Unit costs

Allt_Goch

Whenever i am thinking about changing suppliers for gas/electricity all I need to know is the price of the unit charges i.e. the cost of kilo watt hours. I can easily calculate my own overall costs given these figures, but before I can get to these figures I have to go through the old rigmarole of telling them who is currently supplying me and how much I spend etc. All I need is the facts!
Allt Goch

thriftylass

That's a common problem. It would be so much easier if they just told us the standing charge and unit price for each tariff and I can compare that to my bill.

gc_bus

Agreed - it's so hidden away in the most part - grrrrr!!

Andy_WSM

Another one to agree. When the Government asked the energy companies to simplify the tariffs (because apparently that's what we all wanted), all they needed to do was set out a rule that said the prices had to be absolutely transparent and that a standard tariff had to follow a particular format (i.e. daily standing charge + a pence per unit fee).

By meddling in the way they have I feel they have reduced competition. There's really nothing to choose between suppliers now and it's only going to reduce movement in the market - exactly the opposite of what they were trying to achieve.

I was happy with no standing charge tariff & tier 1 & 2 tariffs, as were many others. Progress?

Wywth

Allt_Goch wrote: »

Whenever i am thinking about changing suppliers for gas/electricity all I need to know is the price of the unit charges i.e. the cost of kilo watt hours. I can easily calculate my own overall costs given these figures, but before I can get to these figures I have to go through the old rigmarole of telling them who is currently supplying me and how much I spend etc. All I need is the facts!
Allt Goch

Just having that information would be insufficient to identify the cheapest supplier for you.

Just consult a comparison site
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

Cardew

Allt_Goch wrote: »

Whenever i am thinking about changing suppliers for gas/electricity all I need to know is the price of the unit charges i.e. the cost of kilo watt hours. I can easily calculate my own overall costs given these figures, but before I can get to these figures I have to go through the old rigmarole of telling them who is currently supplying me and how much I spend etc. All I need is the facts!
Allt Goch

On a comparison website you don't need to enter your current supplier - just leave the default company(s) - all you are interested is in the end result of the cheapest new company.

Knowing the cost of a kWh is unfortunately not all that you need to work it out manually.

Nearly all tariffs these days have a Daily Standing Charge(dsc). Is it better to have a high dsc and a lower kWh charge? or vice versa?

Then there are the discounts applied to the various tariffs that have to be taken into account - they can make a big difference.

For dual fuel customers, is it cheaper to get gas from one company and electricity from another?

Don't forget that some tariffs will not let you have only gas, you have to get electricity from them as well.

To be absolutely certain that you have the best deal it will take many hours to do this 'longhand'. Especially as it is a nightmare navigating around some companies websites to find all their charges.

Knowing(or estimating) your annual consumption and using a comparison website will give you the answer in a couple of minutes.

st999

Just having that information would be insufficient to identify the cheapest supplier for you

Why?

The comparison sites give results using yearly consumption figures.

It does not matter who your present supplier is, you just pick who is the cheapest, not who gives the most savings based on your previous supplier.

Cardew has explained it admirably