switching question

christoff21a

Hello all. Im looking to switch and have used the cheap energy club comparison. What i dont seem to understand is the standing charge difference. My current tarrif has standing charges of 11.10p a day for gas and 12.86p for elec whereas the suggested tarrif to save me money has 20.58p for gas and 25.694 for elec - a big difference. This is the bit i dont understand. The tarriff changes are a difference of 3.34p kWh for gas down to 2.268 and 15.69 down to 13.881p kWh. 
So, yes the usage is slightly cheaper, but the standing charge is a big difference. How am i making a saving with such a difference in standing charge?
Hope this makes sense! 

MWT

Your actual saving all depends on how much gas and electricity you actually use, so with the large difference in standing you'll reach the break-even point for electricity at 7kWh, and gas at around 9kWh per day usage.

So as long as you do use more than that you will make a saving...

dogshome

The saving, or not, depends how many Kwh of Gas & Elec you use a year, I'm afraid you have to calculate the figures

Talldave

The standing charge is the smallest element of the bill - you pay it once a day. The gas and electricity unit rates you pay 10s or 100s of per day. So unless you have really low consumption, the standing charge is more or less irrelevant. 
About a year ago I was paying over 40p standing charge for gas, but it got me the cheapest rate possible for a frighteningly large gas consumption of 55,000kWh. Switching to that tariff saved £100s.

christoff21a

MWT said:

Your actual saving all depends on how much gas and electricity you actually use, so with the large difference in standing you'll reach the break-even point for electricity at 7kWh, and gas at around 9kWh per day usage.

So as long as you do use more than that you will make a saving...

Thank you. My usage per annum is 19026kWh pa on gas and 4393kWh pa on elec. Assume i just divide by 365? Therefore my daily usage on gas is 52 and 12 for elec meaning a saving?

Gerry1

Provided that those figures are from actual meter readings, not estimates or projections, just go to Citizens Advice and Switch with Which? and see what the annual cost will be

Don't forget to try separate suppliers because they could well work out cheaper.

You could try other sites to get cashback, but the cheapest suppliers can seldom afford to pay it.

Your electricity usage is high - are you using instantaneous electric showers or an immersion heater?  They cost about five times as much as hot water heated by gas.

MWT

christoff21a said:

MWT said:

Your actual saving all depends on how much gas and electricity you actually use, so with the large difference in standing you'll reach the break-even point for electricity at 7kWh, and gas at around 9kWh per day usage.

So as long as you do use more than that you will make a saving...

Thank you. My usage per annum is 19026kWh pa on gas and 4393kWh pa on elec. Assume i just divide by 365? Therefore my daily usage on gas is 52 and 12 for elec meaning a saving?

Most likely, yes, your daily gas use will be lower in summer assuming you use it primarily for heating, but even then it is likely to still be above 9kWh per day.

Similarly, your electricity use may be higher in winter, especially if there is any use of it for localized heating, but I'd guess that you would have trouble getting it below 7kWh/day given your annual total use.

christoff21a

Gerry1 said:

Provided that those figures are from actual meter readings, not estimates or projections, just go to and  and see what the annual cost will be

Don't forget to try separate suppliers because they could well work out cheaper.

You could try other sites to get cashback, but the cheapest suppliers can seldom afford to pay it.

Your electricity usage is high - are you using instantaneous electric showers or an immersion heater?  They cost about five times as much as hot water heated by gas.

Ive just had a combi fitted so hoping this will prove a lot more efficient than the old boiler where we had to heat water etc etc. I have a digital aqualisa shower so cant see that uses too much power?

christoff21a

MWT said:

christoff21a said:

MWT said:

Your actual saving all depends on how much gas and electricity you actually use, so with the large difference in standing you'll reach the break-even point for electricity at 7kWh, and gas at around 9kWh per day usage.

So as long as you do use more than that you will make a saving...

Thank you. My usage per annum is 19026kWh pa on gas and 4393kWh pa on elec. Assume i just divide by 365? Therefore my daily usage on gas is 52 and 12 for elec meaning a saving?

Most likely, yes, your daily gas use will be lower in summer assuming you use it primarily for heating, but even then it is likely to still be above 9kWh per day.

Similarly, your electricity use may be higher in winter, especially if there is any use of it for localized heating, but I'd guess that you would have trouble getting it below 7kWh/day given your annual total use.

So in a nutshell i should stop procrastinating and switch! 

Gerry1

christoff21a said:

Ive just had a combi fitted so hoping this will prove a lot more efficient than the old boiler where we had to heat water etc etc. I have a digital aqualisa shower so cant see that uses too much power?

It seems to use hot water from the boiler rather than an electric heater, so that would be fine.