Electricity Meter??? Apologies if this question has been asked before.

Homeagain

Hello to all,
I, (due to various reasons) am forced to move soon. I am looking forward to finding a house for my daughter and I and have inspected one today which I like due to location etc. However, the house is very dated and neglected but I rather enjoy the thought of painting and putting 'my mark' on it as it were. I have been given the go ahead to do as I please by the Landlord which is great but I will definitely have to re-negotiate the rent. My main problem is that the property has an pre-paid electric/key meter - is this ultimately more expensive? The thought of never receiving another electricity bill is enticing although I do believe that I read somewhere on this forum that pre-paid is more expensive. Is this so and if so, by how much? Does it make a huge difference? Any advice (which I am sure has been given before and for which I apologise), would be appreciated - it will make a difference to me!!

Joyful

A prepayment meter nowadays will cost the same as the suppliers standard tariff. Of course with a credit meter you can save by setting up a direct debit or an online tariff. If you fancy the idea of no more bills try it and see how it goes. Thousands of people keep a Prepayment meter for exactly that reason.

Homeagain

Thank you so much for that answer - why did I think that pre-payment was more?
So in other words, if I am to (for example) put 100 on the key thing I will be charged exactly what I would be if I were on a 'contract' as it were. Furthermore am I right in what you say that I can pay on-line to recharge the key and get some kind of a discount?

Joyful

Some companies let you top up on line but not all. I work for BG that allow gas and electric top ups on line but you do not get any discount for this. It just makes it easier for you.

Years ago PP meters were more expensive than the standard tariff but this has now changed. £100 on a PP meter will get you the same amount of Energy as on a standard credit meter.

Homeagain

Thank you for your reply, is that only BG or are all other companies on the same tariff as a 'contract'?
Being that its a rented property I am not sure (correct me here) that it can be switched?

lollipopsarah

Yes you can switch but when you leave you may be charged to have the meter reconnected
We've been in our rented flat for nearly 2 years now and spend about the same as we did in out old house which really only had one extra room to heat.
I takes a little getting used to using the meter (always keep a £5 spare) and is most annoying if you get caught out and in darkness and the shops are shut - hehe.
xx

Wywth

Joyful wrote: »

Some companies let you top up on line but not all. I work for BG that allow gas and electric top ups on line but you do not get any discount for this. It just makes it easier for you.

Years ago PP meters were more expensive than the standard tariff but this has now changed. £100 on a PP meter will get you the same amount of Energy as on a standard credit meter.

To clarify, what Joyful means is the same as on a standard credit meter being supplied on the suppliers standard tariff and paying on receipt of bill (ignoring any early payment discounts that may apply)

A credit meter does open out a whole number of alternative tariffs, often with quite significant savings over the suppliers standard tariff. Additional discounts may also be given for paying monthly by DD, agreeing to paperless billing, etc.

If you consult a comparison site, you will be able to discover for yourself the cost difference between a prepayment meter and the best credit meter tariff for you (You'll need to run the comparison twice and manually compare the annual costs).
Worst case scenario would be that the comparison site will also tell you which supplier would be cheapest for you whilst keeping the PPM.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

just out of interest, had a look at Scottish Power prices and pp is actually cheaper than standard, here is daily standing charge/unit price including vat, you can check other regions using the link.

Eastern region pp 30.14/12.986 std 32.88/12.997

Manweb region pp 30.14/13.800 std 32.88/14.010

Scottish region pp 30.14/12.958 std 32.88/13.730

You don't say what kind of heating you've got, if electric storage, then with the pp meter be prepared to feed it a lot in the winter.

Homeagain

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

just out of interest, had a look at Scottish Power prices and pp is actually cheaper than standard, here is daily standing charge/unit price including vat, you can check other regions using the link.

Eastern region pp 30.14/12.986 std 32.88/12.997

Manweb region pp 30.14/13.800 std 32.88/14.010

Scottish region pp 30.14/12.958 std 32.88/13.730

You don't say what kind of heating you've got, if electric storage, then with the pp meter be prepared to feed it a lot in the winter.

Thank you everyone for your kind replies. The heating is gas I believe. I will definitely look on a comparison site nearer the time. It has put my mind at rest and I am glad that I won't have to worry about huge, frightening electricity bills (sharing a house with others that are not 'frugal minded' has its downfalls I have learnt at great cost). As a matter of interest (in case we don't take this house) I have heard that electric storage heaters are not terribly efficient - is this so?

Wywth

Nicolafine wrote: »

...As a matter of interest (in case we don't take this house) I have heard that electric storage heaters are not terribly efficient - is this so?

They are almost 100% efficient, like all forms of electrical direct heating.

Gas boilers can be as low as 60% efficient, especially older ones.

chris1973

A prepayment meter will track the suppliers' standard tariff, which can often be the most expensive of several which they may offer. It will also stop you from claiming any direct debit or other annual discount.

As a matter of interest (in case we don't take this house) I have heard that electric storage heaters are not terribly efficient

Efficient but not very practical. Spring came to this area last week, and we had 15c outside for two days running so the SH went off. On Friday, we saw a 9c daytime temp drop in the space of seven hours, if I hadn't have been watching the weather forecast, and the storage heaters weren't switched on 12 hours before this drop, i'd have been bloody freezing, or using peak rate 20p kw/h to heat using a convector heater.

Spring and Autumn are always the worst for predicting storage heating use, you can get 10c swings in temperature on a day to day basis, and by the time the SH has been adjusted and caught up, its blazing spring sun and 63f outside again.

So this time of year you are either wasting energy heating the SH overnight, to find a mild day the following day with the sun streaming in the windows, where the heat isn't needed and the damper is firmly closed. Or you learned from your mistake the previous day, turn down the input control so it wasn't charged with enough energy the night before, and suddenly its -2c outside at 6pm on the following evening, and you have no heat left to come out of the damper when its opened.

Storage Heaters are not really the most practical of heating systems in a Country where it is 15c one week, and then -2c during the following week (ie tomorrow).

Unlike the real time nature of Central Heating, you need to carefully plan the use of your storage heating, because if they were set too low (or not switched on the previous night) before the UK weather extremes kick in the following day, then you can't exactly switch them on, in order to get more heat out of them there and then, although some newer models do have a boost facility, but bear in mind the cost of the daytime electricity rate, it will be using.

I'd Google 'storage heaters' to see what the people using them beyond this forum think of them.

Also bear in mind that the cost of E7 off peak heating is now fast approaching 7p per kw/h these days, so the void with gas (still around 3.7p per kw/h) is widening. Most boilers made since 1970 have a 70% efficiency rating, and any modern Combi has 85% + so even with an average efficiency boiler, Gas is still cheaper than E7, and around five times less than the cost of 20p daytime electricity rate on E7 should you ever need to use any supplementary heating during the peak period. Plus with GCH you have the luxury of just saying 'Oh its going cold outside put the heating on'.

With E7 heating, you also have to be very careful how much Electricity you use during the day, as you'll be paying around twice the price as a non E7 standard tariff customer for your energy during the remaining 17 hours of peak charges. So you need to get in the habit of setting the immersion heater overnight, and any dishwasher / washer / tumble dryer etc to take advantage of the off peak rate, or you'll be paying silly money for using these appliances.

With the way that EU Led 'green energy' is going to be closing down our coal fired power stations and all of the subsidies added to bills in the interests of wind and solar panels, I suspect Electricity costs are going to increase hugely in the next few years when we are paying 200% more than coal in order to burn woodchips, so I wouldn't be choosing it as the energy of choice for heating, if you intend to be living there for some time.