Gas and Electricity Usage

Emma137

I've now changed to separate suppliers which was loads cheaper than dual fuel tarrifs and since I've been writing the meter readings down daily our usage has dropped dramatically!
Thanks to everyone for all of the advise offered

matelodave

Keep up the good work during the summer as by the time winter arrives you should have a good idea ofyour normal dya-day consumption and how to manage it giving you the opportunity to monitor and control your heating a bit better as well.

[Deleted User]

matelodave said:

Do as  Talldave suggests, ditch the dual fuel tariff and look for individual quotes, you'll probably find that you can get your gas and leccy for a lot cheaper. The cost advantages of a dual fuel tariff are long since gone.

To answer your q about the quantity of leccy, no I dont get a discount for volume but you can see how a penny or so on the kwh cost makes a far larger difference than nearly 10p on the s/c for a higher user that it does for a low user. As our heat pump runs mainly during the day and evenings and minimally during the night (unless it's everso cold) I can't see any advantage in getting an off peak tariff so I just go for the cheapest.

I change companies frequently (ten in ten years) and I've been with three companies that have folded but they've all saved me money -  hundreds, possibly even a grand or two over the years, so I'm happy to put up with any hassle (I treat it a bit like sport)

I see matelodave, thanks for the info. The heatpump contraption does sound very interesting.

Whilst i appreciate that single fuel could be slightly cheaper, for my own needs, it's not worth the hassle. I do a meerkat every year (as i do for all annual costs) and that keeps the missus happy!

Emma, to keep track of your usage and costs, someone on here wrote a spreadsheet some time ago. There are also a few on the web. I myself wrote a prog to accept my weekly readings, which displays ongoing usage and costs.

Glad you got your issue sorted, good luck with your future energy management!

Edit: Without wanting to de-rail Emma's thread, I've just done a comparison on 2 different 'comparison' websites for Gas & Lec as seperate contracts. From the tariffs given, I could save £25 on Lec, and lose £15 on Gas. Factor in the £14 duel fuel discount i would get on the duel-fuel tariff i'm looking at, and i'd be £4 worse off.