I need some help understanding what to do

thomp1983

Good evening all,

I'm looking for some advice re. what to do with my electric and gas tariffs or if indeed I shouldn't do anything at all.

First up is about our house/usage,

4 bed house with 2 adults, 1 child.

Solar panels with 10kw battery storage.

1 ev with 7kw home charger but its rarely used as I charge at work for free.

Our current tariff is with outfox energy and fixed until July 27 with total exit fees of £200. The rates are as follows,

Electric, sc 44.55p unit rate 16.77p

Gas, sc 29.64p unit rate 5.43p

Estimated annual usage is,

Electric 1650kwh gas 10000kwh

Our current monthly direct debit is £50 and we're slightly in credit, due to the good summer we use very little electric from the grid and export all the excess from the solar with Fuse at 13p per kwh. Gas usage is around £13 a month as obviously we've not had the heating on.

Financially we've no issues so if we waited out then moved onto the price cap it wouldn't cause hardship but I want to understand what is the best option to make the most of what we have.

Do we buy out of our current fix and accept the increases that go with it and move onto an ev tariff in the hope that using the cheap overnight rate to fill the batteries then selling it back to the grid at peak times will offset the increased costs and also increased grid use in the winter as the solar starts to drop off.

My concern at the moment is if I stay with our fix till it ends then following January's predicted big price cap hike all the cheap ev rates will significantly hike and come July I'll looking at a hike that would wipe out any savings from having stayed with our fix.

Is there another tyros of tariff we should consider?

Thanks,

Chris.

QrizB

I'd suggest that you don't need to do anything at all with your tariff. Your current fix is cheaper than anything generally available on the market.

In principle an EV tariff would offer a cheaper off-peak electricity rate but even if you can save 10p/kWh on all 1650kWh you use in a year, that's only £65 more than the £100 exit fee on your current electricity fix.

And you won't find a better gas fix anywhere.

My concern at the moment is if I stay with our fix till it ends then following January's predicted big price cap hike all the cheap ev rates will significantly hike and come July I'll looking at a hike that would wipe out any savings from having stayed with our fix.

Your current fix will take you through the 26/27 winter and you'll need a new deal for 27/28.

A new 12-month fix would also take you through the 26/27 winter and you'd need a new one for 27/28.

The only case where switching now would make sense is if you take an 18- or 24-month fix and prices remain high for the next four quarters. That seems rather an edge case, and no-one can forecast that far ahead reliably.

The decision is yours to make, but in your position I'd sit tight.

Newbie_John

Agree, wait till July and see. Your in better place than most people with your rates, and they cover you over winter. There will be EV tarrifs in July next year and nobody knows if they will be cheaper or more expensive than now.

squirrelpie

Why do you care about EV rates if you charge your car at work?

RelievedSheff

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82161401#Comment_82161401

To charge the house battery at low rates.

thomp1983

As above, an ev tariff would give me the best overnight rate for charging batteries.

Thanks for the help I guess we'll stay as we are and see what happens next year.

Thanks,

Chris.