Energy usage for Switching?

moonpenny

I am with e-on for Gas / Elec and my contract is coming to an end next week.
I am wanting to compare prices for a switch but cant work out how to get my years usage.  When I look at my bills it gives me usage up to the last bill but not for the last quarter that takes me up to the contract end.  How do I work out for the full year without running past my contract end date?

As an aside, when they do it on Martins show on the TV, they do it there and then without any figures in front of them. How?  Am I missing something?

Robin9

You don't need to be too precise.

You already know the readings when your contract started; read your meters now and that will be pretty close to an annual figure.

You could also work out what your next bill will be.

PS Separate supplies are generally better than dual fuel these days.

tim_p

What is the point of these EAC figures?  There’s no sanction if you go massively under or over surely?

Gerry1

Robin9 said:

You already know the readings when your contract started; read your meters now and that will be pretty close to an annual figure.

That's fine for electricity because the meters read directly in kWh, but gas needs a tweak because they measure volume. Either convert using the formula on the bill or add up four quarters use in kWh.  Make sure that you use actual meter readings, never estimates.

moonpenny

Thanks everyone.
I went into my account and on the deal they were offering  (to extend a further 15 mths) was the gas and elec I had used in kWh.

Wasn't altogether convinced of the numbers so went through my bills for the year adding up the kWh and adding a bit for the last few weeks.
E-on numbers were slightly higher than mine but i now have an idea of what to compare with.

Might look at separate gas elec this time but that seems even more messing about so we will see!

ARH_2

tim_p said:

What is the point of these EAC figures?  There’s no sanction if you go massively under or over surely?

They're an estimate, which is intended to help customers compare. They won't match historic bills, as they're weather adjusted to produce an estimate of the future. 

As above, when using a switching site, its not essential to be precise - a couple of hundred kWh is unlikely to make you choose a different supplier, than the you'll only end up paying for what you actually end up using. 

Petriix

tim_p said:

What is the point of these EAC figures?  There’s no sanction if you go massively under or over surely?

You pay for the units you actually use so under estimating would leave you in debt. Not necessarily a big deal but it can lead to having your DD suddenly raised significantly and possibly being blocked from switching away.