Standing Charges

angelamison

I am a very miserly energy user.

Not only have I moved from a low fixed price contract, so suffered enormously from the increase in unit price, but the standing charge has become ridiculous.  I cannot find a contract without a standing charge, even with a much higher unit charge.  Currently over half my annual bill relates to standing charges.  I have thought about having my gas supply terminated, but the cost for, at £300, that is roughly twice my annual gas bill.

In terms of Direct Debit (DD), at the end of my fixed term contract it was proposed that my Eon DD went from £14 per month to £44 (and yes, I was in credit).  After looking at the site, and finding the amend DD page, I managed to reduce the DD to £21.  I don't know if anyone else has the same energy usage pattern as myself, but I do resent the disproportionate charges just for having a meter.

Astria

Whilst you may pay more in the your first year from having the meter removed, in subsequent years you will quickly save money if you do not use much gas.

I'm surprised that you were allowed to reduce your DD to £21, as typically £22/month is just standing charges (assuming combining gas and electric SCs comes to 75p/day,  * 365 / 12)

pochase

angelamison said:

I am a very miserly energy user.

Not only have I moved from a low fixed price contract, so suffered enormously from the increase in unit price, but the standing charge has become ridiculous.  I cannot find a contract without a standing charge, even with a much higher unit charge.  Currently over half my annual bill relates to standing charges.  I have thought about having my gas supply terminated, but the cost for, at £300, that is roughly twice my annual gas bill.

In terms of Direct Debit (DD), at the end of my fixed term contract it was proposed that my Eon DD went from £14 per month to £44 (and yes, I was in credit).  After looking at the site, and finding the amend DD page, I managed to reduce the DD to £21.  I don't know if anyone else has the same energy usage pattern as myself, but I do resent the disproportionate charges just for having a meter.

There are no longer subsidised tariffs with no or low standing charges.

I have no idea how you got them to agree on a DD of £21, the combined standing charge for the region with the lowest standing charge (London) is 59.37p per day. That is £17.81 to £18.40 per month.

That will get you 9 to 11KWh (depending on 30 or 31 day months) of electricity  and no gas per month covered by your direct debit.

You might consider to switch to Octopus, last I heard was they are removing a gas meter for free, but you will need agreement from you landlord to remove the meter. Also there is a high chance that in few months the complete gas pipes will removed at you cost. Plus you will have to pay getting the meter back in when you move out. If you are the owner it will reduce worth of your property.

wild666

In Summer my usage of gas is around 11.4 kWh a week around 51 kWh per month which is around £11.70 per month so £21 per month would see at least a £60 credit on the account for gas 

If you have both electric and gas then the £21 per month won't even cover the SC's in most of the UK. I'm a very low user most days using between 3 an 5 kWh of electric at my price of 27.09p plus a SC of 48.65p so between so that's at least £1.30 per day in electric then the gas is 27.22p SC and 7.22p kWh so my summer daily usage is  40p per day that's just short of £53 per month in summer. It won't be a lot more in winter as I've dropped the temperatures on the boiler and thermostat to 50 degrees water, 55 degrees heating and 17 degrees thermostat.