MSE's Cheap Energy Club: Discuss & feedback

Wywth

muffle wrote: »

I think the Energy Club is a great idea, but in practise for me the results are inaccurate.

I entered my actual usage in kWh, and the energy club website suggested savings of over £400/yr with Spark and £67 with nPower. When I used these company's own sites, entering the same figures, the actual results were £87 cheaper with Spark, and £248 more expensive with nPower. I decided not to switch.

I hope these inaccuracies can be corrected.

Steve

I'm sorry to hear you have experienced issues when using this MSE tool.

If you would like someone to look further into the issue, could I suggest you provide the following details please?

1. The annual consumption figures you input
2. Your supply region (or first part of your postcode)
3. Your current supplier & tariff name

Twosheds

signed up yesterday and got my quotes. however, when i log in now and try to edit my details I am thrown back to the log-in screen.

Twosheds

Twosheds wrote: »

signed up yesterday and got my quotes. however, when i log in now and try to edit my details I am thrown back to the log-in screen.

seems to be an IE10 problem - works OK with firefox.:)

CBR400

I entered my gas details, I am with Alantic for gas and use 870KWh/year at a current rate of £0.0846/KWh incl Vat which costs me £73.60/year less £38 cashback/per year. I have been with Alantic for over 10 years.


Your energy calculator said that I would save £63.68/year by switching to nPower. Wow so I would only be paying about £1/month!


Well the nPower paperwork has arrived and it reveals that their tarrif is £0.07729/KWh incl Vat and therefore the cost of 870KWh is £67.24 less a single £15 switching cashback.


So excluding cashbacks, rather than saving £63.68/year I am actually only going to save £6.36!!


So in year 1 with both cashbacks it is actually going to cost me more: :exclamati

Alantic £73.60/year less £38 cashback/per year = £35.60
nPower £67.24 less a single £15 switching cashback = £52.24


So as you can guess I will be ringing up on Monday to cancel this switch!!!



I have given you all the figures, so tell me if I am wrong?


Had you revealled the unit rate on your website I would have done my own calculation and drawn my own conclusions rather than wasting a lot of time over this.


My low gas consumption is because I mainly use wood for heating.


Incidently, I also entered all the electric details but having done a single fuel switch it is now impossible to get back to the information in my account.

victor2

CBR400 wrote: »

I entered my gas details, I am with Alantic for gas and use 870KWh/year at a current rate of £0.0846/KWh incl Vat which costs me £73.60/year less £38 cashback/per year. I have been with Alantic for over 10 years......

Don't Atlantic have a standing charge, where nPower doesn't, but would be charging for such low usage at their higher of a two-tier rate? So your comparison doesn't hold, as it isn't what you would actually be charged.

I'm not saying the system doesn't have problems, but at a glance, your example appears flawed. I agree that it would be nice to see the rates used. Maybe if they were shown, it would have indicated that one has a standing charge and one doesn't, assuming that is the case.

CBR400

victor2 wrote: »

Don't Atlantic have a standing charge, where nPower doesn't, but would be charging for such low usage at their higher of a two-tier rate? So your comparison doesn't hold, as it isn't what you would actually be charged.

I'm not saying the system doesn't have problems, but at a glance, your example appears flawed. I agree that it would be nice to see the rates used. Maybe if they were shown, it would have indicated that one has a standing charge and one doesn't, assuming that is the case.

No, my Alantic tarrif has no standing charge, instead it charges a premium on the first 2,500KWh, just like nPower does, it is the premium price that I quoted for both suppliers. Whereas nPower charges their tarrif on the first 4,572KWh.

Welshpat

Twosheds wrote: »

seems to be an IE10 problem - works OK with firefox.:)

I have just signed up and am having the same problem but with Firefox!

suehelen

I've just received the email below, having started the switching process. As the company are unable to provide the tariff applied for, can you let me know the process to cancel this switch and use the cheap energy tool again to source an alternative provider?

Many thanks

'Thank you for choosing First Utility as your new energy supplier.

The registration details you have provided indicate that you have a multi-rate meter installed. This generally means you have an economy seven meter and are therefore on a two rate electricity tariff.

The tariff you selected when choosing us as your supplier, relates to a single rate meter only which means we are unable to supply you on that tariff.


To find out more information about the tariffs and prices we can supply you with, please contact us at domesticapplications@first-utility.com'.


Warm regards,

The First Utility team

leadhead

suehelen wrote: »

I've just received the email below, having started the switching process. As the company are unable to provide the tariff applied for, can you let me know the process to cancel this switch and use the cheap energy tool again to source an alternative provider?

I'm not sure about this, but will answer as no one else has, but under distance selling rules, I think you have an option later on to cancel....Maybe contacting your existing supplier and telling them to cancel the request, will stop it.

Wywth

suehelen wrote: »

I've just received the email below, having started the switching process. As the company are unable to provide the tariff applied for, can you let me know the process to cancel this switch and use the cheap energy tool again to source an alternative provider?

Many thanks

'Thank you for choosing First Utility as your new energy supplier.

The registration details you have provided indicate that you have a multi-rate meter installed. This generally means you have an economy seven meter and are therefore on a two rate electricity tariff.

The tariff you selected when choosing us as your supplier, relates to a single rate meter only which means we are unable to supply you on that tariff.


To find out more information about the tariffs and prices we can supply you with, please contact us at [EMAIL="domesticapplications@first-utility.com"]domesticapplications@first-utility.com[/EMAIL]'.


Warm regards,

The First Utility team

It sounds like your application has already been cancelled.
But if you want to be certain, why not email them and ask using the address given?

If you wish to have a single rate tariff with a dual rate meter, I would suggest you contact the supplier of your choice directly to explain the situation. Only some suppliers will allow this, but a supplier may be prepared to change your meter to a single rate one if that is the tariff you would prefer. (a charge may apply for such a change of meter - typically in the region of £45-£60)