Switching to a new tariff

Rexxel

Hello,

I live in a 2 bed terrace in the North West. My boyfriend and I used to pay £48 a month with NPower but now pay £68 with SSE and now have a smart meter.

I'm finding it hard to find an accurate quote as I don't know how to work out how much energy we use rather than how much money we are charged each month.

We are out in the day and barely every put the heating on. We do have a gas cooker but I can't imagine we use as much energy as we are charged for.

Please could someone advise me on the best way to get an accurate quote. Also, how much are you charged each month based on your circumstances? (if you don't mind me asking)

Thanks

System

Rexxel wrote: »

Hello,

I live in a 2 bed terrace in the North West. My boyfriend and I used to pay £48 a month with NPower but now pay £68 with SSE and now have a smart meter.

I'm finding it hard to find an accurate quote as I don't know how to work out how much energy we use rather than how much money we are charged each month.

We are out in the day and barely every put the heating on. We do have a gas cooker but I can't imagine we use as much energy as we are charged for.

Please could someone advise me on the best way to get an accurate quote. Also, how much are you charged each month based on your circumstances? (if you don't mind me asking)

Thanks

Some words of comfort - I hope. You are not being charged anything until you receive a statement. In the greater scheme of things, it matters not a jot whether you pay £50 or £100 a month by DD. This money goes into a credit account from which actual charges are deducted: the latter are based on your tariff and your usage.

What you are actually asking for is advice on is 'how much energy are you using per year - in kWh'? This is an impossible question to answer (that, said, you will get a raft of answers) as no two houses are the same(some are well insulated and others are not) and energy is not used in the same way (some people shower for 2 minutes and others for 10)..

Your most recent statement (based I trust on actual meter readings from your smart meter) should give you some of the information that you are asking for. For example, my latest Gas statement states: Your estimated usage in the last 12 months: 8,883 kWh. This is the figure that I would use in a price comparison website to check that I am still on the cheapest deal.

In sum, you need to keep monitoring your bills and checking PCWs.

matelodave

We were with SSE and their bills are rubbish.

They only bill quarterly even with a smart meter so it's not everso easy to determine what your annual consumption might be. You can look at your on-line account and see what you are using but unless you can read graphs and understand what is going on it ain't easy.

Even when the bill does get issued their estimate of consumption was miles out - I keep my own records and know what I'm likely to use and it was nothing like SSE's estimate.

I'd be inclined to use the industry averages of 3500kwh of leccy and year and around 12500kwh of gas (assuming that you've got gas central heating)

As Hengus says you only pay for what you actually so if you overpay you'll be in credit and get the balance back and if you underpay you'll end up in debit and have to pay some more.

You really should monitor your own consumption and try to keep on top of your bills/readings even though you might have smart meter. It can make sure that you dont get any nasty surprises in the future

Robin9

Am I missing something or are you making this more difficult than it is.

Rexxel - have you an actual reading in kwh of about 12 months ago. ?

Have you read your meter lately - your consumption is the difference of the two and then a bit of simple maths gives you a consumption

Rexxel

Robin9 wrote: »

Am I missing something or are you making this more difficult than it is.

Rexxel - have you an actual reading in kwh of about 12 months ago. ?

Have you read your meter lately - your consumption is the difference of the two and then a bit of simple maths gives you a consumption

Hiya, I might be able to log into my old NPower account and see what it was. I can't get this info from SSE because i am only on a 1 year fix so i wasn't with them then.

Maybe i am over complicating it, i find it hard to work out because consumption changes each month.

WhoIsThat

Rexxel wrote: »

Hiya, I might be able to log into my old NPower account and see what it was. I can't get this info from SSE because i am only on a 1 year fix so i wasn't with them then.

Maybe i am over complicating it, i find it hard to work out because consumption changes each month.

Yes, you are overcomplicating matters.

Your anticipated annual consunption in kWh will usually be on your statements/bills. If not, give your supplier a call and they will tell you.