A bit OK, but this is probably the best place to ponder this...

So the winter fuel bill is in.. Ouch..

Going through u-switch as I usually do - the savings from moving have
hardly been worth while, (like a tenner a year!) so I've never bothered,
but this time there is a new kid on the block - first:utility - or at
least in my area... (Devon)

However there are no reviews on u-switch about them, and they want 2-year
lock-in (£100 buy-out, but u-switch estimate it'll save me £157 a year)

So ... Hmm...

Anyone know how their smart meters work? They say a "communications
network", but they don't say what... Their pretty pictures seem to
indicate some sort of wireless conection - fine for the electric meter,
as it can get power, but what about the gas meter?

Anyone using them or any opinions?

Cheers,

Gordon

However there are no reviews on u-switch about them, and they want 2-year
lock-in (£100 buy-out, but u-switch estimate it'll save me £157 a year)
So ... Hmm...

Ouch, that lock-in fee is a killer

Anyone using them or any opinions?

Check out social tariffs, i'm with Ebico

Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
Colin Wilson o.uk wrote:
However there are no reviews on u-switch about them, and they want 2-year
lock-in (£100 buy-out, but u-switch estimate it'll save me £157 a year)
So ... Hmm...
Ouch, that lock-in fee is a killer

Quite - however if it saves me £157 a year, thats just over 300 in 2
years, so if I did have to pay the £100 to get out, I'm still quids in,
however.. My concern is that of the wholesale priced dropping and being
stuck with higher rates...

Anyone using them or any opinions?
Check out social tariffs, i'm with Ebico

I checked them - good idea, but £183 a year more than e-on I'm with now...

British Gas is surprisingly the cheapest according to u-switch right now.
They reckon I can save nearly £250...

Gordon

EDF (online 6) comes out best for me, £347 saving per year.

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:29:52 +0000, Corporal Jones
wrote:


Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
Colin Wilson o.uk wrote:
However there are no reviews on u-switch about them, and they want 2-year
lock-in (£100 buy-out, but u-switch estimate it'll save me £157 a year)
So ... Hmm...
Ouch, that lock-in fee is a killer

Quite - however if it saves me £157 a year, thats just over 300 in 2
years, so if I did have to pay the £100 to get out, I'm still quids in,
however.. My concern is that of the wholesale priced dropping and being
stuck with higher rates...

Anyone using them or any opinions?
Check out social tariffs, i'm with Ebico

I checked them - good idea, but £183 a year more than e-on I'm with now...

British Gas is surprisingly the cheapest according to u-switch right now.
They reckon I can save nearly £250...

Gordon

EDF (online 6) comes out best for me, £347 saving per year.

E.ON (powergen) is the cheapest for me. Their tariffs and discount
levels are not the simplest though! Some of their bills are pretty
incomprehensible too.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

On 12 Mar, 09:12, Mark wrote:
On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:29:52 +0000, Corporal Jones



wrote:

Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
Colin Wilson *REMOVEEVERYTHINGBUTnewsgr...@phoenixbbsZEROSPAM. co.uk wrote:
However there are no reviews on u-switch about them, and they want 2-year
lock-in (£100 buy-out, but u-switch estimate it'll save me £157 a year)
So ... Hmm...
Ouch, that lock-in fee is a killer

Quite - however if it saves me £157 a year, thats just over 300 in 2
years, so if I did have to pay the £100 to get out, I'm still quids in,
however.. My concern is that of the wholesale priced dropping and being
stuck with higher rates...

Anyone using them or any opinions?
Check out social tariffs, i'm with Ebico

I checked them - good idea, but £183 a year more than e-on I'm with now...

British Gas is surprisingly the cheapest according to u-switch right now.
They reckon I can save nearly £250...

Gordon

EDF (online 6) comes out best for me, £347 saving per year.

E.ON (powergen) is the cheapest for me. *Their tariffs and discount
levels are not the simplest though! *Some of their bills are pretty
incomprehensible too.

--
(\__/) *M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. *If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

Am I missing something here, you guys don't actually believe the
figures from u-switch do you?

Whenever I've looked at switching I've used my exact usage figures for
the last few years and the published tariffs from the suppliers. I
now have a spreadsheet set up so all I need to do is input the current
tariffs (oh, I'm such a geek). What is shocking is that the u-switch
figures are total ********. Often suppliers they claim will save me
money would in fact cost me lots more. In general it's not worth
switching.

Calvin wrote:
Whenever I've looked at switching I've used my exact usage figures for
the last few years and the published tariffs from the suppliers. I
now have a spreadsheet set up so all I need to do is input the current
tariffs (oh, I'm such a geek).

Care to post it somewhere? I'd be interested too.

Another Dave

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:25:33 -0700 (PDT), Calvin
wrote:

On 12 Mar, 09:12, Mark wrote:
On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:29:52 +0000, Corporal Jones



wrote:

Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
Colin Wilson *REMOVEEVERYTHINGBUTnewsgr...@phoenixbbsZEROSPAM. co.uk wrote:
However there are no reviews on u-switch about them, and they want 2-year
lock-in (£100 buy-out, but u-switch estimate it'll save me £157 a year)
So ... Hmm...
Ouch, that lock-in fee is a killer

Quite - however if it saves me £157 a year, thats just over 300 in 2
years, so if I did have to pay the £100 to get out, I'm still quids in,
however.. My concern is that of the wholesale priced dropping and being
stuck with higher rates...

Anyone using them or any opinions?
Check out social tariffs, i'm with Ebico

I checked them - good idea, but £183 a year more than e-on I'm with now...

British Gas is surprisingly the cheapest according to u-switch right now.
They reckon I can save nearly £250...

Gordon

EDF (online 6) comes out best for me, £347 saving per year.

E.ON (powergen) is the cheapest for me. *Their tariffs and discount
levels are not the simplest though! *Some of their bills are pretty
incomprehensible too.

--
(\__/) *M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. *If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

Am I missing something here, you guys don't actually believe the
figures from u-switch do you?

Whenever I've looked at switching I've used my exact usage figures for
the last few years and the published tariffs from the suppliers. I
now have a spreadsheet set up so all I need to do is input the current
tariffs (oh, I'm such a geek). What is shocking is that the u-switch
figures are total ********. Often suppliers they claim will save me
money would in fact cost me lots more. In general it's not worth
switching.

If you can actually find the tariff details then you can check the
figures yourself.

I find that all price comparison sites give roughly the same results
and I have manually calculated a few myself. They don't agree in
absolute terms with uswitch but they are a good benchmark IMHO.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

Mark wrote:

I find that all price comparison sites give roughly the same results
and I have manually calculated a few myself. They don't agree in
absolute terms with uswitch but they are a good benchmark IMHO.

I have found that all sites show negative savings against my
Scottish Power tariff, so I'll stick for the moment.

I'm bemused by those who call at the door, or accost me when out,
and claim, without any information about my existing
arrangements, that they can save me large amounts. It is simply
fiction.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:08:55 +0000, Mark wrote:

If you can actually find the tariff details then you can check the
figures yourself.

This is waht I do but some suppliers don't half make it hard to find their
tariff details, if I can't find what I want in afew minutes online they
get dropped from the list...

I find that all price comparison sites give roughly the same results

When I last looked at the comparison sites it was pretty clear from the
way the data was presented and what that data was (fields and values) that
there was really only 2 perhaps 3 backend databases and all the front ends
were simply that a front end. Some of which when you looked closely were
all from the same parent company all using the same database.

They don't agree in absolute terms with uswitch but they are a good
benchmark IMHO.

They are close enough but I wouldn't switch without checking my useage
against the suggested tariff and my current costs. Our main lecky supply
is from Scottish Power, last time I checked it was the best deal at least
within £10 or £20/year which isn't worth worrying about.

Just for fun I've just used uswitch to check, it's a while since I did it
anyway. Only three cheaper options N-Power "Sign Online V14 - Paperless
Billing & Standar Billing" both save me £15.03 (wow!). However EDF Energy
"Online Version 6" says it will save me £68.96 and I get Nectar points
(wow!). I shall be plugging the tariff details of that into my checking
spread sheet, then perhaps start reading the small print...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:00:00 GMT, Chris J Dixon
wrote:


I'm bemused by those who call at the door, or accost me when out,
and claim, without any information about my existing
arrangements, that they can save me large amounts. It is simply
fiction.

Chris

Might be, might not be. There are no easy answers. I was a cold
caller for a well known national supplier, seven years ago, and while
there is no doubt that there was a lot of sharp practice going on in
the trade, there were and are savings to be made, depending on
individual circumstances. Tariffs as shown on sites like uswitch are
confusing. You need to know the cost per unit, the standing charge,
which may of course be hidden, and your annual usage. Best to do the
calculation yourself.

There's a lot of ignorance on both sides of the doorstep. Some of the
reasons for not even considering a change of supplier had to be heard
to be believed. And some of the misinformation bandied about by
sellers was shocking too!

John

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:07:57 +0000 (GMT), Dave Liquorice wrote:

However EDF Energy "Online Version 6" says it will save me £68.96 and I
get Nectar points (wow!). I shall be plugging the tariff details of that
into my checking spread sheet, then perhaps start reading the small
print...

Well my spread sheet says I'll save £68 as well. So I wanders off to EDF
website, no sign of the "Online Version 6" tariff. Not listed in the
electricity price list just Standard, E7 and E10.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:07:57 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:08:55 +0000, Mark wrote:

If you can actually find the tariff details then you can check the
figures yourself.

This is waht I do but some suppliers don't half make it hard to find their
tariff details, if I can't find what I want in afew minutes online they
get dropped from the list...

But you may be rejecting the cheapest. EON make their tariff details
pretty secret, especially their variable "discount" levels. I am as
sure as I can be they are among the cheapest for me last time I
checked.

I find that all price comparison sites give roughly the same results

When I last looked at the comparison sites it was pretty clear from the
way the data was presented and what that data was (fields and values) that
there was really only 2 perhaps 3 backend databases and all the front ends
were simply that a front end. Some of which when you looked closely were
all from the same parent company all using the same database.

That would explain it.

They don't agree in absolute terms with uswitch but they are a good
benchmark IMHO.

They are close enough but I wouldn't switch without checking my useage
against the suggested tariff and my current costs. Our main lecky supply
is from Scottish Power, last time I checked it was the best deal at least
within £10 or £20/year which isn't worth worrying about.

Just for fun I've just used uswitch to check, it's a while since I did it
anyway. Only three cheaper options N-Power "Sign Online V14 - Paperless
Billing & Standar Billing" both save me £15.03 (wow!). However EDF Energy
"Online Version 6" says it will save me £68.96 and I get Nectar points
(wow!). I shall be plugging the tariff details of that into my checking
spread sheet, then perhaps start reading the small print...

And the names that the price comparison sites give the tariffs often
doesn't match the ones that the energy companies use themselves.
EnergyOnline super-duper-extra-sexy saver v678 is pretty meaningless
IMHO.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

On Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:08:52 +0000, Mark wrote:

And the names that the price comparison sites give the tariffs often
doesn't match the ones that the energy companies use themselves.
EnergyOnline super-duper-extra-sexy saver v678 is pretty meaningless
IMHO.

This is very true but I couldn't find any trace of any "online" tariffs on
the EDF site even in the downloadable .pdf price list. Nearly £70/year is
worth spending a bit of time digging for but not whole days.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:08:52 +0000, Mark wrote:

And the names that the price comparison sites give the tariffs often
doesn't match the ones that the energy companies use themselves.
EnergyOnline super-duper-extra-sexy saver v678 is pretty meaningless
IMHO.

This is very true but I couldn't find any trace of any "online" tariffs on
the EDF site even in the downloadable .pdf price list. Nearly £70/year is
worth spending a bit of time digging for but not whole days.



http://www2.savetodaysavetomorrow.co...Online_v6.html

PDF file on page for online tariff

On Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:49:41 +0000, Gordon Henderson wrote:

A bit OK, but this is probably the best place to ponder this...

So the winter fuel bill is in.. Ouch..

Going through u-switch as I usually do - the savings from moving have
hardly been worth while, (like a tenner a year!) so I've never bothered,
but this time there is a new kid on the block - first:utility - or at
least in my area... (Devon)

However there are no reviews on u-switch about them, and they want
2-year lock-in (£100 buy-out, but u-switch estimate it'll save me £157 a
year)

So ... Hmm...

Anyone know how their smart meters work? They say a "communications
network", but they don't say what... Their pretty pictures seem to
indicate some sort of wireless conection - fine for the electric meter,
as it can get power, but what about the gas meter?

Anyone using them or any opinions?

Cheers,

Gordon

I have just signed up with them.
From what I can gather they change the meters.
The meters use mobile phone networks to send readings back, no more
estimated bills.
The smart meter is an add on and gives you real time usage, handy to see
just how much use everything is drawing on standby, the dehumidifier, the
tank with only 3 fishes in it etc.
I have taken their 3 tier tariff, looks like it might be best for me as
long as at weekends we sit in the darkness and don't eat during the day.

I'll report back when it's installed.