Bills - first time payer!

c_ellis92

We’ve just moved into a new build and paying energy bills for the first time.

Our energy provider is with British Gas. We’re on a standard tariff (£173.04 pm) - see tariff details attached.

How does this compare? What are our options? Do we stick with them or look elsewhere?

TIA,
Chris

Robin9

Remember that the DD is a guess - use more, pay more !

Read your meter at least monthly. keep your own records.

ariarnia

you are free to look elsewhere but most likely you will be offered exactly the same rates. those are the standard variable rates under the price cap so will be fixed until end March this year. then we know the rates will go up but we dont know what to until the end of feb. 

theres not many fixes available. those that are are mostly for existing customers and there higher than the current variable but might be lower than the rates from april/next 12 months. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Ooh, what I would give to live in an area with such low unit rates (electricity is 35.06p/kWh here)!

InvertedVee

Robin9 said:

Remember that the DD is a guess - use more, pay more !

Read your meter at least monthly. keep your own records.

@c_ellis92 welcome to your new home! @Robin9 is absolutely right in saying that it's a good idea to keep your own records of meter readings. Take readings at the meter itself, not at any in-home display unit. Convert m3 of gas to kWh by multiplying by 11.2.

And it's a good idea to report your readings to British Gas whenever you read the meters. You might have smart meters but they don't always connect to the energy company.

At the moment British Gas is estimating the amounts of energy that you will be using. Their estimate for your gas (annual 2193kWh) looks low to me. We're in a new-build and are expecting that our first year will be around 6700kWh. Keep an eye on what your using and be ready to raise your DD payments accordingly.

At the moment, a typical home can expect to pay around £2500 per year. But that will go up in April and it's not a limit, just a typical figure. This forum shows that there's a big range of energy consumption - we're all different and our homes are different too. Just remember you will pay for every kWh you use - and you'll save money with every kWh you don't use.

Enjoy your first Christmas in your new place!

[Deleted User]

InvertedVee said:

Robin9 said:

Remember that the DD is a guess - use more, pay more !

Read your meter at least monthly. keep your own records.

@c_ellis92 welcome to your new home! @Robin9 is absolutely right in saying that it's a good idea to keep your own records of meter readings. Take readings at the meter itself, not at any in-home display unit. Convert m3 of gas to kWh by multiplying by 11.2.

And it's a good idea to report your readings to British Gas whenever you read the meters. You might have smart meters but they don't always connect to the energy company.

At the moment British Gas is estimating the amounts of energy that you will be using. Their estimate for your gas (annual 2193kWh) looks low to me. We're in a new-build and are expecting that our first year will be around 6700kWh. Keep an eye on what your using and be ready to raise your DD payments accordingly.

At the moment, a typical home can expect to pay around £2500 per year. But that will go up in April and it's not a limit, just a typical figure. This forum shows that there's a big range of energy consumption - we're all different and our homes are different too. Just remember you will pay for every kWh you use - and you'll save money with every kWh you don't use.

Enjoy your first Christmas in your new place!

There is no need to provide the supplier with meter readings unless the bill is showing meter readings with an ‘E’ rather than an a’ S’ annotation. Apps such as Bright, also show when there is an issue with the smart meter Wide Area Network as Bright pulls data directly from the smart meters.

macman

Not really possible to compare anything ,as you haven't told us how the property is heated and hot watered, how big it is, or whether it is heated all day or just morning and evening? If it's gas CH and DHW, then the estimated gas usage of 2,193kWh is ridiculously low, even for a studio flat. The UK average for gas is 12,500kWh, so I would suggest that you need to review this side. The estimated electricity usage is less than the UK average, but nearer to the mark.

InvertedVee

[Deleted User] said:

There is no need to provide the supplier with meter readings unless the bill is showing meter readings with an ‘E’ rather than an a’ S’ annotation. Apps such as Bright, also show when there is an issue with the smart meter Wide Area Network as Bright pulls data directly from the smart meters.

With a new connection and British Gas's irregular billing, I would definitely send them meter readings. It takes 2 minutes.

Like the OP, I have a new-build and am with British Gas with SMETS2 meters. The electricity meter is connected but we're still waiting for the gas meter to be paired on the HAN, nearly 2 years after completion.

CasualMFW

c_ellis92 said:

We’ve just moved into a new build and paying energy bills for the first time.

Our energy provider is with British Gas. We’re on a standard tariff (£173.04 pm) - see tariff details attached.

How does this compare? What are our options? Do we stick with them or look elsewhere?

TIA,
Chris

Congratulations on the new home. The key is to not pay any attention to the £173 per month you've quoted, that's simply guesswork from British Gas.

I presume that you've taken a meter reading as soon as you moved in? In a months time submit another reading to British Gas and amend your direct debit amount accordingly.

theoretica

As others have said - you are not going to find a cheaper price per unit at the moment.  What is crucial is how much you are using.  Getting to really understand your heating and hot water systems will be important.  But remember to take into account that this is the cold time of year so you will be using more than you will in summer.