New House: Wanting to Switch But Can I?

Competsoph

Hi all,

Just moved into my first house. Gas and electricity supplied by British Gas currently on standard variable rate. Contacted them, opened account and booked appointment for in-house smart meter display fitting (both meters already smart meters but no in house display monitor. Old owners may have taken this with them?). 
I am aware that the standard rate is expensive and I would like to swap to a cheaper supplier however British Gas told me I have a first generation 'trillion' smart meter and any other company would not be able to use this as a smart meter? Instead the new company would need to install a second generation smart meter. 

My question, will this make switching more complicated or pose an issue? I'm keen to be money saving but cautious as I know very little about the processes, i'm trying to learn as much as possible! 

TIA

Gerry1

Consider cancelling the appointment: both the replacement IHD and the visit are likely to be chargeable, and the old smart meter may go dumb when you switch so you'll have wasted your money and stayed on the BG rip-off tariff for longer.

Switch immediately (start comparing with Citizens Advice and 'Switch with Which?'), make sure BG have the correct opening reading (don't rely on anyone else to do this) then read the meters on the wall every month, check that your DD is keeping up with your usage and keep your own independent records.

Competsoph

Hi @Gerry1

Thanks for your response. 
Following advice from the wonderful MSEs when we got the keys to the property I took meters readings and sent these to British Gas so they opened my account with the correct readings. 

I will ensure I take readings from the meters monthly but when I log onto my British Gas account, the readings seem to be automatically updated and i've cross matched these with my meter readings and they are correct. Does this mean I won't need to submit any figures as they are already getting the accurate figures? 
I also initially decided to have a bill sent and I would pay quarterly for what we had used. I am aware DDs may be a cheaper option but as we weren't intending to stay with BG, I thought it was best to leave this this way to avoid overpaying any. 
Would you advise to switch now then, cancel the appointment with BG and just let the new company install a new meter?
I'm slightly anxious about all of this switching if i'm honest but i'm trying to remind myself about the savings to be had! Perhaps its FTB nerves! 

Robin9

I agree with Gerry1 - don't wait. The IHD is a toy and you would put in in the back of a drawer inside a week.

Guess at your consumption - use 10000 kWh for gas and 3000 for electric.

Also don't go for dual fuel - it's generally not the best economic way to go

Get into the habit of reading your meters every month. 

Competsoph

Robin9 said:

Also don't go for dual fuel - it's generally not the best economic way to go

Apologies for my naivety but do you mean have one supplier for gas and one supplier for electricity in order to cut costs?

Gerry1

It's very unlikely that the new company will replace the meter, at least for a while.  Alternatively it may get a software change but it won't be on anyone's top priority list.  The meters will probably go dumb but they will still record your usage.  Just make sure you know how to read them and remember to send m3 readings for gas, not kWh.  Switch to separate companies today !

jbuchanangb

Apologies for my naivety but do you mean have one supplier for gas and one supplier for electricity in order to cut costs?

Amazing as it might seem, before energy was privatised, in the days when Maggie Thatcher was PM, it was not even possible to purchase gas and electricity from the same supplier! The only supplier was the government, but they had totally exclusive departments, one for electricity, and one for gas, That's where the terms "electricity board", and "gas board" come from.

Robin9

 said:

Robin9 said:

Also don't go for dual fuel - it's generally not the best economic way to go

Apologies for my naivety but do you mean have one supplier for gas and one supplier for electricity in order to cut costs?

Yes indeed - you would think that there would be savings in billing and meter reading (on those rare occasions when that happens). You may get the first but you will get two meter readers.