Advice on our energy costs please

Netwizard

Hi


I was wondering if anyone on here could offer some advice on our energy costs. My parents don't understand the bills, and neither do I really although I am trying my best. We use the heating a lot at the moment as my mother is going through chemotherapy treatment for cancer, so is always cold so I want to help make sure they are getting the best deal for their money.


Below is the information from our annual summary from September 2013 to September 2014:


ELECTRIC



GAS



And information from our latest bill in August 2014:





GAS



Currently my parents pay £128 a month direct debit (it was £150+ until we got it reduced) and as of now, the account is just under £800 in credit, although this will go to paying the next bill due in March.


They don't send in regular meter readings but probably should do!


Thank you for any help and advice.


Jim

[Deleted User]

Hi,

well first thing I notice is that both electricity and gas are estimated readings in September 2014, so you need to get an up to date reading to see how they compare.

Nada666

You need to switch your electricity as soon as possible. 16.82p exc VAT is a large price to pay when you are paying by direct debit and have that usage.

Gas isn't so bad but you should still shop around.

Little confused as to which you are using for heating? Or both?

Stick your postcode and usage in a comparison site and have a look at some alternatives.

Cardew

The first thing is that the 'last year's estimate and usage' is absolute rubbish.


Who supplies your gas and electricity?


Starting with last years estimates. For electricity 3,622kWh is reasonable consumption, but to put the cost at £945 is nonsense. You presumably paid back some arrears in that period


For gas you clearly use more than 4,120kWh a year, however to put the cost of that at £440.19 is again a nonsense.


As said above you need bills based on your actual meter readings as from the bills you posted it is impossible to work out what your costs should be.


However one thing is certain, you are on one of the most expensive tariffs in UK. So switching will save you a huge amount.

Netwizard

Thanks for the advice to far guys I thought it sounded a lot, some of the bills are horrendous!


Does anyone have any advice on what to switch too? we are with Npower at the moment who supply both our gas and electric.


I notice they do a Fixed Energy Online April 2016 tariff but again I don't know if its any good for our needs.


What happens when we switch with regards to paying our outstanding bill and what happens to any credit left on the account?


What would be the next best step now? enter the estimated annual readings into the online comparison sites?


/ edit, putting the annual readings into the comparison sites shows that E.ON Energy Fixed 1 Year v14 could save us £124.

Thank you again


Jim

[Deleted User]

Hi,

you don't want to use estimated readings, get actual up to date accurate readings.

Edit: can you read the meters?

Netwizard

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

you don't want to use estimated readings, get actual up to date accurate readings.

Edit: can you read the meters?

Gas meter is reading 12250


Electric meter is reading 97265


Thanks
Jim

[Deleted User]

Hi,

so a very rough calculation since 18th September you've used,

Gas £250

Electricity £99

SC £17

Vat £18

Total £384

Netwizard

Readings in Feb 2014 were as follows:


Gas: 11368
Elec: 92474


So I assume in the year I have used:


Gas: 882
Elec: 4791


Are these the figures I put into the comparison site to see if its worth switching?

Netwizard

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

so a very rough calculation since 18th September you've used,

Gas £250

Electricity £99

SC £17

Vat £18

Total £384

Oh right, I see.


I still have no real idea what I'm doing with regard to working out whether switching is worth it or what figures I'm supposed to be using to work it out!


Sorry to be thick!

/edit - these are previous readings:



Cheers
Jim

Netwizard

This is with a knackered gas boiler as well. We are looking into the eco scheme for a new boiler as our current one is very old and very broken!