Topic: changing gas supplier

[ACE]

Thought I had better take the government's advice yesterday and spent hours trying to find my yearly use which is not as easy as they make it out to be. Nowhere on my online account does it state the yearly use, only each quarter which you had to go to and fro for each quarter plus the same for the leccy.

  Eventually got it all together , yearly kilowatts, yearly costs. Then went to a comparison site and found out I could save about £8 a year. I was well under the average household usage, I suppose living in a warmer part of the country helps. We do not pump the temperature up as neither of us like it really hot 16 to 18 degrees is comfortable perhaps 20/21 when it gets really cold. I do wander about the house a lot in my onesies which is as good as an extra pullover. All the lightbulbs are the low energy type and I have just invested in some remote control leccy switches that turn off the standby lights on the telly/sky/theatre sound etc. The house is also well insulated.

 So what can people like me do. Just take the price increases on the chin?  I did not change as it would have meant being tied in to a contract for a couple of years and having to have a smart meter installed. I can see these recent price rises becoming a big issue and they will have to do something to reduce them to guarantee being elected in next time. Everybody that switches now will then be tied to the old price.

I do not want a smart meter yet as I have heard some scare stories (possibly bullsh!t) but I need to check them out first.

[bluecar]

Hello Ace.

I am currently gong through a switch of suppliers.

I used the Martin Lewis site http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub - it reduced my tariff and in three months I get £30 cash back. This only works with certain suppliers, but as it was the best deal any way, the £30 is a bonus.

Worth a try?

Regards

Bluecar

[goodlife]

 

So what can people like me do. Just take the price increases on the chin?

Have another onesie layer on...or huddle closer together with the lady of the house...

There is not much you can do...unless you have your own firewood supply for 'free' wood and stove to burn it in to provide some extra heat.
We have bit similar situation...insulation done, comparison done, electric saving devises done, new boiler done, smart meter done..etc.... resulting our usage is as low it can be without going totally bonkers and overly frugal. For little amount we could 'save' with changing...it is not worth of effort and with my luck there would be some bill issues afterwards...been there, done that...

Smart meters don't save you money....they just highlight the way you use the energy and having all meter readings being transferred automatically mean that it saves meter reader a job. Hold on to your old type meter as long as it works...I wish I would done so..our meter is ok now that it works properly but the meter needs changing again in few years time as the meter's internal power supply run out again... When ours was installed I asked 'millions' questions from the chap who were doing it...and he told us the internal power said to last about 5 yrs...they don't tell you that when they offer the meter..oh..I should add that I'm talking about gas meter only....

[ACE]

Hello Ace.

I am currently gong through a switch of suppliers.

I used the Martin Lewis site http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub - it reduced my tariff and in three months I get £30 cash back. This only works with certain suppliers, but as it was the best deal any way, the £30 is a bonus.

Worth a try?

Regards

Bluecar

Tried them all, same result. I don't do cashback. If they want my custom they knock it off when I pay, not later. Said that to the currys man and got the money knocked straight off at the point of sale.

[ACE]

Result. As I had to give an email address I kept being pestered by the world and his dog offering all sorts of deals. Today I got an offer from the Froggie firm EDF knocking £80 of what I am paying before it goes up and guaranteed for two years. Leave anytime with no penalty. Grabbed it.

[Jayb]

Good result 

[Paulines7]

I switched yesterday from Scottish and Southern Electricity to EDF and will save at least £83 on our electricity bill.  We don't have gas. I was amazed how much more I had been spending on the standing charge and cost per kWh with SSE and they are about to put their prices up!  The deal I have got with EDF is fixed until March 2015.  Leave anytime with no penalty.

I used the uSwitch website to compare the costs.  Their site is very easy to use.
http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/ppc-rev/dual-fuel/?ref=ppcgoogle~brand~4001922&gclid=CIe6kefQvroCFXDItAodIj4ADg   

The most difficult part was trying to work out how much electricity we had used in the past 12 months.  It was not easy to find details or work it out from those shown on the SSE website, but I got there in the end. 

[ACE]

The most difficult part was trying to work out how much electricity we had used in the past 12 months.  It was not easy to find details or work it out from those shown on the SSE website, but I got there in the end.

They don't make it easy do they. All they have to do is put your average yearly use, but they make you add up all the quarters. So much for making it easy to switch. Any little obstacle they can put in your way they will. In the end I had to run 4 pages at once as they took ages to reload going backwards and forwards through the quarters adding up units and also the cost for leccy, then doing it all again for gas. Then you have to double check, just verify that the cheaper rate per kilowatt they are offering is really cheaper than what you are paying now.

Still in the end you have told the robbers to  eff off, and that makes you feel better. I have never changed before and stayed loyal to my old supplier, so they just took advantage.

[Chrispy]

Even if you don't switch suppliers, check what your current supplier is offering.

I saved £60 over the last year just by signing up to a 1 year contract, and even if I wanted to get out of that it was only a £5 cancellation fee.

That is ending in December, so I am switching to a 1 year fixed rate at the same rate, so I won't have to worry about the price rises until next December.