Looking To Switch Energy Providers

RichardCUK · 10 February 2018 at 3:27PM

I'm currently with Robin Hood Energy and my fix term is ending on Feb 23rd. Once this ends we will go on a different tariff and also has exit fees of £30 per fuel. I'm also looking to leave as during our year with them they switched us to variable payments even though we wanted to pay a set amount each month by direct debit and they cant update their system on time and they NEVER take a pay on the same day each month, some months not taking payment at all and then taking 2 payments in once month.

That being said I've looked at a few supplies and I'm comparing day rates and standing charges and these seem to be the best I've found:

RHE GAS Rate: 3.1532 Gas Stand: 22.848 Elec Rate: 13.9974 Elec Stand:19.9815
OCTOPUS GAS Rate: 2.8035 Gas Stand: 17.85 Elec Rate: 12.789 Elec Stand:17.85 NO EXIT FEE
BULB GAS Rate: 2.497 Gas Stand: 24.56 Elec Rate: 12.354 Elec Stand:24.56 NO EXIT FEE
AVRO GAS Rate: 2.756 Gas Stand: 18.9 Elec Rate: 11.55 Elec Stand:17.85 NO EXIT FEE

RHE is my current provider at the top.

Now which is better to have a lower day rate or a lower KWPH rate?

To me it looks like Octopus may be the cheapest? I've been reading up about them on the forums and they seem like a reliable new company.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I've signed up to the MSE Cheaper Energy Club but cant see the 14M Octopus deal people are talking about

ASavvyBuyer · 10 February 2018 at 4:05PM

I think the 14M Octopus deal is no longer available. It expired a day or two ago.

To find the best deal for you, you need to know how much gas & electric you will use in the next year, in kWh.

Best to get this from two meter readings a year apart to give the best estimate.

Let a comparison site work out from that actual figure what should be the best deal.

Then, see if you can use a referral link to get cashback, and take the cashback value off the total cost.

For example, for us Outfox the Market comes out the cheapest for our Electric, but when you use a referral link for Octopus, it changes and the Octopus deal is the best value when you include the £50 cashback (and even better the potential to get even more cashback if others use your link).

Take a look at the Referrals Board for referral links.

ASavvyBuyer · 10 February 2018 at 4:10PM

It can also work out cheaper to use two different suppliers.

One for Gas & one for Electric to get the best overall cost.

For example, we use Zog for Gas and are changing to Octopus for Electric.

Both companies have excellent reviews and Customer Service ratings.

RichardCUK · 10 February 2018 at 5:11PM

OK. So I jsut went through my old statements and I am one month off a years worth of usage so I guessed what we would use for that last month to get annual kwph usage.

We use about 17211 for gas (high I know, our house is solid brick and a nightmare to heat, need to have it on all the time or else we get mould on the walls, but thats another issue).
For elec we used 1422. Again could be lower but we use our tumble dryer a lot.

With those figures I went on uswitch and saw that we can save £193 a year by switching to octopus. We could save £224 with OVO but they have a £30 per fuel charge is we leave early. Which we probably wouldnt do as we used them before and didnt have a problem.

Looking at OVO's price break down they are cheaper on the unit rate but higher on the standard charge. How does it work out I can save so much? When I look at Octopus they have lower unit rates and standing charges but uswitch says I'll save less. How?

JJ_Egan · 10 February 2018 at 5:14PM

Check the actual costs rather than estimated annual usage or direct debit .
Unit costs and standing charges .

RichardCUK · 10 February 2018 at 5:37PM

My annual cost is based on what I used last year so I figured that would be pretty accurate?

We pay monthly of bill of receipt and I put usage down as what I used for the last 11 months (guessed the 12th month)

ASavvyBuyer · 10 February 2018 at 5:40PM

RichardCUK wrote: »

OK. So I jsut went through my old statements and I am one month off a years worth of usage so I guessed what we would use for that last month to get annual kwph usage.

We use about 17211 for gas (high I know, our house is solid brick and a nightmare to heat, need to have it on all the time or else we get mould on the walls, but thats another issue).
For elec we used 1422. Again could be lower but we use our tumble dryer a lot.

With those figures I went on uswitch and saw that we can save £193 a year by switching to octopus. We could save £224 with OVO but they have a £30 per fuel charge is we leave early. Which we probably wouldnt do as we used them before and didnt have a problem.

Looking at OVO's price break down they are cheaper on the unit rate but higher on the standard charge. How does it work out I can save so much? When I look at Octopus they have lower unit rates and standing charges but uswitch says I'll save less. How?

The savings figures are usually totally useless for doing a comparison.

Most of them are based on what you could save compared to the most expensive tariff.

What you need to compare is the actual total cost of each utility.

That figure of 1422kWh for electric over a year seems very low. We have Solar PV, but still import over 2,000kWh per year.

Also, don't forget to factor in the cashback you can get if you use a referral link. Comparison sites won't factor that in to the overall cost.

RichardCUK · 10 February 2018 at 7:17PM

I did total my electricity wrong it comes out at 2600.

What is the actual cost? How much I'd pay a month?

RichardCUK · 10 February 2018 at 7:23PM

I thoughts because I'm putting in actual usage readings for the last 12 months or 17211 for gas and 2600 for elec, when I put them on a comparison website I get an accurate quote of how much it will cost a month in £ to use that much fuel?

ASavvyBuyer · 10 February 2018 at 7:33PM

RichardCUK wrote: »

I did total my electricity wrong it comes out at 2600.

What is the actual cost? How much I'd pay a month?

Using the electric unit costs you mentioned earlier for Octopus Energy that works out as follows:

2600 x 12.789p = £332.51
365 x 17.85p = £65.15
Annual Total = £397.66
Referral Cashback = minus £50 (at least)
Total Annual Cost = £347.66 (but would probably be less if anyone uses the referral link you get)

RichardCUK · 10 February 2018 at 8:00PM

Ahh I get it now. Doing those calculations it would be cheaper for me to have gas and elec with Ocotopus but about £100 more expensive with OVO. Plus I get £50 cashback and I'm pretty sure I could get my dad and brother to switch as they are also with robin hood energy

Looking To Switch Energy Providers

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