Hi, were just moving into our first house its a 2 bedroom bungalow (me, g/f and daughter) and im trying to sign up for an energy deal but a bit lost.
Im guessing for gas and electric it will cost around £1000 year (about £40 a month each?) So based on this ive decided to go with EDF but there
tarrifs are
Online VARIABLE £966 year at todays rates
Fixed for 1 year £1009 year
Fixed for 2 1/2 years £1085 a year
Anybody got any advice? Is £1000 a year a realistic figure to base it on? Thanks
figure may be low, depending on how much heating you use and how well insulated it is.
In the current market I would fix for as long as possible. But then again stuff like that I regularly get wrong. However, there is little evidence to
suggest prices will drop, and more rises seem to be on the way already
Depends where you put the central heating controls...
The x used to crank it up to full all the time.
Make the girls pay it and it will get real savings
The talking heads that keep appearing on telly are saying that consumer prices may rise by up to 30% in the next few years (especially gas) - so on
that basis the longer fixed deal looks good value. Even if prices go up 10% in that time you still OK.
As to whether £80/month is realistic or not I don't know (down here in the tropical south I pay £110 for a 4 bed) but you should factor in that
the majority of the household are women.............how many baths will they run a day?
Sounds a bit low to me TBH, I think you need nearer £100+ a month.
Its a bit of a 'how long is a bit of string' question.
How old is the house? I rented a 2 bed bungalow that was built 40 years ago was a bit damp and had almost no insulation/double glazing and the heating
alone cost more than your total allowance (and that was 15 years ago)! On the other hand, my dad built his oiwn 2 bed bungalow at about that time and
maxed out the insulation etc and his energy use would only be about £400 last year (he offsets this and effectively pays nothing as he has a huge
solar panel array and exports to the grid).
It depends a lot on how hot you like the house/how much you use the tumble dryer/hairdryers/tv/computers/welders /leave lights on etc.
Personally I'd go for the security of the fixed long term - energy prices are most likely to go up steeply.
Regards
Hugh
quote:
Originally posted by HomersDouble
prices may rise by up to 30% in the next few years (especially gas) - so on that basis the longer fixed deal looks good value. Even if prices go up 10% in that time you still OK.
go for a fixed deal but look at quidco and get some cash back ( providing you do the maths )
I move to edf 6 months ago ( 1 year deal ) and got £80 for the trouble.
regards
Agriv8
You been on Money Saving Expert?
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/
Cheers,
James
Just signed a 2 yr deal with Scottish Power, they were the first to raise their prices and experts say all others will follow.
Moneysaving expert and similar were advising to go with 2yr fixed as prices are set to soar.....
Its all a guess really............
TBH I think £50 a month is a lot - I live in a 4 bedroom 1930's ex council house containing me and Mrs Beddows, 2 teenage girls and a 14 month
old and after decommissioning the power shower (I bought a decent shower head for the pipe coming off the mixer taps which actually makes for a far
superior showering experience anyway!), replacing every single bulb in the house with an energy saving one of equivalent performance and becoming
rather anal about switching things off we now use about £32 of electricity a month. The modifications cost less than £100 but have almost halved our
electricity usage.
It's all very well building up credit (or a 'buffer' as the energy companies prefer to call it.......) but they make enough profit on
the energy they sell you without letting them benefit from interest on your money sat in their account as well
i pay £50 a month for gas and £20 for electric, all on scottish powers online tariff.
We are on a fixed price deal with Scottish Power till 2014 and pay £95 per month, for both electricity and gas. The house is (fairly) modern three bed bungallo, with wall and roof insulation, so my feeling is your £50 is going to be well low. HTH Ray
Think he meant £50 for electric and £50 for gas......... well that's the basis I was working on
quote:
Originally posted by D Beddows
Think he meant £50 for electric and £50 for gas......... well that's the basis I was working on![]()
Yes, it was £50 each BTW, Thanks for the replies guys, I think ive decided to fix it now, but best cashbacks i can find are only £20, or £30 on a
dearer tarrif. Id spotted a £50er the other day but that seems to have disappeared now Oh well, on with pricing up sky, phone and broadband etc
now. Cheers