Help requested: Standing Charges and gas supply

Neil_Jones

bagand96 said:

Setting aside the Gas/Electricity debate for a moment. 

There is the loophole that if you don't enter a contract with a supplier, and you do not use any gas, then they can't charge you the standing charge. This may be the situation your friend was in with EON? 

If they've now moved over to EON Next and they are refusing to do this, then it might be worth making a complaint. Along the lines of the switch to EON Next was something the consumer had no choice over (was a business decision by EON) but this has disadvantaged the consumer significantly. 

Not sure if it will work, but might be worth trying. 

But to do the service to the boiler which was alluded to earlier in the thread (and fire it up afterwards) requires an active gas supply.  Or at the very least the engineer will stick some plastic tubing to something at the top front of the meter, take a reading or two, and the immediate area will stink of gas for ten minutes or so.  So I think we may be past the point of "not entering a contract".

Mac9091_2 said:

No there's an electric heater for the water as well as being Gas. Redundancy in the system in case of one failing there is still going to be hot water. Thought that was a requirement now for all boilers and GCH?

I am aware of the costs of gas compared with electricity but again we went through the calculations from her previous gas usage and the amount she used showed it to be cheaper to not use the gas and therefore have to pay SC.

Heating in winter? House isn't that bad and also "puts a jumper/ dressing gown" on if its that bad. 

So your friend is in the fortunate position (somehow) of having two water heaters, one gas and one electricity (there is generally no "redundancy" or need for redundancy, because if the boiler packs up you can make do by boiling the kettle or using the stove until its back).  But the underlying point is why pay the earth for the electricity when you have a boiler sitting there doing nothing that will be cheaper to run in the long-run.  The point re: heating I think you've missed, as there will come a point most winters where it's not generally recommended to let the house drop below 13 degrees as an absolute minimum regardless of how many jumpers you wear:

https://www.cse.org.uk/advice/advice-and-support/heat-and-health

I think you need in all honesty to look at the mindset going on here.  The friend has central heating all set up and ready to go which will be cheaper and more efficient in the long run (and as they rent, if the thing keels over one day and dies altogether they don't have to find £3k or whatever to rip it out and replace, the trade-off being without it's features for a day or two), so the standing charge becomes irrelevant AND the electricity bill will fall too if one shifts the heating and hot water to the gas.Electric heating in any form is 100% efficent, but costs a fortune.to run.

Ignore the standing charge figures on their own would be my best advice.  There's a boiler doing nothing, you're not paying to service/look after it (not directly anyway) and I would argue it will save money overall.

Gerry1

Given that both standing charges are being paid and probably can't be avoided, only the marginal costs (i.e. the kWh rates) are now relevant.  The most expensive gas is probably around 4p/kWh and the cheapest electricity (which the friend does not have) is around 12pkWh.

It's therefore almost impossible for electricity to be cheaper than gas for heating.  If gas central heating is not required in other rooms, just turn the radiators down or off.

Mac9091_2

Tallerdave said:

What's puzzling is that the money being wasted on the prepay electricity deal probably far outweighs the figure of the gas standing charge.

Problem there is the cost of removing said meter and then replacing it when she moves out.

Tallerdave

Mac9091_2 said:

Tallerdave said:

What's puzzling is that the money being wasted on the prepay electricity deal probably far outweighs the figure of the gas standing charge.

Problem there is the cost of removing said meter and then replacing it when she moves out.

There is no cost. If the meter's smart it can be toggled prepay/credit remotely.  If it's not smart, suppliers are falling over themselves to install smart meters without charge.