Energy: Find the cheapest supplier & earn cashback

JJ_Egan

< Firstly it assumes that the current tariff will be allowed to rollover to the standard flexible tariff. >

That is the regulators rules not the sites.( see multiple identical posts/ threads )

Talldave

Mark_Able said:

You have to remember that all these providers are using the same energy and therefore there can never be any significant difference in quoted Kw/hr rates for either electricity or gas, the significant difference is in the standing charge.  My analysis shows the difference between hi-low electricity per Kw/hr is 24%, gas per Kw/hr is 56%.  Standing charges per day, difference between hi-low are: electricity 95% and gas 103%.

I don't agree, there a wide variations in unit rate and if you use even a moderate amount of energy the impact on total cost is significant.  Just today I've commented on a thread where the OP is paying 21p peak, 10.6p off-peak vs my 10.9p anytime rate - that's nearly 100% markup, daylight robbery (literally).

1p on my standing charge costs me £3.65 a year more. 1p on my unit rate costs me £48 a year more. Standing charge is almost irrelevant. 

For sure the savings on comparison sites are fictional rubbish, but the cheapest deals are still at the top and a quick calculation shows you if they will save you money. I don’t know why you're looking at dual fuel, most money saving experts use separate suppliers to save more.

Consumerist

Mark_Able said:

. . .  I have done my research, comparing tariffs against the new tariff I'll be on with OVO, and frankly there is very little difference between the most competitive and OVO -  A saving of £6.00 a month/£72.00 a year. 

In the present rising market, many will be doing well to make any real savings at all. The best most can hope for is to minimise any increase in total costs.
In the end it is the total annual cost of a tariff which matters, irrespective of any relationship between daily charges and unit charges.

murphydavid

Talldave said:

I don’t know why you're looking at dual fuel, most money saving experts use separate suppliers to save more.

Thanks I had not considered this and need to give it a try.
Is it easy to move from duel to one supplier for each service? Do you use comparison sites and will they compare one service at a time? I'm really anti doing lots of maths and or spread sheets manually.
I am hoping to promote some comment on the process and good bad experiences of changing to and using separate suppliers. I'm thinking you may double the risk of getting involved with bad service.
I consider spending time arguing and calculating is on a par with spending a little extra.
I had a re peruse of MSE article and this idea is not obviously profered.
Having not read it for some time I see MSE has its own comparison engine. To those who have used it: Is it any better than the others and may it be excluded from the shared opinion that "For sure the savings (Top Line that is) on comparison sites are fictional rubbish"

Gerry1

murphydavid said:

Talldave said:

I don’t know why you're looking at dual fuel, most money saving experts use separate suppliers to save more.

Do you use comparison sites and will they compare one service at a time? I'm really anti doing lots of maths and or spread sheets manually.

Compare dual fuel initially; start with Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?' but ignore all claimed savings and projections.  Most sites will then allow you to refine the results to get Gas Only and Electricity Only, but you usually have to add up the single fuel totals yourself, they're not yet that clever.

It's always a good idea to check the results yourself, especially if you've gone direct to an energy supplier's own site and have an E7 meter.  Amazingly, the dozy cosy Ofgem still allows them to give fake quotations: some culprits only ask ask you for your total annual consumption and then assume that you use most of it at night.  This allows them to give unrealistically low so-called 'quotations', to the detriment of their honest competitors and the customers they hoodwink.

Just another example of why Ofgem is unit for purpose.

Consumerist

murphydavid said:

. . . Is it easy to move from duel to one supplier for each service? Do you use comparison sites and will they compare one service at a time?. . .

On MSE's CEC there are options at the top-left of the results page where you can select whether you want to compare dual fuel, gas only or elec only. So its just a matter of clicking on radio buttons to change the option.

Talldave

murphydavid said:

Talldave said:

I don’t know why you're looking at dual fuel, most money saving experts use separate suppliers to save more.

Thanks I had not considered this and need to give it a try.
Is it easy to move from duel to one supplier for each service? Do you use comparison sites and will they compare one service at a time? I'm really anti doing lots of maths and or spread sheets manually.
I am hoping to promote some comment on the process and good bad experiences of changing to and using separate suppliers. I'm thinking you may double the risk of getting involved with bad service.
I consider spending time arguing and calculating is on a par with spending a little extra.
I had a re peruse of MSE article and this idea is not obviously profered.
Having not read it for some time I see MSE has its own comparison engine. To those who have used it: Is it any better than the others and may it be excluded from the shared opinion that "For sure the savings (Top Line that is) on comparison sites are fictional rubbish"

Yes it's easy. 

Yes the comparison sites can handle separate fuels, but annoyingly won't warn you when separate suppliers are cheaper.  As long as you can add two numbers together and compare against a dual fuel quote you'll be OK.

You might double the risk, but once you're with separate suppliers you've entered a world of cheapness and won't have to go back to dual fuel until suppliers change their charging structures to make it attractive again.  Resistance to change is very British; breaking free from the "we've always done it that way" straitjacket is refreshing!

murphydavid

Talldave said:

murphydavid said:

Talldave said:

I don’t know why you're looking at dual fuel, most money saving experts use separate suppliers to save more.

Thanks I had not considered this and need to give it a try.
Is it easy to move from duel to one supplier for each service? Do you use comparison sites and will they compare one service at a time? I'm really anti doing lots of maths and or spread sheets manually.
I am hoping to promote some comment on the process and good bad experiences of changing to and using separate suppliers. I'm thinking you may double the risk of getting involved with bad service.
I consider spending time arguing and calculating is on a par with spending a little extra.
I had a re peruse of MSE article and this idea is not obviously profered.
Having not read it for some time I see MSE has its own comparison engine. To those who have used it: Is it any better than the others and may it be excluded from the shared opinion that "For sure the savings (Top Line that is) on comparison sites are fictional rubbish"

Yes it's easy. 

Yes the comparison sites can handle separate fuels, but annoyingly won't warn you when separate suppliers are cheaper.  As long as you can add two numbers together and compare against a dual fuel quote you'll be OK.

You might double the risk, but once you're with separate suppliers you've entered a world of cheapness and won't have to go back to dual fuel until suppliers change their charging structures to make it attractive again.  Resistance to change is very British; breaking free from the "we've always done it that way" straitjacket is refreshing!

Thanks. Very helpful.
I was well aware in shops not to assume that the bulk buy pack will always be cheaper than multiple small ones but it never crossed my mind that energy companies (with the collusion of comparison sites) were at it too. Every field I look at these days there is the necessity to consider what new trick they have up their sleeve.

Consumerist

murphydavid said:

. . . I see MSE has its own comparison engine. To those who have used it: Is it any better than the others and may it be excluded from the shared opinion that "For sure the savings (Top Line that is) on comparison sites are fictional rubbish"

It's difficult to define "better" but there are some aspects of CEC which I particularly like:-

1. At the top of the results page you can select the basis of your comparison as the cost of either (1) a year on your current tariff(s) or (2) a year on your supplier's go-to (default) tariff at the end of a fix. No half-way houses.

2. CEC is the only energy comparison site I know of which gives warnings about possible problems that it has become aware of.

On the down side, however, there has been a lot of criticism recently that CEC may not be comparing the whole of the market, as it claims. In particular, if you are a currently a customer of Avro Energy then CEC does not list other Avro tariffs which could be available to you.

Sarge786

Hi all, new here, not sure I'm posting in correct place but a question,  I've just ordered a fully electric car  what is the best energy company and tariff to be on for this?  I am prepared to switch both gas and electricity over. Also I do use electricity most of the daytime too.

I know its bad as I've been with British Gas for gas and EDF (London Electricity in the old days) for past 38 years on their standard tariffs ...eek!

Many thanks