Comparing energy providers - more complex than a mortgage??

londonTiger

I am on british gas duel fuel.

I have paid £1625 p.a for both.

I have entered the energy used in kwh on uswitch and it suggested that I could save £400 by switching.

AFAIK Energy providerss charge different rates for evening/day use. As well as a myriad of other pricing structures. Should I record actual usage by day/evening and day of the week and then manually calcuate prospect costs to get a truer picture or is that unnecessary?

Our circumstance is slightly different as me and my partner both have home based businesses and have the heating on and electricity on in the day.

What other pitfalls are there? I noticed the deals provide fixed plans, and with gas prices predicted to fall. Is it too early to get on a fixed plan right now?

londonTiger

Lastly price comparison sites like uswitch, do they give the full picture or only list energy companies that pay them a comission?

SwanJon

Whether you have different prices for electricigty at day/night will depend on your meter. This is sometimes known as economy 7, white meter or two rate*.
Gas is the same price all day & night.

If your electricity meter only has one reading then you are charged the same price all day & night.

Although you know how much you have paid, it is more important to know how much you have used in kWh - you can get this from a recent bill, your online account or by calling and asking.

You can then put your annual consumptions into the switching sites.

All of the sites will show a full list, but probably nt by default. One of the last questions will be along the lines of 'Show suppliers you can switch to', but actaully means Only show suppliers you can switch to through this site..

It may also be worth comparing gas and electricity seperately as some suppliers don't offer dual fuel. It might be cheaper to get them from different suppliers.

londonTiger

Thanks, we have a single reading. So at least that simplifies things a little.

Any precautious before jumping in? Last time we switched over to British gas dual fuel, we moved away from London Energy and got stung by London Energy as someone misread the meter and slapped on £1000+ payment overdue charge.

We received collections letters and what not, at the time we didn't think about getting a meter reading at changeover. But they didn't get a meter reading either and they somehow estimated what it would have been. Eventually contsant protests got them to cancel the charges.

JJ_Egan

You take multiple meter readings before and after the switch .You should also read your meter monthly and hand to your supplier otherwise its just estimated bills .

londonTiger

JJ_Egan wrote: »

You take multiple meter readings before and after the switch .You should also read your meter monthly and hand to your supplier otherwise its just estimated bills .

British gas does regular meter checks it seems. The bill states actual reading, not sure if they do it remotely or have someone come by which I don't spot. But the readings on the bills are spot on.