Energy Tariff Guide
Online tariffs
If you are looking to save a bit more cash then most energy suppliers now offer paperless, online only tariffs. Instead of a paper bill each month, you'll receive an email to notify you when your payment is due. You will be able to manage your account online, allowing you to view your usage, submit regular meter readings (eliminating the risk of overpaying on an estimated bill) and update your payment details. By managing your account online and opting to receive paperless bills, your energy supplier will have reduced operating costs which can then be passed on to you in the form of cheap energy tariffs.
YourHomeBills.com recommends these tariffs for customers who have regular access to the internet and prefer to manage their account online. These tariffs will also provide you with a better overview of just how much energy you are utilising each month and help you to save money.
We recommend that you use the Your Home Bills energy calculator to price compare online only tariffs and find the cheapest gas and electricity deal for you.
Dual fuel tariffs
All major suppliers now offer dual fuel switch tariffs, which generally provide the customer with reduced energy prices for those taking both gas and electricity from the same provider. The advantage to the supplier is that this promotes customer loyalty but it also means you will only have one supply company to deal with, and so you will only receive one bill and one direct debit for the two fuels. Generally dual fuel tariffs are the cheapest for most customers but sometimes single fuel tariffs from separate suppliers can turn out to be cheaper.
We recommend that you use the Your Home Bills energy calculator to compare gas and electricity tariffs and suppliers.
Single fuel tariffs
Most people make substantial savings by switching both their energy supplies to a single supplier (dual fuel). However, choosing to receive your gas and electricity from separate suppliers can in some circumstances work out to be more cost effective.
Both gas and electricity prices vary by supplier and region so while a duel fuel tariff with some suppliers may be the cheapest in one part of the country, in another the best option may be gas from one supplier and electricity from another. The decision to opt for two suppliers will largely depend on whether you are happy to receive two bills and therefore make two subsequent payments to these suppliers.
We recommend that you use the Your Home Bills energy calculator for an electricity price comparison and to compare gas.
Capped prices
The price of energy often fluctuates and predicting whether you will get value for money from capped price tariffs can be a difficult task.
Capped or fixed price tariffs guarantee that your monthly (or quarterly) bills won't increase over a set period of time. Fixed price plans do offer you security in terms of saving you from any future price increases but, at the same time, they may also stop you from benefitting from any price decreases. If you are the type of customer that wants to work to a budget and is prepared to pay a bit more for a fixed monthly price plan then you should look for a capped option. It is also worth comparing several energy suppliers to see the prices and lengths of deal available.
We recommend that you use the Your Home Bills energy calculator to compare capped energy tariffs and find the cheapest gas and electricity deal for you.
Green energy
Most major suppliers now offer renewable green energy tariffs which offset your energy consumption by placing energy sourced from renewable resources back into the National Grid. The energy companies are obligated to supply at least 8 percent of their overall energy from green sources such as wind farms and hydroelectric power. These tariffs are a fantastic way to offset environmental damage caused by use of traditional energy resources and do help to support renewable sources of energy. Some of the tariffs also provide commit to supplying you with a higher percentage of green energy but may choose to charge extra for the privilege, but the majority will donate a slice of their revenues to campaigns for renewable energy.
YourHomeBills.com suggest that you research the green energy tariff and supplier to identify those which provide donations to a cause that you want to commit money to such as wildlife conservation, wind farms or tidal energy projects.
We recommend that you use the Your Home Bills energy calculator to compare green energy tariffs.
Economy 7
If you have been on an Economy 7 tariff then you are probably aware that these make use of a two-tier meter where one measures the day rate of energy consumption (high rate), and one measures the hours of use during the night use during the cheaper hours at night ('economy'' rate).
These tariffs provide you with a lower rate for your energy usage over the night time hours to reduce the demand for energy during the peak times of the day such as the afternoon and evenings when people do their washing, boil kettles and watch TV.
Many of the 6 million people on the economy 7 tariffs do not use the energy as efficiently as possible, particularly if they use their washing machines, hairdryers or dish washers during the day or evening on the higher rate. The most suitable ratio of use is to split energy consumption between the two different meter periods or you will not be making saving on this tariff. The simplest way to make this work for you is to set your appliances to run off timers so that they can run through the night - but watch out as this may not work if you live in a block of flats where you have neighbours below or next door who could be woken by noisy appliances.
We recommend that you use the Your Home Bills energy calculatorto compare energy supplier and cheap energy tariffs.
Pre-payment
Pre-payment customers are unable to make use of the many switch online discounts or direct debit schemes and usually end up paying more for their energy than those customers making use of credit meters. This is an unfortunate scenario as the majority of pre-payment customers are working to a tight budget.
The good news is Ofgem acknowledge that pre-payment customers could make some of the largest possible savings by switching energy supplier. If you are a pre-payment customer then you will not be able to switch online as you will need an engineer visit to make alterations to your visit. It is worth asking your energy supplier about the options available to you when moving to a standard meter.
How to make even bigger savings...
If you are prepared to sign up to an online only, paperless, green energy, duel fuel tariff and pay by Direct Debit then you will be helping to contribute to environmental projects as well as making large savings on your energy bill.
We recommend that you use the Your Home Bills energy calculator to compare all energy tariffs and find the cheapest gas and electricity deal for you.
|
