Scottish Hydro, THTC and switching to another supplier or meter.

soupladel

I have just moved into my current home that has all electric heating, as per title on the THTC tariff with Scottish Hydro (SSE) and the first bill came in and it is what I would consider a bit of a shocker.

I have just moved from a flat that had gas central heating, but even taking this into consideration, my electricity costs seems to be quite high, which is something I have managed to work out is entirely down to the fact I am paying 18.5p per unit compared to13.5 at my old address (for standard electricity).

Now I appreciate that the heating costs are much lower because they are wired into the cheaper meter, but overall I am not happy with what I am being charged, especially considering I have now turned the heating off entirely as it is not needed.

So the question is (and after doing some research) do I have any option to move to another supplier, perhaps with a change of meter, or even to stick with the dual meter system but move to supplier where the costs are just not quite as high.

I appreciate that the weather is warmer just now and having the cheaper electricity for heating will be a godsend in the colder weather, it still doesn't change the fact that it is costing me considerably more just to keep the lights, TV and computer on, therefore any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,.

mart3ndo

Are you paying a standing charge?

I'm with Scottish Hydro, and I dont, hence higher unit cost.

(Although that's changing with the upcoming price hike )

finesanine

Just been on the phone to Scottish Hydro. We have Total Heating Total Control too - storage heaters and stored hot water. Have just found out that I can fix for a year at current prices (£50 exit fee if leave inside that year). This is not common knowledge - they said it had only just been agreed - I gave my details over the phone (it can't be done online) - classed as a 'service plan change'. Someone will be phoning me back within the next two weeks to run through details with me.

At least it will give me a year at the old rate and give me time to find out about other tariffs and green deals etc.

james290786

I have THTC and in November Hydro hiked the price of the heating portion by 20%. (now .0984p for heating/18.5p for general and 14p per day standing charge).My usage is 54% heating and 46% general. I worked out that if I forgot about THTC and moved to Npower at a standard rate of 0.1255 a unit I would save around £100 a year on current usage. If I could get the heating percentage down I would save even more. I have asked Hydro that if I moved off THTC could I go back on it at a later date(still waiting for a response). I also asked British Gas if I could go on their Economy 7 tarif, unfortunately the THTC meters don't switch at set times but how could they find out?.

So I would suggest all THTC users look at your bills and work out if its cheaper to move to a set unit price (this is dependent on what percentage the heating portion is).

spiro

To come off this tariff you need to bear in mind that you will probably have to get the meter changed (chargable job) and potentially need some rewiring.

jammied

Hi - the short answer to the switching question is yes, you can switch THTC, but it can be tricky to do. Just came across this as I was looking into THTC for someone and have just switched theirs to get more normal rates.

Changing the system is also possible, but costs a bit of money and I know a couple of people who have switched to get better control of the temp in the house, but it hasn't made the energy costs any cheaper, so worth bearing in mind! Don't know what they did for insulation in the house or anything though.

Cheers,

J