Gas/Elec Bill query...

System

kev2009 wrote: »

I'm currently considering staying with BG for 12 months as means I get to keep the £500 i owe them at present int he bank whilst they take money each month, get a annual figure of usage and then look next year and changing suppliers. Currently for my area, the max saving is estimated at £255 by a recent start up, Scottish power is £250 and then a few other unknown/recent start ups and then Ovo at just over £200 saving but what I don't want to do is give them a figure of usage and then find out I've over used and get hit for a large bill to pay in one go so thinking sticking put maybe best option for me at present until i get my bearings so to speak. Admittedly my usage could always change next year etc but i can always take my readings and then add a bit to them as a safety measure.

If only if life was that simple. The last two winters have been much warmer than the average so annual consumption is, at best, a guess. Personally, I would look at separate suppliers for gas and electricity. A key factor for me is the unit price of gas as we have gas CH. At the moment, I use Zog for gas and GBEnergy for electricity. I pay £650 a year for a 5 bedroomed house. Why Zog - because they are the cheapest. With my CH off, I pay about 40p a day for HW and gas cooking and this is with a 15 year old boiler.

My advice would be 'don't wait - switch now' - and check again every month.

footyguy

kev2009 wrote: »

Thanks, I saw that by looking at uswitch breifly last night, but then comes the next issue. In my area it recommends scotish power and says many people in the same area have switched to them but I read on here to avoid them. ...

My recommendation is to avoid any comparison site that 'recommends' you switch to any certain supplier or tariff.
(comments or ratings are fine e.g. in relation to feedback or customer service levels - but it defeats the whole purpose of a comparison site if it doesn't compare the whole of the market and show the results in the order you wish - the default and most usually desired is in price order)

I suggest you read this most informative MSE article to assist you further
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/you-switch-gas-electricity

kev2009

Hi all,

So update here... I decided i'd stick with BG for the year and see what I use.... so just had my annual statement, for found figures i'm using 8000 gas and 1500 elec. So looking on uswitch, for dual fuel the cheapest is Scottish power saving me £150 a year. using separate gas/elec, cheapest is Gas = cardiff energy supply limited saving me £140, elec = Robin hood energy saving me £45.

So my question is, does anyone know of any sites I can look at to review these companies? I've never heard of cardiff energy supply limited or robin hood energy....

Alternatives were better energy / zog energy for gas and Gnergy, utilita, green energy, isupply, scottishpower.

I seem to recall reading on this forum some bad experiences with Scotish power so not sure which way to go.

When i do switch, is there a danger of being cut off as don't want this over the xmas period....

Looked at getting smart meter also but not available yet, i'm registered and they will advise when it is available.

Thanks

Kev

molerat

This site has company reviews, CEC also gives a quick review. If Zog are competitive go for them, the worst review they have had is that they took 4 hours to reply to an e-mail !

[Deleted User]

@kev2009
There is no chance of having your fuel switch off (assuming you are not on a KEY Meter where you have to put money on the card).
Switching is more of an accounting thing, nothing happens at the physical level.

kev2009

Thanks all, Just been looking again having decided to go with Zog and now it seems Zog prices must of changed as they are not offering as much savings.... so I'm now thinking Scotishpower are offering £150 saving so considering them, does anyone have any recent dealing swith them as I have read some not so favourable reviews...

Zog is now quoting a saving of £109 a year and on electricty few are offering fix rates and arouond £17-19 is all the saving.

As im on dual fuel with BG, how do i go about switching to independant or can I jsut switch the gas and keep the electricity with BG and if so, does the price change? I'm on standard tarrif with BG at present.

Thanks

Sorry - First time dealing with this...

Kev

Blue1991

I'm on Scottish power duel fuel.

Not had any issues, phone app is really helpful for submitting readings and checking into your account etc

Live in a new build one bed flat, have heating on for around 4-6 hours a day at the moment.
Set up direct debit to £50 a month but currently only using ~£40 a month.

D_M_E

I would suggest you use.1800kwh as your annual electricity use - as in my original post above - and 8800kwh for gas and this will give you a bit of spare for when the weather gets a bit cooler.

Yes, a very small increase in the direct debit but worth it to keep out of debt with the supplier.

kev2009

I already rounded up my usage as I was under 8000 and 1500 kwh on useage last year so I have rounded them up for this year

Looks like things have changed again, Zog now showing £119 saving with £30 exit or £117 saving wiht no exit fee, think will choose £117.

Now just elec, Robinhood energy any good? They are shwoing £45 saving on variable tarrif but only £17 or £19 saving on fixed ...

Is it worth going variable or choosing fixed?

Thanks

Kevin