Fixed or Variable Energy Bills?

MikeL93

I am due to complete on my first home next Friday, and whilst I have done all my sums prior to buying the house I am still extremely worried about the cost of energy bills. Mainly due to the fact that I am going to be living alone so there is only one wage to pay all my bills. Me and my girlfriend have discussed her moving in with me in a few months and we will discuss how to split bills but until then I am on my own.

I have spoken to my parents about it and they have suggested that due to me living on my own and therefore won't be using as much energy a variable energy bill will probably be better than fixed for me as it will possibly work out cheaper. For example I don't have showers at home, I have showers at the gym I go to 7 days a week so I would be saving a bit of money there.

Additionally I have discovered that my sister and brother in law are coming out of a fixed bill and moving to variable as for the time being it works out cheaper for them too.

As this is all new to me I feel like it's incredibly daunting so any help or advice people can offer would be greatly appreciated. 

Astria

Fixed vs variable isn't about how much energy you use, its the difference between knowing how much a unit of energy costs over a year and guessing/predicting what it will cost over the year, so a fixed tariff may make it easier for you to budget.

For example, a lot of us have signed up to a fixed tariff that will most likely be more expensive than variable during October - December, but will likely be cheaper next year if the price of fuel continues to increase.

pochase

Fixed or SVT been cheaper  have not that much to do if you use a lot of energy or not, the unit rates are the same.

Did you put any thought into what you might need, and what you can afford?

Your sister will be the cheaper rate exactly another 38 days, on 1st of October the predicted increase of over 80% is going to hit her, with possibly another 30% in January. Even higher rates are predicted for April, but much of this is educated guessing.

Not much has been said here about things like people going to the gym and take a shower there. How long will that work, they have the same higher cost and I would expect them to increase prices by a lot, charge separately for showers, only allow cold showers or go bust.

MikeL93

Additionally, even though I am not yet a homeowner will I still be eligible for the £400 discount that I have read about?

Astria

MikeL93 said:

Additionally, even though I am not yet a homeowner will I still be eligible for the £400 discount that I have read about?

You say you are completing your sale next Friday, so submitting gas and electric meter reads should be on the first things you do, so you'll be registered for it at that point. They'll put you on the SVT by default, but you can find out about fixed rates once registered. The new cap will be announced this Friday.

jimjames

Astria said:

MikeL93 said:

Additionally, even though I am not yet a homeowner will I still be eligible for the £400 discount that I have read about?

They'll put you on the SVT by default, but you can find out about fixed rates once registered. The new cap will be announced this Friday.

And depending on the supplier they might not even offer you the SVT online and only show expensive fixed tariffs, you don't need to accept these.

Astria

jimjames said:

Astria said:

MikeL93 said:

Additionally, even though I am not yet a homeowner will I still be eligible for the £400 discount that I have read about?

They'll put you on the SVT by default, but you can find out about fixed rates once registered. The new cap will be announced this Friday.

And depending on the supplier they might not even offer you the SVT online and only show expensive fixed tariffs, you don't need to accept these.

To register with a energy provider though you'd typically ring up as you would need to setup an account before you can go online, you could do it before but now they won't even give you a quote online.

BUFF

MikeL93 said:

I am due to complete on my first home next Friday, and whilst I have done all my sums prior to buying the house I am still extremely worried about the cost of energy bills. Mainly due to the fact that I am going to be living alone so there is only one wage to pay all my bills. Me and my girlfriend have discussed her moving in with me in a few months and we will discuss how to split bills but until then I am on my own.

don't forget to make sure that you get the 25% council tax reduction for a single person (at least for the months until your girl friend moves in)

Kiyonari

Just signed up to utility warehouse fix as it's cheaper than the cheapest variable.   Always been weary of them before but times are hard.

pochase

Did you take into account the rest of the services you need to take with them.

I did a calculation for somebody and found it only works out for high users if you don't need the services anyway.

Chesney18

UW just proposed to cancel my fixed energy price contract before it expires normally (it had prices lower than the recent Ofgem Cap, meaning about £3,500/year for typical household).  This means we will get the maximum government rebate (not the partial rebate needed by a fixed price energy contract) from government, and we can share extra government cash between us (me and UW) !!!!
This is imposed on me by UW, but it still seems wrong?