The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

grace68

not heard of a Kelly kettle, but looks ideal, I have a birthday coming up, may put on top of list of things i want!

jk0

euronorris said:

jk0 said:

You know this government advice about not switching after supplier bankruptcy, is for their benefit, not yours. The switch is initiated by the firm you are switching to, and you give them your meter readings, so there should be no problem.

When Economy Energy went bust a couple of years ago, I immediately switched to EDF, and it went through in a few weeks without any problem.

PM me for £50 EDF discount code.

I hadn't realised that. I thought it was because a switch was already in place that you'll mess everything up by trying to switch again. Especially as more companies went bust last week, and more expected this week.

EDF isn't the cheapest option for us, even with a £50 discount code (but thankyou). Though most of those tariffs are based on a smart meter being installed, which DH has always been against, so that might change things if I can't convince him.

I can't have a smart meter as I am electrosensitive. Even a mobile phone gives me a headache, so I would not be too hard on DH, in case he is developing sensitivity.

EDF just gave me a 3 year fix for my mother with no need for a smart meter. I picked them as they were the cheapest for her. Mum's is 15000 gas units & 2700 electricity units, and they quoted £115 pcm.

[Deleted User]

I just wanted to thank you for mentioning Kelly Kettle - this is exactly what I need. No room in the budget for it at the present time but it is certainly on my wish list. Thank you x

MingVase

grace68 said:

not heard of a Kelly kettle, but looks ideal, I have a birthday coming up, may put on top of list of things i want!

Son has one and its amazing how fast it boils water, and he just uses a wee handful of twigs or dry grass

euronorris

@jk0 was it you who offered to send me a code for an EDF discount? If so, could I have it please?

All of the cheaper options involve the smart meter and DH doesn't trust them for accuracy. EDF was one of several at the same monthly price that don't require smart meter, but some of those were smaller suppliers who may well yet go bust and I don't want to switch to have to switch again.

euronorris

Sorry, nevermind. All of the prices have changed since yesterday anyway. And actually just had contract through from BG confirming the tarriff and the price is fixed until April 2022 at a lower cost than I get by switching to anywhere else, so going to stick with it for now. Still a big increase on what we were paying, but not as bad as I first thought.

Si_Clist

euronorris said:

... All of the cheaper options involve the smart meter and DH doesn't trust them for accuracy.

Hmmm.  Loads of people don't like the idea of them for various reasons, but never before heard of anyone questioning the accuracy of 'em.  Any idea what he bases his distrust on?

We've resisted so far on principle* but our 2-year fixed with Ovo ends in December and if we need to have a smart meter to get a cheaper tariff, we'll go for it.  (Unless of course euronorris's other half knows something I don't!)

* Nothing in particular, just an inherent dislike of more technology in the house and of being priced into having to play ball with a utility company's moves to reduce their costs.

euronorris

He did explain it all to me once before, but I must admit I have forgotten most of it. DH is far more tech savvy than me and researches any tech purchases to the nth degree. From vague recollection, it was something to do with problems with the 2nd generation smart meters. I can't remember exactly, I'll ask him later (he's doing something else at the moment).

MingVase

Octopus want us to have one but we said no. They said they only do smart meters they dont have any other kind. So it's stalemate and I am waiting to see who blinks first. They can't make you have them.

euronorris

OK, I asked him and understanding was a little mixed up. So, it's older generations of the smart meters that were problematic. There were huge discrepancies from these models between what consumers had previously used, and what the meters were suddenly registering. And fighting that, and getting it corrected was very difficult as there was no other meter to refer to. So the energy suppliers were trusting the smart meter over customers.

Whilst there are newer smart meters out there, any providers still with stock of the old ones will still install those where they can in order to not make the loss on them. And that is DH's biggest concern, as he can't guarantee that we would be getting the most up to date model installed.

Other issues include screen issues causing problems, smart meters suddenly going 'dumb' and having to be replaced, installation can take 6-8 hours (during which time electricity to your property must be switched off), and reports of some suppliers removing the 'smart function' from the meter when you switch supplier meaning the installation of yet another smart meter by the new supplier.

I suspect a lot of these things are teething problems that will be resolved in time, but for now DH is very much 'we will only get one if we are forced to'.