How long to fix for

ForestBluebells

My energy is due for renewal at the end of next month and I’m in an electricity only property on economy 7 (there’s no gas in the village and I wasn’t sure it was worth the cost changing everything over to oil). 

I heard prices were at a 3 year low yet looking at the renewals they are all still more expensive. 

I seem to use about 70% of my energy at night (not sure how as I regularly forget to put my dishwasher on overnight etc and mostly only have my storage heaters on when it’s very cold and hot water immersion on overnight which I put on for as short a time as possible to heat the tank)

is it fair to assume prices are not lower and it’s likely they will rise every year so is it best to fix for longer or just get the cheapest short fix?

im thinking of staying with EDF as I’m not sure I want to go to an unknown company. 

MWT

Probably worth posting what your current tariff details are (day/night rate and standing charge) and for the tariff you are considering moving to with EDF, so people can highlight some cheaper suppliers that you may have missed...

Re the 70% at night, yes, that is a high number especially if it is on an annual basis as while the storage heaters will skew the ratio during winter, you won't be using them at all for the summer months.

Have you checked that the day/night rate is switching at the correct times?

I had a similar problem where I noticed my night rate use was going up far more than it should and it turned out the time-clock on my E7 meter wasn't working properly and sometimes it didn't change back to day rate for several days at a time...

mac.d

Prices have been lower but I think are starting to rise slightly, but the 'how long to fix for' question is like looking into a crystal ball.

There are plenty of options though; pick a competitive variable tariff for cheap prices right now and you can then look to fix if prices are rising and you think a fixed tariff will work out cheaper for you;
Look for a competitively priced fixed tariff that has no exit fees, meaning you have certainty of a fixed tariff but can switch to another when it becomes less competitive;
Just switch to the cheapest fix and only worry about it near the end of the fixed term and just look then for whatever is cheapest.

All involve using price comparison sites, and that's what you should do rather than just thinking, I'l stay with EDF rather than go to an unknown company. You can choose to switch to another of the 'known' companies rather than the smaller, less well known companies if you wish, but should still do a comparison, both E.on and British Gas have had recent competitive fixes available.

Accredited comparison sites:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consumers/household-gas-and-electricity-guide/how-switch-energy-supplier-and-shop-better-deal/compare-gas-and-electricity-tariffs-ofgem-accredited-price-comparison-sites)

dogshome

Signing up for a Fixed Tariff is a bet - You are gambling that prices will rise over the term of your fix, but not affect you till your contract expires

Of course your supplier has an edge in that they know a helluva lot more about the market than you do, ( Or think they do, but just look at what has happened to oil market in recent months !)

Rather than worrying that a fall in the energy market could cost you a bit if you fix, concentrate on changing to another supplier to start saving money right now, which will be as easy as falling off a log if you with EDF - Start with the Citizens Advice comparison site - Quite likely you will find an hidden EDF tariff on there that's far cheaper than anything they are offering you as an existing customer 

Gerry1

Make sure the day and night readings are not transposed, there's no general rule that Rate 1 = Night and Rate 2 = Day.  Could end up being expensive !  Check smaller companies such as Neon Reef.

ForestBluebells

I haven’t checked the specific times but yesterday I did a check to ensure I was reading the correct figure for day/night and went to check the metre twice in the same day and the one I was using as the day figure did indeed Tick over 1 more unit so I know I’m reading at least the correct figure for day and night.

rough annual usage (Pretty much a year bar a few days)

Annual

Day 1808

Night 4265

Total 6073 =70% night usage

Most of the year I appear to use roughly 50/50 split looking at my feb-nov bills (That’s just how the bills fell and thats when I have metre readings for these periods) but I guess when I have my storage heaters on over winter this is where the night usage sky rockets and pushes me to the 70% night usage over the year.... maybe the storage heaters aren’t a good idea 🤷‍♀️🙊

My current tariff is as follows 
Electricity day unit rate: 18.95p per kWh
Electricity night unit rate: 6.84p per kWh
Daily standing charge: 21.11p per day

new EDF tariff
day rate: 14.64 pence
Night rate: 9.57p
standing charge 21.96P Per day 

MWT

ForestBluebells said:

... but I guess when I have my storage heaters on over winter this is where the night usage sky rockets and pushes me to the 70% night usage over the year.... maybe the storage heaters aren’t a good idea 🤷‍♀️🙊

If gas isn't an option then as long as your storage heaters are properly sized for your rooms they are still a very good idea, you won't find anything else running on electricity that can provide the heat you need at anywhere close to that price.

With your balance of energy use I doubt you'll find a single rate tariff that will be cheaper than the new EDF tariff even with the cheapest of the small providers so you will need to look for one that can offer you an E7 tariff.

ForestBluebells

Citizens advice is coming out with eon  being cheapest but that doesn’t seem right

Unit rate 18.561p per kWh

Night unit rate 9.514p per kWh

Standing charge 5.45p per day (£19.89 per year)

matelodave

It's not really ever so hard to do the sums yourself is it, especially when you know how many day units and night units you use and can probably guess that there'll be 365 days in the year. 
Just work it out yourself and you should be able to identify which is the cheapest overall - I could do it for you but it wont teach you how to do it yourself

ForestBluebells

matelodave said:

It's not really ever so hard to do the sums yourself is it, especially when you know how many day units and night units you use and can probably guess that there'll be 365 days in the year. 
Just work it out yourself and you should be able to identify which is the cheapest overall - I could do it for you but it wont teach you how to do it yourself

That’s what I have been doing today thanks. No need to be rude. I was simply stating that the advised website didn’t seem to be correct in its calculations 

dogshome

Surprises me that Cit. Adv have come up with Eon as the cheapest

BUT

You are a very low user at 6073 Kwh a year in an all Electric dwelling, which means the Daily Standing Charge has a big effect on your bill and Eon's 5.45pence a day is 75% cheaper than the average