offer the one tariff. Again, this type of meter is more suited to electric storage heaters rather than gas central heating.

Both Economy 7 and Economy 10 standard plans can be described as E.ON EnergyPlan but have E7 or E10 at the beginning.

Alternatively, if it just says EnergyPlan, the likelihood is it's a single rate tariff but with a two rate Economy 7 meter. If this is the case, as others have said, I doubt it's the cheapest tariff available, either with us or with the other suppliers.

If the meter is Economy 7, then I'd pop your usage in kWh on to one of the comparison sites to see all the tariffs available. If Economy 10, you'll need to contact each supplier individually to see what they offer.

Really need a bit more info to help further but hope this is of interest.

Malc

macman

primaryteacher wrote: »

We're on E.ON EnergyPlan which is their standard tariff... yet they tell me that's the cheapest we can go on??

Standard tariff is every supplier's most expensive!
You say you have a dual rate electricity meter, but are you actually on an E7 tariff? If so, it's unlikely that this is economic for you if you heat and hot water the house by gas CH and DHW. With E7 you are paying a premium rate for all your peak rate usage (outside of the 7 cheap rate night hours), and it's unlikely that you are using the typical 33% cheap rate proportion needed to make E7 pay.
It's not possible to give meaningful advice on your usage unless you quote your actual annual kWh consumption-££'s spent don't tell us anything.

dogshome

£400 for a Winter Qtr in a large draughty house is pretty good - The 2nd Winter Qtr should be about the same, so a total of £800 and then you are into Spring & Summer months when the Gas use will be minimal and the Elec will drop to appx. 80% of your Winter bills, but draught proofing, D/glazed windows and Cavity wall insulationif possible, will cut the bills sustantially

However, the 2 readings Elec meter is of concern, because as the EON Rep has posted, these are usually fitted to feed Storage radiators & a Hot Water storage tank with 'cheap' rate electricity overnight- The downside is that the power you use during the day is more expensive than that from a Standard meter, which means that if you are useing Gas for heating and hot water you derive little benifit from the cheap overnight power, but pay a premium for what you use during the day

Look at the bill - You need to use roughly 30% of your power on the Night rate to be on the right side.

primaryteacher

Thanks for all the replies - lordy, it's confusing! The package we are on does NOT have E7 infront of it on the bill - just EnergyPlan - but on the latest bill we have the first 212kWh charged at 23.9p each and the next 489kWh charged at 12.04p each - which suggests we have E7 doesn't it, or is it always charged at 2 rates?? Gas charges we have the first 613kWh at 8.165p each and the next 4,267kWh at 3.552p each. This was an esitmated bill which came in at a total of £312.69, however I took readings which I phoned through today and it has now gone up to £401,38.

dogshome

Interesting - You may have an ECO7 meter, but you are not being charged on an ECO7 tariff

The first 212Kwh of Elec @ 23.9p and the first 613Kwh of Gas @ 8.165p are the way EON collect your Standing Charge - The alternative would be a Daily Standing charge on the bill - Virtually all suppliers do one or the other, no matter what meter is installed

So far as the 'Best Deal' is concerned, you won't know this until you enter your annual Gas & Elec Kwh consumptions into a Switch site - If you have been in the house less than a year and don't kwow these, ask EON what the figures were for the previous occupier

macman

No, that's 1st tier and 2nd tier pricing, nothing to do with E7. It appears that you are on a single rate tariff but with a dual rate meter-the 2 readings are combined for billing purposes.
If you have been there 12m then you will have had an annual statement with your total annual kWh usage. Or you can calculate these figures from your last 4 statements/bills, or get them from your supplier.
The kWh totals are what matters, not how much you are billed or pay on DD.