Octopus Tracker

Telegraph_Sam

@TroubledTarts: now that I know that it exists that is what I have done.

TroubledTarts

Telegraph_Sam said:

@TroubledTarts: now that I know that it exists that is what I have done.

Search or a quick look down the energy titles is your friend.

teena

I want to just check with you knowledgeable guys that I have got the thinking right here.

After my Dec23 tracker finished in Feb I moved to Dec24 tracker for electricity however in January I did fix my gas at 5.74p (eastern) and now wondering whether to switch the gas back to tracker.

The pro is that the rate has dropped now but , of course no telling in these uncertain times what may happen down the line. However moving to the warmer months must lessen the demand in general so a good chance it wont spike again until the colder weather. Also in looking at my table for last year (in m cubed)  my values for March, April and May were 136,88 and 29 and this year the weather has been colder so far so it could still make a difference to me if I change for those months to come (and tracker stays below 5.74p)

However the view could be it is worth keeping the fix to protect me for future spikes in late autumn through to January. It doesn't protect through some of the worse months for me though.

If I switch the gas to tracker now it would be the same as my electricity (makes life a bit easier) and if the gas does go high I could fix again but this time the fix would be higher (though the SCs could be less) and I can not return to tracker for 9 months.

Am I missing anything?

FreeBear

The first week of March has been remarkably warm. Even if I use the same amount of gas as I did last year, Tracker price needs to drop considerably to show more than a pound or two in savings. I'm of the mind to stay on fixed (for gas at least) and keep an eye on prices over the summer months.

Telegraph_Sam

Hobson's choice. I switched from Tracker to the 14-Month Fix a short time ago. Consensus of advice is to wait till April before reassessing.  I doubt if you'll get a clear cut answer to your queries -  but I stand to get excommunicated for saying so 

t0rt0ise

My gas tracker also ended mid-February. I changed to fixed and lasted 4 or 5 days before changing back to tracker. Gas tracker price has been lower than the fixed every day since.

Telegraph_Sam

It is important to distinguish between gas and electric in these discussions. I'm guessing that for most people the outlay on gas is less than elec, and the "penalty" for making the "wrong" decision over the summer months is correspondingly less. Whereas with elec more is at stake and arguably the case for switching back to Tracker in the Spring could be stronger.
Not uncharted waters but dodgy territory.  It is certainly useful to compare views and predictions in this forum.

t0rt0ise

Telegraph_Sam said:

It is important to distinguish between gas and electric in these discussions. I'm guessing that for most people the outlay on gas is less than elec, and the "penalty" for making the "wrong" decision over the summer months is correspondingly less. Whereas with elec more is at stake and arguably the case for switching back to Tracker in the Spring could be stronger.
Not uncharted waters but dodgy territory.  It is certainly useful to compare views and predictions in this forum.

I wonder if that's true. My gas bill is far higher than my electricity bill. I'd have thought that was so for anyone with gas heating. People with electric heating are more likely to be on other specialist tariffs dependent on their form of heating, E7, cosy etc. 

FreeBear

t0rt0ise said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

It is important to distinguish between gas and electric in these discussions. I'm guessing that for most people the outlay on gas is less than elec, and the "penalty" for making the "wrong" decision over the summer months is correspondingly less. Whereas with elec more is at stake and arguably the case for switching back to Tracker in the Spring could be stronger.
Not uncharted waters but dodgy territory.  It is certainly useful to compare views and predictions in this forum.

I wonder if that's true. My gas bill is far higher than my electricity bill. I'd have thought that was so for anyone with gas heating. People with electric heating are more likely to be on other specialist tariffs dependent on their form of heating, E7, cosy etc. 

I'm on track to spend £240 on gas (inc. SC), and £600 for electricity for the year.

Telegraph_Sam

There are always exceptions. My gas bill (CH) shrinks over the summer generally whilst elec tends to stay. Enough to make me wonder about splitting the tariffs