Standing charges + exit penalties

the-mango

I wonder if someone would be able to answer two questions I have:

1) Standing charges - are there any tariffs that are still 'cheap' without standing charges (or are there any tariffs without standing charges?). I live in a flat but spend a lot of time away from it and therefore it seems pointless to have to pay daily when I'm not even there

2) I am planning to move in July and will probably move to somewhere where I don't pay the bills in my name. Does this mean even if I go on a fix and it says e.g. a £60 exit penalty fee I won't have to pay this therefore I should disregard this when comparing tariffs and just go for the cheapest?

Thanks

Nada666

1) there are some tariffs available without standing charges - but what matters is your likely usage - that will determine which is suitable (some direct debit discounts may counter a standing charge). Use a comparison and check each fuel from a separate supplier, not just dual fuel offers.

2) no cancellation charge applies where contract is ended due to moving house or let - you are free to choose any tariff ignoring penalties.

the-mango

Thanks so how do I work this out?

My current usage over the past year has been
January - September
Gas 1212 Kwh
Electricity 3727 kwh

macman

You need a full year's figures to do a proper comp site calculation. Jan-Sept will exclude much of the (cold) winter, when you can expect to use 80% of your annual total for heating.
For a house with gas CH and DHW, your leccy figure is about right (UK average 3,400kWh), but your gas is not. It should be at least ten times that (UK average is 16,500kWh). You need to input kWh figures, not meter units, which are only volume, not kWh. Gas meter units are either in cu m or 100's cu ft, depending on the type of meter (it's marked on it).
Your annual statements will show your annual usage for the past year, or ask your supplier.

the-mango

I've only been there since January, hence only have those figures...

Your'e right, I read the figures wrong, it shoudl be:
Electricity 1212 Kwh
Gas 3727 kwh

I have a combi boiler thing which I assume does hot water and heating? Cooker is induction so electric and I assume everything else is electric.

If it's any help it says that the average for the cold period I was there for (January to April) was 36.92 kWh/day

I have just double checked and online in my energy consumption it says Consumption (kWh) Gas Bills (kWh), so both are still kWh.

the-mango

Anyone know how or what I should be searching for to find the best tariff as it's not quite a straightforward comparison

Nada666

What is est? What is not straightforward? Take an educated guess at your likely usage. Look on a comparison site and plug in your usage and your postcode. See what the range of prices is. What is not straightforward?

the-mango

I'm not there a lot of the year so standing charges really affect the price. Over the summer my gas usage was 71p... A standing charge would push my bill up massively. I was just wondering how to compare

Nada666

Have you tried looking on a comparison site? I would guess Ebico for gas and npower April 2015 for electricity would be a decent combination at your likely usage.

the-mango

Yes I've looked but they all seem to have a standing charge and I can't find a search which includes that within their filters. Was just wondering if there were any alternative ways of lookong

Nada666

You could stick in a usage of 1kWh of gas and 1kWh of electricity and see which tariffs come up on top.

(But don't forget to look at the electricity-only tab as well as dual fuel results.)