Best Supplier for Heavy Consumption

Shotgun_Rider

Hello,

My parents  are a heavy electricity user as they have an annex running off their meter as well as the main residence. As a result their consumption is almost 11,000 KwH a year. Are there any safe suppliers out there with a high standard charge tariff and lower unit rate? 
My parents, brother & I are currently on Bulb and are looking to see if anyone is cheaper after their recent price announcement.

matelodave

If you can stand their strange billing system you could try Symbio, alternatively Neon Reef are also fairly cheap. When it comes to "safe" IMO they are all nearly as bad as each other but I have been going with the cheapest for years and three of them have gone bust. I use just over 7000kwh a year and by going with the cheapest I reckon I've saved several hundred pounds a year. I've just swapped from Symbio to Neon Reef and my annual leccy cost is still well shy of £1k a year. Try a two or three  comparison sites - not just MSE to see what's avaialble.

Providing you keep on top of your bills by sending in regular meter readings, checking your bills and on-line accounts to ensure that they are correct and that your payments are all in line with them then it shouldn't pose a problem even if they do. I've not had any problems with any of the three that have gone bust

Those who do have problems are those who dont read their meters, dont bother to check their bills and just hope that it will sort itself out in the end, unfortunately for some of them "the end" becomes a nasty shock or a long drawn out painful experience

Gerry1

Have you looked at the results from comparison sites such as Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?'?

macman

Any comp site will tell you. 
If the annexe is being heated and hot-watered solely by electricity, then 11,000kWh is not at all excessive. How large is the property overall, and how is is heated and hot watered?

Shotgun_Rider

matelodave said:

If you can stand their strange billing system you could try Symbio, alternatively Neon Reef are also fairly cheap. 

I don't like the look of Symbio, mainly because of this.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/symbio-energy-limited-final-order-0

Neon Reef is worth looking at. I Usually shy away from the very cheap ones but the savings for my parents at least are hard to ignore!

Shotgun_Rider

macman said:

Any comp site will tell you. 
If the annexe is being heated and hot-watered solely by electricity, then 11,000kWh is not at all excessive. How large is the property overall, and how is is heated and hot watered?

3 retired people usually home all day, even more so over the past 7 months. I'm not quibbling the usage

Shotgun_Rider

Gerry1 said:

Have you looked at the results from comparison sites such as Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?'?

Thanks for the heads up on the Citizen's Advice site, I wasn't aware of it.

Gerry1

Shotgun_Rider said:

Neon Reef is worth looking at. I Usually shy away from the very cheap ones but the savings for my parents at least are hard to ignore!

I've found Neon Reef very good.  You can't phone them, but they responded extremely quickly when I had a query.  For some strange reason the CEC pretends they don't exist, despite all its claims to show the whole market.  It's a variable tariff so their good rates may not be so good forever but I suspect they'll still be better than the big boys.  And at least you can walk away penalty free if it doesn't work out.

macman

It matters not one iota what the unit rate and standing charge are. The only figure that matters is the total annual cost. Put your 11,000kWh and postcode into any accredited comp site and it will tell you the cheapest tariff.
The point I was trying to establish is whether your claim that this was 'heavy consumption' is correct or not, and without knowing the basic size of the property and heating system, that cannot be determined.

Shotgun_Rider

macman said:

It matters not one iota what the unit rate and standing charge are. The only figure that matters is the total annual cost. Put your 11,000kWh and postcode into any accredited comp site and it will tell you the cheapest tariff.
The point I was trying to establish is whether your claim that this was 'heavy consumption' is correct or not, and without knowing the basic size of the property and heating system, that cannot be determined.

It's fairly basic accounting. This is not the best explanation but it might help.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032515/what-difference-between-variable-cost-and-fixed-cost-economics.asp
Basically if you're a heavy user you want high fixed costs and low unit costs and the opposite if you are a low user. So it does matter.

I understand what you're trying to say about property size and heating system, which isn't electric, but If the average UK property uses around 4,000 kWh a year, 11,000 kWh is heavy consumption.

matelodave

Shotgun_Rider said:

macman said:

It matters not one iota what the unit rate and standing charge are. The only figure that matters is the total annual cost. Put your 11,000kWh and postcode into any accredited comp site and it will tell you the cheapest tariff.
The point I was trying to establish is whether your claim that this was 'heavy consumption' is correct or not, and without knowing the basic size of the property and heating system, that cannot be determined.

It's fairly basic accounting. This is not the best explanation but it might help.
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032515/what-difference-between-variable-cost-and-fixed-cost-economics.asp
Basically if you're a heavy user you want high fixed costs and low unit costs and the opposite if you are a low user. So it does matter.

I understand what you're trying to say about property size and heating system, which isn't electric, but If the average UK property uses around 4,000 kWh a year, 11,000 kWh is heavy consumption.

If you use 11,000kwh a year then each penny per kwh is worth £110 whereas 10 pence on the standing charge is only worth £36.50(or £36.60 in leap years).
I'm like you, I go for the lowest price per kwh because the standing charge becomes a lot less significant when you are a high user.