higher standard rate vs higher unit rate?

stickyvicci

what is best in term of looking at tariffs. having a higher standard rate with lower unit rate or having a higher nit rate with a lower standard rate

Andy_WSM

Entirely depends upon your consumption!

CashStrapped

Indeed....

The accepted logic is that users with high use benefit from tariffs with a high standing charge and low unit rate.

Low users benefit from low standing charge and higher unit rates.

However.....as I often say....this does not really matter....

It is a red herring to get caught up on how the tariff is structured..

As long as you have accurate kwh figures base on your annual consumption, and you use this in a comparison site......whatever comes up as cheapest, regardless of how it is structured....is the cheapest...

A comparison site does all the work for you.....

matelodave

AS others have said, if you are a high user then you might benefit from a lower unit rate and higher standing charge and lower users usually benefit from a lower standing charge and slightly higher unit rate but for most people with average consumption the difference is only a couple of ££'s.

Use a comparison site and put in your annual consumption in kwh. Then if you are really interested do it again by increasing your consumption by 20% and then reducing by 20% and see if it makes much difference.

Playing about with the figures on a comparison site wont cost you anything but give you the opportunity to explore differnt scenarios - totally ignore the "savings" it's what you have to pay that counts

System

CashStrapped wrote: »

Indeed....

The accepted logic is that users with high use benefit from tariffs with a high standing charge and low unit rate.

Low users benefit from low standing charge and higher unit rates.

However.....as I often say....this does not really matter....

It is a red herring to get caught up on how the tariff is structured..

As long as you have accurate kwh figures base on your annual consumption, and you use this in a comparison site......whatever comes up as cheapest, regardless of how it is structured....is the cheapest...

A comparison site does all the work for you.....

Imho, it matters in one key respect only which is higher than projected usage (eg; very cold Winter). This is why I run three comparisons for gas using my annual projected figure then plus/minus 10%. Sometimes it changes the supplier/tariff and sometimes it doesn't.