What are my best energy options here?

iamparakeet

2021 usage:
- Electricity: 4,189 kWh (£833.43)
- Gas: 17,484 kWh (£511.41)
Total: £1,344.84 / yr (avg £112.07/mth)
Currently pay upon bill, no set fee.

Current supplier: British Gas.
Out of contract, I slipped onto Standard Variable a couple of months ago.

+54% increase over my 2021 bill would be £2,071, no?

Price-comparison sites are a hell-scape:
- Based on usage, MoneySuperMarket and Money Saving Expert show cheapest as OVO @ £340pm (£4,080/yr), Scottish @ £495pm (£5,940/yr).
- Which? shows Utilita (PAYG) @ £2,759.34/yr.

Utilities' own sites are a wasteland - no new-customer quotes on offer.

--

British Gas, existing customer:

Cheapest deals online:
- Fixed Apr 23v1: estimated from online account £275.27/mth (£3,303.24/yr)
- Green Future Apr 23v1: estimated from online account £279.27/mth (£3,351.24/yr)

Phone call with British Gas:
Requested estimate based on 2021-calendar-year usage data (we got a new boiler early in February and I think have been over-using it, it needs calibrating; so comparison may not have been like-for-like):
- Standard Variable, dual fuel: £2,741.98/yr (£279.27/mth) -- until October price cap is raised.
- Fixed Apr 23v1: £3,503/yr (£291.92/pm)

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Looks like staying on Standard Variable is the cheapest short-term option (counter-intuitive!) but:

- a) Even without fixing (ie. just staying on Standard Variable), that tariff is +£700 more expensive than a +54% raise would suggest.
- b) As Mr Lewis says, the October price cap lift will be based on early-2022 wholesale prices, which incorporates the Ukraine war effect. So I assume I've little chance of finding a better deal closer to October (?).

lohr500

Highly unlikely you will do any better than SVT right now, however painful that may be.

The 1 year fix you have been offered looks like a 27.8% premium over the 1st April SVT.

MSE is guestimating the October increase will be around 24% https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/what-is-the-energy-price-cap/

If my maths is correct and the 1st October was 24%, with the 1 year fix on offer, you would be paying 27.8% more on top of your  1st April SVT for your electricity between 1st April 22 and 1st October 22, and then 3.8% over from 1st October 22 to 1st April 23.
On that basis, I would stick with SVT. 

It is all a bit of a gamble based on the Oct 1st guestimate. But you can bet your life that British Gas are being cautious with their 1 year fix offer.

Gerry1

You have quite high consumption, especially for electricity.

Therefore your best bet might well be increased insulation and making sure you're not using electricity for room or water heating.

Any underfloor electric heating, panel heaters, towel rails, immersion heaters, electric showers?

iamparakeet

Gerry1 said:

You have quite high consumption, especially for electricity.

Therefore your best bet might well be increased insulation and making sure you're not using electricity for room or water heating.

Any underfloor electric heating, panel heaters, towel rails, immersion heaters, electric showers?

Victorian 3-bed home - 2x adults, 1x child (2 morning showers, 1 evening bath).

👍🏻:
Loft insulation, unconverted.
Kitchen walls battened with insulation.
Carpet on floorboard in 3x bedrooms and lounge.
No under-floor heating etc.

👎🏻:
Horribly draughty front door.
Some exposed floorboards on landing, hallway and reception #2.
1x heated towel rail.

New front door setup would be costly in its own right.

Historically, I alone have worked from home.
For daytime heating, I have used an oil heater in one room, but have sometimes had to turn the heating on in colder months.
In doing so, I have been using low-level smart radiator values... programmable by time so that I can turn off most rads easily. Which is a whole different post topic.

We got a new boiler and pipework on Feb 5. There was an instant improvement in the heat output, which was previously poor. Our cold lounge now becomes warm and the water is scorching.
I think I need to turn down those boiler temps...

We're not getting like-for-like (Feb 5/6 2021 to Feb 13/14 2022)...
For the period for which y-o-y usage data is available, we have been using more:
- Gas: +34%
- Electricity: +9.6%

I'd at least like to kerb some of that usage.

Gerry1

Two quick fixes would be to stop using the towel rail if it's electric and to stop using the oil filled radiator.

If the boiler doesn't have a bypass then fitting one or turning up the TRV in the WFH room and using a portable wireless thermostat would be the answer.

iamparakeet

Gerry1 said:

Two quick fixes would be to stop using the towel rail if it's electric and to stop using the oil filled radiator.

If the boiler doesn't have a bypass then fitting one or turning up the TRV in the WFH room and using a portable wireless thermostat would be the answer.

Towel radiator is GCH, above the boiler room.
Oil-filled rad is small and, the thinking was, I'd use that in lieu of GCH.

New boiler has a portable wireless thermostat (first we've ever had)... it takes some getting used to, but yes, I'm locating that in the WFH room when WFH.

rhedyn

Might be worth hanging an insulating curtain over your draughty front door.