Flow Energy - anyone switched?

wizzywig27

My old man signed up last year, he is over the moon with the service. I missed out last time (too hesitant) so was pleased to hear they are taking on new customers again. I just signed up, estimated they can save me £167 a year. That coupled with the fact I am changing all bulbs to LED, should help. Problem is (or maybe not a problem) I am still on economy 7 even though I now have a gas supply and am heated by gas, so not sure if this means I pay more of a day rate?

It is worth noting that the usual things are on overnight, phone chargers etc, but I am reluctant to go onto a single supply as it is a rented property.

topicalcat

wizzywig27 wrote: »

My old man signed up last year, he is over the moon with the service. I missed out last time (too hesitant) so was pleased to hear they are taking on new customers again. I just signed up, estimated they can save me £167 a year. That coupled with the fact I am changing all bulbs to LED, should help. Problem is (or maybe not a problem) I am still on economy 7 even though I now have a gas supply and am heated by gas, so not sure if this means I pay more of a day rate?

It is worth noting that the usual things are on overnight, phone chargers etc, but I am reluctant to go onto a single supply as it is a rented property.

Really glad to hear that someone is happy with flow! Perhaps part of the problem is who you switch from (thinking NPower?!!)

Yes trying to use as much as you can during economy 7 is a bit of a game. Have a look at the separate thread on this, as there seem to be a lot of 'out of synch' timers about causing people to use what they think is cheap rate but actually is day rate, ouch!

The_Last_Detail

BEWARE FLOW!!!

Been with them since summer 2013, but after 5 phone calls and 8 emails since January I still haven't received a refund of my account's credit (in excess of £300).

I didn't receive online statements for January & February and my last 2 statements haven't included the gas usage which they've still debited my account for.

On the bright side, at least I can still use power to make a cup of tea while I try to rouse Trading Standards from their slumber...

tux900

topicalcat wrote: »

I am keen on Flowenergy, their CHP boiler and their business model, I watch their activity on a daily basis since I have Flowenergy shares in my ISA (which are doing very nicely). I wanted a CHP boiler years ago but when British Gas quoted me £8,000 for their Ecogen I laughed and walked away. The new Flowenergy boiler should go on the market later this year with only the installation costs to pay, have made enough profit on my shares to pay for the installation.

I've just looked into their CHP boiler offering and thought it almost sounded too good to be true. In my case, unfortunately, it is!

According to their FAQs:

Q. Is the Flow boiler suitable for all houses?
A. The Flow boiler is an 18kw condensing boiler that requires a separate hot water tank. You'll need to be using roughly between 28,000 and 52,000 kWh of gas a year for the Flow boiler to be suitable.

In our case, with a (admittedly well insulated) 3-bed semi, we use 11,000 kWh of gas a year so we are way under their target market! I guess you can't blame them for only wanting high gas users to have their boilers as it means a greater return for them.

I thought it worth pointing this out in case any others might like the sound of what's being offered but may not be aware of the this aspect of the eligibility requirements.

Aquamania

tux900 wrote: »

...I thought it worth pointing this out in case any others might like the sound of what's being offered but may not be aware of the this aspect of the eligibility requirements.

You don't need to have a new boiler to take advantage of the great Flow tariff. (although it can often still be beaten, especially if you look at separate suppliers)

I doubt many here simply looking to switch energy supplier/tariff are expecting to have to replace their boiler too

topicalcat

I have switched to Flow as the their tariff is a cracker and I agree with the above, no need to get a flow boiler unless the price stacks up.

You can have the Flow tariff without the boiler but if you want the boiler you will have to have their tarriff. We are all guessing re the boiler until we see what the deal is. Their tarriff though is in the here and now if you want to switch.

tux900

Aquamania wrote: »

You don't need to have a new boiler to take advantage of the great Flow tariff. (although it can often still be beaten, especially if you look at separate suppliers)

My comments were only in relation to the boiler offering, hence the quoted text.

notafan

Flow came up cheapest for me so I tried to switch online. I filled in all the details but it kept stating the supply number (which the online form had filled in itself) was incorrect even though it wasn't.

Getting nowhere fast i called them. The person i spoke with didn't have a clue and in the 5 minutes i spent on the phone with her she convinced me to use someone else.

I was keen to join flow because it wasn't one of the big 6 and it was cheaper but i've gone with the next cheapest option which is less then a fiver a year more but it was easier with a better site and live help.

topicalcat

My switch went through last week without any hitches. Today I had an email from MSE energy club telling me that switching to Flow Energy fixed till August 2015 would save me £130 a year, just what I wanted to hear!

Flow Energy still have their micro chp boilers on trial, I understand that it was only once they got CE approval in March that they have been allowed to test the electricity generating part of the boiler. They work fine as CH boilers but need to complete testing on the electricity generating function.

They now expect to launch the new boiler at year end. So that will be another winter for me with only a wood burner with back boiler. Best that they are cautious I suppose, better get it spot on before launching the new boiler.

N1AK

wizzywig27 wrote: »

I am still on economy 7 even though I now have a gas supply and am heated by gas, so not sure if this means I pay more of a day rate?

We've just swapped over to Flow. Our meter is 'economy 7' but because it also shows the total use they were ok with us moving to a single meter tariff. Nothing to stop us moving to an E7 tariff again in the future with the same meter.

To be honest, we're saving ~£150 by moving to Flow. Changing from E7 only saves another £20 or so, but given our lose use there's no way we'll be better on E7 tariffs.