moving house

offkilter

Hi, hope somebody can offer some advice.
I am about to move house in a week or two and my current gas/electric provider does not serve the new address.
The new property currently does not have gas connected and uses economy 7 for heating and hot water etc.
I intend to have gas connected as soon as possible but am aware this may take a few weeks.
What energy deal should i go for bearing in mind that I would like to continue with economy 7 until the gas is connected. Should I start by calling the current energy supplier for the property? I dont want to sign up for a 12 month deal when I will need to change to dual fuel in a few weeks.
Thanks.

Wywth

offkilter wrote: »

Hi, hope somebody can offer some advice.
I am about to move house in a week or two and my current gas/electric provider does not serve the new address.
The new property currently does not have gas connected and uses economy 7 for heating and hot water etc.
I intend to have gas connected as soon as possible but am aware this may take a few weeks.
What energy deal should i go for bearing in mind that I would like to continue with economy 7 until the gas is connected. Should I start by calling the current energy supplier for the property? I dont want to sign up for a 12 month deal when I will need to change to dual fuel in a few weeks.
Thanks.

You'll need to register with the existing supplier first. I suggest you ask them for the advice.

When you've had gas installed, and you get a good idea of your gas & electricity consumption:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

It would also be worth considering then if you wish to remain on E7 - again the comparison sites will hold the answer

macman

Sign up with the existing supplier on their Standard tariff-that has no minimum term. It's also however the most expensive.
If you are having gas CH installed, then remember to switch away from E7 after installation, this may require a meter change, depending on supplier.

rogerblack

offkilter wrote: »

The new property currently does not have gas connected and uses economy 7 for heating and hot water etc.

It's probably sensible to do a proper analysis of this.
Economy 7 is a little bit more expensive than gas per kWh - assuming you get good usage out of the storage heaters.
If your usage pattern does not match E7 well - perhaps you're out unpredictably, so can't properly set the amount you will need for the next day the day prior - then gas has a big advantage.

Then consider the several thousand pound gas heating installation cost, and potentially several thousand gas connection cost (at least a few hundred).

Gas may not be a bargain, especially if the property is well insulated.

Also, consider instead of spending (say) 6K on gas installation - spending 6K on insulation.
The payback may be lots better, in many cases, reducing your heating needs to below what gas would cost.

offkilter

Thanks to all for the advice!
rogerblack - interesting thoughts I hadn't actually looked at. However, you are spot on with the suggesting that my usage patterns are totally unpredictable. I am also under the impression that electric storage heaters would not give me the option to give the house a "quick blast" of unplanned central heating at any time of the day to take the chill off for just a couple of hours. Maybe i'm wrong here.
Also, I really do not like cooking on electricity (just my personal preference).
Finally, with regards to the installation costs, I know that there is gas in the road outside the new property (small cul-de-sac) so presume that connection shouldn't be too much and I am lucky that a relative is a Gas Safe registered heating engineer who can do the installation at a very good price for me.
All this still leads me to believe that adding gas would be my preferred route.
Thanks