Need help with choosing energy supplier

renard_2

As my gas/electricity contract with OVO is nearly up, I am looking for the most advantageous supplier.
Comparison sites are said to be the answer but being well stricken in years I confess to finding them somewhat baffling. They simply suggest how much I could save compared with my present plan or with OVO's standard variable tariff, which isn't helpful.
Is there a way to find the most advantageous supplier based on my anticipated annual usage? It is 3474 for electricity and 12984 for gas. My address is in postcode SO30. I pay by direct debit. I would prefer not to have a Smart Meter.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Having spent many fruitless hours on this search, my old grey head is spinning!

molerat

renard wrote: »

As my gas/electricity contract with OVO is nearly up, I am looking for the most advantageous supplier.
Comparison sites are said to be the answer but being well stricken in years I confess to finding them somewhat baffling. They simply suggest how much I could save compared with my present plan or with OVO's standard variable tariff, which isn't helpful.
Is there a way to find the most advantageous supplier based on my anticipated annual usage? It is 3474 for electricity and 12984 for gas. My address is in postcode SO30. I pay by direct debit. I would prefer not to have a Smart Meter.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Having spent many fruitless hours on this search, my old grey head is spinning!

They also tell you how much you will pay for that annual consumption and list it in price order, many will still enable you to compare it to what you are paying now. What could be simpler ?

macman

How about defining 'advantageous'? Comp sites tell you the cheapest.
What you 'save' isn't really the point: what you need to know is the total cost of supply over the life of the contract, which is exactly what the comp sites give you.
Since, armed with your kWh usage data and postcode, all the results are available in seconds, what exactly is it that you have spent 'many fruitless hours' searching for?
The only other fundamental choice to make is whether to pick a fixed or variable tariff, which again is simply a matter of one click on the comp site.

Gerry1

Just compare using Citizens Advice and Which?, and try gas only and electricity only as well as dual fuel.

A quick search suggests Green.energy, Avro and Zog are worth investigating. Avoid Outfox the Market and sister company Economy 7.

Talldave

As a two time (and current) customer of Zog, I would recommend them for gas; great customer service.

Separate suppliers is often cheaper than dual fuel.

I'm with Symbio for electricity. Too early to say whether they are to be recommended or avoided. Their billing seems excessively complicated and their website is a bit crap, but they're cheap.

renard_2

Sometimes I despair at just how stupid I am.
I was only reading the 'savings' column on comparison sites! I assumed that because my present plan's details were asked for, the sites were only showing savings.
Having seen the helpful comments above, I now realise that the annual charges are indeed there. All is well.
In my defence, I was very tired. And fast approaching senility, it seems . . .
Thanks to all responders.

Gerry1

Remember that the 'Savings' figures are utterly meaningless because of dozy Ofgem's daft rules. Comparison sites have to assume that you would do nothing and end up on some stratospheric standard tariff after your fix comes to an end.

This madness means that you could actually end up paying more if you switch mid term to a tariff that is more expensive than your current one but not as expensive as the mythical standard tariff you wouldn't let yourself be rolled onto.

Ignore all the claimed savings and just compare the total annual costs based on actual kWh readings.

Biggus_Dickus

renard wrote: »

Sometimes I despair at just how stupid I am.
I was only reading the 'savings' column on comparison sites! I assumed that because my present plan's details were asked for, the sites were only showing savings.
Having seen the helpful comments above, I now realise that the annual charges are indeed there. All is well.
In my defence, I was very tired. And fast approaching senility, it seems . . .
Thanks to all responders.

Not stupid at all;... regardless of age, successfully navigating your way through Energy comparison sites can be a bit of a mystifying journey for the uninitiated;...there are many pitfalls for the (overly) trusting and unwary.

It take’s a considerable amount of time and effort to get to grips with the myriad nuances of the Energy-Switching game but it definitely pays to do your homework;...once you’ve attained the ‘knowledge’ (so to speak) it’ll be a good friend for life.

It’s only possible to make an informed decision if you are fully conversant with all the tariff information that the comparison sites present to you;...then choose a deal that best suits you,...don’t choose a deal that best suits the comparison site!...and remember to study the Ts&Cs of any potential tariff that you are considering,.. there may be stuff in there that you don’t like.

Don’t rely solely on MSE’s CheapEnergyClub comparison site btw;...they purport to show “Whole Of Market” comparisons;....but they don’t.

Excellent info from Gerry1 and Talldave above by the way, imho.:T