Recently singled need advice on dual fuel

gazzafaegreenock

So recently I've became single for the first time in 20yrs. I've got my own place which is gas & electric bills. But like a total noob I have no idea on bills etc as my wife did all that. Also the nature of my job ment I was away a lot and didn't really get involved in that side of the house.

So I'm asking MSE members for advice on who to go with and what tariffs would suit me. Currently I work away from home 5days a week, so I'll only be at the flat weekends and as it's a new build it has exellent energy efficiency. So I won't be a high consumer.

I'd like to be on a monthly DD so I know where my Finances stand and prefer to be with a single company. Being locked in would also benifit me until I get to grips with the circus of switching.

So MSE team. Can you help me?

Best wishes

:beer:
Mark

HappyMJ

Locking yourself in without knowing your usage would not be a good idea.

You need to use a comparison site once you have an idea on what you might use. It'll only really cost you £1 per week more than the cheapest tariff on the market but you could save that by doing research and switching to the correct tariff rather than blindly switching to a tariff you think might be the best. Even if it took you 3 months to find your usage patterns and switch that isn't that much to be worried about.

Read the meter weekly for a few weeks and if the figure is the same each week then that will be your base electricity usage. Heating you will have to estimate at this time of year. Try putting the heating system on max for an hour (preferably on a cooler day) and figure out how much it uses then try and calculate how many hours you will be using it for each day (the second hour of heating uses much less -as the house will be warm- than the first so you can underestimate if you have 2 heating periods of 4 hours you could estimate the heating will need to be on for 6 hours per day) and how many days and add that to the base usage.

What tariff and supplier have you inherited?

gazzafaegreenock

Wonderful advice, thanks. Currently I'm not sure who the bills are with, I'll look into that. So even if they're with say scottish power and it's a a standard tarrif, I'd be better just sitting tight for a couple of month until I've done my homework?

Also is there anyone on here who is a low consumer like me, just to give me a rough idea on what to budget on a weekly basis? I genuinely have no idea on the cost nowadays.

macman

Basics: you are already in a deemed contract with the existing providers, so you can't commence a switch until you have registered with them first. A switch will then take 4-5 weeks.
You should have taken opening readings and done this on day one, otherwise you are likely to end up paying for the previous occupier's usage, as you now cannot prove the opening reads.
No ,point in waiting two months, because that period in midsummer with the heating off is no guide at all to your annual usage, the vast majority of which will be for heating in winter. Then use any comp site with your estimated annual kWh usage and postcode to find the best tariff-that bit takes less than a minute.
PS: if it's a new build, then the developer should have agreed the meter reads with you at handover?
Don't forget about the water utility co. either...