How am I supposed to compare elec when they ask for usage and just moved in?

GervisLooper

Just use your last place I hear you cry but I used gas for heating in the last place so it will be different.

It is complicated to compare the market vs doing it for broadband. I only just moved in here a couple of weeks ago so can't tell them how much I use yet.

Why can't you just see the rates regardless of usage to be able to pick the cheapest based on that regardless of usage?

I just want to choose an electric only supplier which will be for appliances and heating.

milgo

If I were in your position then I would let the comparison sites help me by...when they ask for the number of rooms/occupants etc use that as quote/estimate 1.  Then for the next quote(s) adjust the values both up and down by a couple of 000's kWh and check if the cheapest quoted supplier remains the same.  Regardless it is going to be a "best guess" estimate as you have no previous data/readings to refer to.

JGB1955

Do you have Economy 7?  Do you have Night Storage Heaters?  How many bedrooms?  Flat or house?  
High consumption (which is what an all-electric property will be) comes between 4,300 and 7,100 kWh per annum.  I would put in in figures at both ends of that scale and see if there is a common denominator.

JGB1955

Could you, perhaps, ask your current (deemed) supplier what the historic usage has been?

GervisLooper

Is there really much in it in terms of savings? because I was on eon's standard plan for a whole year and paid £260 odd for the whole year in prev place; that was with no heating though, but the year before I was with scottish power's standard plan and that was only 20 quid less for the year (also elec only, not inc heating so can compare like with like in that case).

So if it is only a matter of a few quid (per year) like that I would probably choose by other methods such as which uses most green energy.

JJ_Egan

I just use average on site as i am looking at the actual price only not any estimated usage or estimated Direct Debit .

Unit price and daily standing charge .

[Deleted User]

GervisLooper said:

Is there really much in it in terms of savings? because I was on eon's standard plan for a whole year and paid £260 odd for the whole year in prev place; that was with no heating though, but the year before I was with scottish power's standard plan and that was only 20 quid less for the year (also elec only, not inc heating so can compare like with like in that case).

So if it is only a matter of a few quid (per year) like that I would probably choose by other methods such as which uses most green energy.

You'll generally be put on their standard tariff as a 'house mover' so worth at the very least looking at their better tariffs. There is a new annoyance that some providers only provide their cheapest tariffs via comparison sites (you switch to nowhere) 

victor2

GervisLooper said:

Is there really much in it in terms of savings? because I was on eon's standard plan for a whole year and paid £260 odd for the whole year in prev place; that was with no heating though, but the year before I was with scottish power's standard plan and that was only 20 quid less for the year (also elec only, not inc heating so can compare like with like in that case).

So if it is only a matter of a few quid (per year) like that I would probably choose by other methods such as which uses most green energy.

If you are planning on heating your new place with electricity, it's going to cost you a lot more than £260/year, and the potential saving will be significant too.

Contact whoever your current supplier is, as you will be on a deemed standard variable (i.e. most expensive) tariff with them. Ask them what they can switch you to. Look at what exit penalty it has and consider switching to it. The switch will probably be instantaneous, and (assuming it is reasonable) will allow you to build up some usage history before looking at switching again. The downside of that is that you really need a full year's worth of usage to get a realistic annual figure in kWh of what you use.

If you're all electric, you may well be on an E7 tariff, and that is probably worth staying with, especially if you have storage heaters.

Consumerist

It is always difficult when you move into a new property. As a starting point you cold use <Ofgem's typical consumption> values. For electricity-only, this would be around 4,200 kWh per year as a medium user - adjust according to taste.

Don't expect it to be too accurate but it will, at least, get you started until you get a year's actual consumption under you belt. In any event you will only pay for what you use but you could end up with a significant credit or debit towards the end of the year so you will need to monitor your account balance as you go.

Next year should be a little easier to hit the mark.

Gerry1

If you have storage heaters, the bill will be significantly higher than before; make sure you are on an Economy 7 tariff and that the immersion heater only uses the cheap rate.  That means any Boost switch must be left off otherwise it will use daytime electricity which is even more expensive than on a single rate tariff.

If you have on-demand panel heaters, convectors etc you'll need to be on single rate and the bills will be massive.  Virtually nothing else is more expensive.

Whatever you do, make sure you send monthly meter readings and check that your direct debits are keeping up with your usage, otherwise you'll get a nasty shock when the DD suddenly increases to claw back the arrears and reflect your higher than expected usage.

Sorry, that won't be what you want to hear, but sadly the reality is that being all-electric is very expensive.

A_Lert

Try to cut through money estimates and find the price per kWh and the standing charge. As mentioned electricity is expensive for heating - 3 to 4 times the price of gas! - so focus on low price per kWh.

(Unless the property has a heat pump system that's correctly sized and in good working order. In that case the cost will be similar to gas. But if heat pumps are undersized or faulty, which is common when housebuilders cut corners, they end up expensive.)