EBICo - as good as it seems?

midflight

Hi there,

I was with British Gas for 7 long, awful years (I know, I know, my own fault...) and eventually switched to Ebico earlier this year.
I have absolutely no regrets, and won't be switching to anyone else for the foreseeable future, even if something substantially cheaper comes along.

As luck would have it, they work out cheaper for us anyway (we're quite low users) but in the end it came down to their principles/ethics, coupled with their clear & simple approach.

The difference in customer service I have experienced so far is simply staggering.

Hope this helps.

benjdr

Thanks for all the replies everyone.
Here are some of the calculations I did last night:

Firstly, a price comparison between SWALEC (Southern) Price Fix 2008 and Ebico based on the average usage for a UK household. (This won't be my usage. I just wanted a good number)


(CLICK FOR BIG)

I then wanted to find out at what point Ebico would become cheaper than southern, so I did decremental calculations of 10% of the initial UK averages.


(CLICK FOR BIG)

Ebico becomes cheaper if you use about less than 6120 kWh of gas p/a (1530 per quarter), and around about less than 1650 of elec p/a (412.5 per quarter).

As you can see, it is VERY marginal when Ebico becomes cheaper.

Feel free to check my maths. I rushed through it a bit.

If anyone wants me to do any other comparison between two providers, based on your usage, just ask.

Cheers
Ben

Terrylw1

benjdr wrote: »

How did you do the switch? Do you have to notify both companies, give a date etc...? How does it all work?

Your new Supplier will do everything for you. So, deal with them and give them a reading for the date they tell you will be the transfer date.

Your new Supplier will then pass the reading on through the change of supply process and your old Supplier will get it to close your account.

penrhyn

computerwoman wrote: »

don't forget a cash back site like uswitch or quidco...:Dyou get £12 through quidco with uswitch...

Ebico don't sponsor links from energy swapping/cash back sites, you have to deal directly with them.

Cardew

benjdr wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies everyone.
Here are some of the calculations I did last night:

Firstly, a price comparison between SWALEC (Southern) Price Fix 2008 and Ebico based on the average usage for a UK household. (This won't be my usage. I just wanted a good number)


(CLICK FOR BIG)

I then wanted to find out at what point Ebico would become cheaper than southern, so I did decremental calculations of 10% of the initial UK averages.


(CLICK FOR BIG)

Ebico becomes cheaper if you use about less than 6120 kWh of gas p/a (1530 per quarter), and around about less than 1650 of elec p/a (412.5 per quarter).

As you can see, it is VERY marginal when Ebico becomes cheaper.

Feel free to check my maths. I rushed through it a bit.

If anyone wants me to do any other comparison between two providers, based on your usage, just ask.

Cheers
Ben

Your Tier 1(you call it A ceiling) for electricity is 364 units per quarter??

For my postcode it is 182 for all tariffs.

I stuck in a London postcode and Tier 1(rate A ceiling) was 225 units. (225 is what BG use for all areas)

So your very informative graphs are probably accurate for gas*, but only apply to SWALEC area for electricity.

So for most of us I suspect the annual consumption where Ebico becomes cheaper for electricity is even lower than your figure.

*You have assumed(understandably) that gas/electricity consumption will be even in each quarter. To further distort the 'picture' many low gas users do not use all the 1,143kWh in the summer quarters. This skews the figures even more in favour of Southern. (or any other supplier except NPower)

As your graphs show, you really have to be an extremely low user for Ebico to be cheaper.
With all the(justified) enthusiasm for Ebico as a company it should not be forgotten that for the majority of users Ebico are simply not competitive on price!(albeit their service is excellent)

However if you are on pre-pay tariff the point at which Ebico is cheaper is a little higher.

computerwoman

penrhyn wrote: »

Ebico don't sponsor links from energy swapping/cash back sites, you have to deal directly with them.

no I checked uswitch are £12 with quidco...:Dgo through quidco for uswitch then go to ebico or use the link martin has given on the main page and get £40 of wine...

benjdr

Cardew wrote: »

Your Tier 1(you call it A ceiling) for electricity is 364 units per quarter??

For my postcode it is 182 for all tariffs.

I stuck in a London postcode and Tier 1(rate A ceiling) was 225 units. (225 is what BG use for all areas)

So your very informative graphs are probably accurate for gas*, but only apply to SWALEC area for electricity.

I'm afraid so. Nice and expensive here in south wales.
Check out http://www.swalec.co.uk/foryourhome/OurPrices.aspx and find yourself a cardiff postcode if you want to check it out.

Cardew wrote: »

So for most of us I suspect the annual consumption where Ebico becomes cheaper for electricity is even lower than your figure.

*You have assumed(understandably) that gas/electricity consumption will be even in each quarter. To further distort the 'picture' many low gas users do not use all the 1,143kWh in the summer quarters. This skews the figures even more in favour of Southern. (or any other supplier except NPower)

Yes, indeed I know they are not perfect, but i thought it would give me a rough idea anyway.
If you can point me towards a breakdown of how the averages are used up by season/month, I'll modify the spreadsheet accordingly.

Cardew wrote: »

As your graphs show, you really have to be an extremely low user for Ebico to be cheaper.
With all the(justified) enthusiasm for Ebico as a company it should not be forgotten that for the majority of users Ebico are simply not competitive on price!(albeit their service is excellent)

However if you are on pre-pay tariff the point at which Ebico is cheaper is a little higher.

If you want the spread sheet, I can host it somewhere or email it to you if you are uninterested. Alternatively, you could give me your rates and I'll repost the graphs.

[Deleted User]

I`ll save about £3 a quarter but in reality it isn`t about the money saving. I absolutely like the way they treat ALL customers fairly and I would have switched even if I had to pay a bit more. It is fantastic to find an ethical company like ebico

Ken68

Have found that Ebico to be very efficient and even tho a low user on the borderlines of being the cheapest. What tips it for me is the Southern Electric administration. Brilliant.

benjdr

So when you ring Ebico support, are we saying that you get through to Southern?

If so, I think I'll have to go for southern, since it'll be cheaper for me, and the support you are all raving on about from Ebico will be the same at southern.