first time buyers, first time switchers

stayfrostea · 16 January 2019 at 12:21AM

Hi everyone. We bought a house for the time in 2017. Up to then we had never had to worry about switching energy suppliers or fixed tariffs ending. I am looking at switching at the moment and it seems like it will certainly be worthwhile. My question is, will the smart meter I have installed be affected or become useless if I switch from British Gas to another supplier? Also in general, for those far more experienced in these matters, is a dual fuel tariff better/cheaper than separate gas and electric tariffs? Or vise versa? Finally, as we do not spend the same amount each month on utilities, is it usual to work on a monthly average spend when comparing to other deals?

Thank you and I apologise if these questions seem naive

MrLightBulb · 16 January 2019 at 3:49AM

Hi stayfrostea,

More than likely you have a generation one SMART meter installed in you're property!

Unfortunately until the release of the DCC (Data Communcations Centre) no supplier is able to read each others meters - only the company that installed there own meters can read and communicate with them.

You would loose all SMART functionality and you're In-Home Display if you were provided one would become useless until the release of the DDC which could be anytime between now and 2020.

It's generally cheapest to have a duel fuel online energy tarrif as these usually have the best unit rates and this is the preferred method of payment by most suppliers.

Me personally if I was in you're situation would speak to british gas to maybe switch the SMART meter into prepayment mode - this means you're in full control and can top up remotely using an App anytime.

it may not be the cheapest method as you can't choose a tarrif on these meters however in terms of what you're looking for may be the most efficient however in my experience i've had the least amount of hassle using my SMART meter in this type of mode!

Kind regards

Mr Lightbulb

D_M_E · 16 January 2019 at 12:32PM

Have you read the meters, read them when you moved in and every month since?

Did you ask BG to put you on their cheapest tariff when you moved in and informed them you were responsible for paying the energy bills?

Go back through your bills and get 2 readings a year apart and this will give you an idea of what your annual usages are.

Now go on a comparison site and put in your KWH usage and see what reccommendations come up.

Try both dual fuel supplies and separate supplies for gas and electric, you may find separate could be cheaper.

As for your smart meters, they will most likely be SMETS1 things, which means that only BG or Sainsbury's Energy can get the readings from them remotely and therefore if you switch to another supplier you will have to read them yourself.

For example if Liberty 100 electric meter, push button 9 and the first reading shown is the one you want - look up your own meters on either BG's site or put it in your favourite search engine.

JJ_Egan · 16 January 2019 at 1:12PM

Dual Fuel is not always better you have to check unit prices .
You can have one supplier for gas and another for electric .
My last four switches have been one dual fual and three with seperate suppliers . Current seperate and both 2 year fixed tariff .

first time buyers, first time switchers

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