Are fixed tarrifs a scam?

RedFraggle

What ages are the respective houses and what are the heating and how water systems and insulation like?

Lolly1626

debitcardmayhem said:

Lolly1626 said:

Thanks for all your comments. I do understand that house A may have different usage to house B, but they had a year of readings from me previously as I stayed with the same company. Also, I don't understand how having my heating on for 4 hours a day equates to £200 a month!? I live on my own so I feel that is a lot of money. 

Have to checked the number of kWh used by each fuel , you could tell us how much of each, oh and are your bills showing actual readings or estimates.

They've only had 1 reading since October because that's when they fitted my smart meter but apparently that's not working. I gave them a reading a few days ago and that's when all this has come to light

gpman

Lolly1626 said:

Thanks for all your comments. I do understand that house A may have different usage to house B, but they had a year of readings from me previously as I stayed with the same company. Also, I don't understand how having my heating on for 4 hours a day equates to £200 a month!? I live on my own so I feel that is a lot of money. 

Then I'm not sure why your supplier would have asked you what type of house you live in (or your estimated annual consumption) if they already had supplied you at that property for the previous 12 months.

Did you compare the EAC figures shown on your first statement issued after the tariff change to that shown on the statement preceding that? If there has been any significant reduction, have you asked the supplier to justify that change?

How does the EAC figures assumed compare to your actual usage over the previous 12 months?

victor2

Lolly1626 said:

Thanks for all your comments. I do understand that house A may have different usage to house B, but they had a year of readings from me previously as I stayed with the same company. Also, I don't understand how having my heating on for 4 hours a day equates to £200 a month!? I live on my own so I feel that is a lot of money. 

Look at your energy bills from a year ago if you can. They MUST have actual readings on them, not estimates. Take your readings now and figure out what your annual usage has actually been. With electricity, that's easy as it's just the difference between the two readings. Gas is not so simple, but just post two readings on here with dates, and someone will help if needed. If your meters have been chamged during the last 12 months, then it gets more complicated!

With your actual annual usage in kWh, you can work out what the annual cost will likely be on a fixed tariff. Divide it by 12 and you get a realistic monthly cost. Provided of course, that nothing has changed in the way you use gas and/or electricity.

Scot_39

Gas heating - is pretty powerful - and uses a lot of energy within first hour to heat the water/ radiators and then they heat the house.  My parents small boiler rated at over 20kW nax iirc.  The energy use then drops off - to low levels to then maintain that heat against any losses etc. Once rooms reach individual radiator trv or master thermostat settings

Simple physics though says - If you want tge house at say 20C 16 hrs a day - that has a fixed cost - and you can probably do that by overshooting for a couple of hours a couple of times on your gch e.g. to 21  , letting it cool back to say 19 or running at 20 all day.

You need to eitger reduce temperature or house losses to save (thermal / lined curtains, draft excluders etc non strucural savings) 

You will use less energy  running for 4-5 than if run for 24 hrs - but only in part  because tge house will go lower than setpoint between use. 
But even a couple of warm up cycles for say 2 hours twice a day - like morning and late afternoon / esrly evening - can use a decent amount of energy.

And £200pm in winter isnt really a lot. 

And thats not £2400 pa - as should drop off dramaticalky in spring, summer and autumn.

What thermostat setting are you using - hall or living room location  ?

Do you have radiator trvs - turning those down to 2 -3  in unused rooms (spare bedrooms etc  closing their doors) should Be enough to keep damp etc at bay  - heating them to say 14/15 max rather than higher if doing so currently - e.g say with whole house off a hall thermostat at say 18-21C type nhs range.

You might also be able to save a little by dropping your radiator flow temperarure at boiler  to say 60C.  (I did that at parents home - but BG service folk always seem to  set it higher - so drop back when visit). As govt advice during recent energy crisis peak - iirc they estimated a 4% efficiency saving - so £8 in £200.  

Swipe

Keep a spreadsheet of weekly or monthly meter readings. Create a simple calculation formula using your current units rates and standing charges then you'll know exactly how much your bills will be each month before you get them and have a good idea how much your DD amount should be.

QrizB

Lolly1626 said:

Thanks for all your comments. I do understand that house A may have different usage to house B, but they had a year of readings from me previously as I stayed with the same company.

Your bills will all show your Estimated Annual Consumption, in kilowatt-hours of each fuel. What numbers are given on your latest bill?

Lolly1626 said:

Also, I don't understand how having my heating on for 4 hours a day equates to £200 a month!?

It doesn't. There's more to it than that.

Do you have a smart meter and a working in-home display? If you do, what does that say your daily energy use is?

Ildhund

[OT - sorry!]

QrizB said:
Your bills will all show your Estimated Annual Consumption, in kilowatt-hours of each fuel.

I've often seen this assertion, but I can't find any basis for it. I only know that I've not seen an estimated annual consumption figure on any of the monthly bills/statements OVO have provided me with over the past six years. Is it a statutory or regulatory requirement?

I can easily find a similar number in my online account, just not on an actual bill.
  

QrizB

Ildhund said:

[OT - sorry!]

QrizB said:
Your bills will all show your Estimated Annual Consumption, in kilowatt-hours of each fuel.

I've often seen this assertion, but I can't find any basis for it. I only know that I've not seen an estimated annual consumption figure on any of the monthly bills/statements OVO have provided me with over the past six years. Is it a statutory or regulatory requirement?
I can easily find a similar number in my online account, just not on an actual bill.

I've had iton bills from varous suppliers and I understand there is a requirement for energy suppliers to provide the info but you're quite right, OVO seem have chosen to only provide it online.

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/annual-statements

Energy suppliers send annual statements to show you how much energy you’ve used, and how much you’ve spent, in a year.

In line with Ofgem regulations, we no longer post or email OVO members’ annual statements. Instead, you can see all the details of your yearly energy use in your online account. 

Yuo can see it on an Octopus bill here:

https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/how-do-i-read-my-octopus-energy-bill/

And E.ON Next:

https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/how-do-i-read-my-eon-energy-bill/

And Scottish Power:

https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/how-do-i-read-my-scottish-power-energy-bill/

And BG:

https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/how-do-i-read-my-british-gas-energy-bill/

And EDF:

https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/how-do-i-read-my-edf-energy-bill/

So it seems OVO are a bit of an outlier in this, at lewast as far as large suppliers are concerned.

gpman

I can also confirm Fuse Energy also include EAC details on their latest statement format (since those issued beginning November 2025)