What rates are you being offered by your provider at the moment?

pochase

alanjones60 said:

Chrysalis said:

I am seeing Octopus customers elsewhere been offered a whopping 75p unit 12 months fixed on electric.

Really? I fixed for a year with octopus last thursday and it was 56p. Thats scary

And that was before the latest increased predictions. Octopus reacted within hours and increased the fixed tariff rates.

Hooch22

pochase said:

Hooch22 said:

pochase said:

You can ask them what the cost for single rate is on the SAME fixed tariff. Not change a tariff, just from E7 to single rate within the same fix if possible.

But you need to know how much you use at night first. Check your bill.

Thanks for the advice. I have checked my usage for the last 10 months (since I was switched to octopus from avro) and I use roughly 5 times as much day elec as night. I rung octopus and got a quote for 46.95p. But when doing the maths it works out almost the exactly the same as the day / night rate. But I really appreciate u taking the time to reply and now in the future I will check the rates of both eco 7 & single rate before fixing 😊 

3p less in overall is not worth it. I agree you should stick with the E7. Maybe move some things like washing machine, tumble dryer or dish washer into the night rate to save more.

I can’t work out how we use so much at night as it’s midnight to 7am and we are all asleep! 

damsonjam

pochase said:

You need to know your energy use very well to consider this fix.

You will need to know how much you will be using up to October and in the following quarters to calculate the loss or savings. This required that you have either already a spreadsheet or all MONTHLY invoices with REAL meter readings available. As we are talking BG with six monthly billing this will already be the show stopper.

Take also into account that we had a mild winter last year, a harsher winter will change the usage drastically. And we have no idea how the good the predictions from January onwards are.

I personally would consider a small higher cost for October (2p to 3p for electricity) but no unit rate that is only pennies below a predicted rate.

That is only my personal opinion. Do your own calculations and own gamble.

Thanks for your suggestion, so I crunched some numbers using the best available data and the predicted increases (obviously a lot of guess work there but it’s the best we have) and, for the benefit of anyone else in the same situation, I’m not convinced it’s worth it apart from ‘peace of mind’ (which is an overriding factor for some people)
I estimate that it may end up costing me £420 more over the period through to end of Sept 2023… mainly because it will cost me more between now and October if I fix now (£360).
I haven’t got quarterly breakdowns (thanks to moving to BG and also them changing their systems recently so historical usage is a real
mess) so I may pay even more in Oct-Dec if I fix and we have a harsh winter, but then save more Jan-March if the predicted rises kick in.
a lot of guess work but if the margin might have been closer I may have fixed ..

pochase

Hooch22 said:

pochase said:

Hooch22 said:

pochase said:

You can ask them what the cost for single rate is on the SAME fixed tariff. Not change a tariff, just from E7 to single rate within the same fix if possible.

But you need to know how much you use at night first. Check your bill.

Thanks for the advice. I have checked my usage for the last 10 months (since I was switched to octopus from avro) and I use roughly 5 times as much day elec as night. I rung octopus and got a quote for 46.95p. But when doing the maths it works out almost the exactly the same as the day / night rate. But I really appreciate u taking the time to reply and now in the future I will check the rates of both eco 7 & single rate before fixing 😊 

3p less in overall is not worth it. I agree you should stick with the E7. Maybe move some things like washing machine, tumble dryer or dish washer into the night rate to save more.

I can’t work out how we use so much at night as it’s midnight to 7am and we are all asleep! 

You will always have background usage, for example fridge freezer, router, or Alexa

NannaH

VUDU85 said:

NannaH said:

Mstty said:

VUDU85 said:

With EDF and had been paying £90 p/m in January which was a fixed rate price that ended on 31st March (great timing)

Now on the variable tariff which initially increased to £149 but is going up again this month to £294

EDF are offering a fix for the low monthly sum of £503 

I really need to look into our consumption again as we're always using ~ 22,000 kwh gas per year in a 2 bedroom house, always seems too high

First thing is to generally turn the temp down on the boiler.

Check you aren't heating water all day and to again a high temp. Most are happy with 45oC showers this time of year so have a play and take that into winter. 2 bed house so presume not too many people maybe an hour a day heating hot water before you normally take showers.

What type of boiler do you have?
Is it set on ‘comfort mode’  for hot water?  If so, turn it off.
I can’t fathom how you use so much gas,  it’s 3x higher than mine in a 1970’s 3 bed semi with combi boiler and gas hob.  Is your heating on all day every day in the winter trying to reach temperature due to the room thermostat being in a cold place?
Are you having baths every day? 
Mine is in my living room,  set to 20 degrees when it’s very cold,  on for an hour early morning, 90 mins around lunchtime then 4.30-9.00pm when it usually kicks in once or twice to maintain temperature. 

Hi and thanks for your reply

We have a combi boiler which is a Vaillant ecoTEC Pro28 and a gas cooker too. There are 4 of us living in the household (myself, OH and 2 children). Our thermostat is in the hallway and is set at 19-20c when the heating is on. The heating isn't used from Spring until late Autumn at all but through winter, it is used for large portions of the day - perhaps as much as 10-12hrs per day due to OH being at home during the day

In terms of baths/showers. I'd say we use average amounts in this department, perhaps 15 baths and 5 showers per week for the entire household

We've lived in this property for just over 12 years now and it's always been over 20,000kwh consumption on gas

15 baths a week is a hell of a lot of gas compared with (non electric) showers!    

We have a Vaiilant eco tech boiler too.  They are very efficient if set up properly.  

 Is your hallway particularly cold?
Your boiler might be constantly kicking in to keep temperature.
When I moved my Daughter’s hive controller from the hallway into the living room and kept the door shut ( it’s always kept open) it meant the boiler  fired up far less. 

englandsrose

Hooch22 said:

pochase said:

Hooch22 said:

pochase said:

You can ask them what the cost for single rate is on the SAME fixed tariff. Not change a tariff, just from E7 to single rate within the same fix if possible.

But you need to know how much you use at night first. Check your bill.

Thanks for the advice. I have checked my usage for the last 10 months (since I was switched to octopus from avro) and I use roughly 5 times as much day elec as night. I rung octopus and got a quote for 46.95p. But when doing the maths it works out almost the exactly the same as the day / night rate. But I really appreciate u taking the time to reply and now in the future I will check the rates of both eco 7 & single rate before fixing 😊 

3p less in overall is not worth it. I agree you should stick with the E7. Maybe move some things like washing machine, tumble dryer or dish washer into the night rate to save more.

I can’t work out how we use so much at night as it’s midnight to 7am and we are all asleep! 

My washer/tumble dryers and dishwasher have delay timers. I know some people won't tumble dry at night due to fire risks but I always did when I had economy 7!

englandsrose

So I finally fixed - I should have gone with the 14 when Martin was telling us but hey ho.

EON V 18
Electricity             52.63 Per KWh
Standing Charge 48.13 Per day

Gas                      13.35 Per KWH
Standing Charge  27.22 Per day

I don't feel great about it but it's better than January's prediction. 

BUFF

If you have a history of typical monthly consumptions for you  then you can run the figures of how that works out for you - usually December, January & February are the highest heating months.

southseabubble

I've had this 1 year offer to fix from Ovo today (current fix expires 3 Oct)

Not sure whether to fix now or wait until nearer the time (perhaps after new PM in office)

electricity

Unit rate:

57.86p/kWh

Standing charge:

49.91p/day......................(this seems whopping compared to a BG fix)

gas

Unit rate:

16.87p/kWh

Standing charge:

27.52p/day

It's £474 pm v £233 pm for the variable tarriff, but believe latter will go through roof in Oct then Jan then Apr.

What a dilemma.. thoughts from anyone in same leaky boat?

.

damsonjam

southseabubble said:

I've had this 1 year offer to fix from Ovo today (current fix expires 3 Oct)

Not sure whether to fix now or wait until nearer the time (perhaps after new PM in office)

electricity

Unit rate:

57.86p/kWh

Standing charge:

49.91p/day......................(this seems whopping compared to a BG fix)

gas

Unit rate:

16.87p/kWh

Standing charge:

27.52p/day

It's £474 pm v £233 pm for the variable tarriff, but believe latter will go through roof in Oct then Jan then Apr.

What a dilemma.. thoughts from anyone in same leaky boat?

.

Since I’m in a similarly leaking boat and had my (stupidly complex) spreadsheet open I plugged these numbers in and the Ovo offer with that whopping standing charge, for my annual consumption, still comes in marginally (£44) cheaper than the BG fix I’m being offered fwiw. Gas was £8 cheaper 🤣 than BG for the rates you’ve shown.

(purely in the interests of sharing info, no advice given nor intended)