gas & electricity bill shocker, just saved 700 quid

Had a electricity bill arrive last week which was higher than I expected. Looked at the breakdown and its because Im out of the 12 month contract and now being charged about 24% more per unit.

Switched straight away so I dont get hit twice. The options on Bonkers were mainly companies with standing charges between 220 and 280 per year but low rates on the per unit cost. I ran some calculations and for me it is better to get the lowest possible standing charge even if the unit price is higher. Got a standing charge of 128 euro from Glow Power for the year with day units at 18.8c and night at 10.6c. Im not a heavy user so for me the lower standing charge will save me money over the year.

dermatrov wrote: »

I doubt many go to the bother of doing the sums, which is why so many people are paying too much. Starting to look at everything else I am paying now as circumstances have changed and the missus is out of work. Saving in the supermarkets....next? Hoping for a car & health insurance refund too....

Yeah it wasnt until I did the sums and found out my usage from the last 12 months that I realised in my circumstances going for a lower standing charge over a lower unit price is the way to go. I only use 4,500 units per year distributed about 65-35 in favour of day units to night. I could have got lower unit prices from Bord Gais and a couple of others but all the standing charges were 220 up to 280 so that more than wiped the savings from the lower unit price. If I use the same amount of electricity this next year as I did last year then I stand to save about 90 over the other companies with higher standing charges. And of course there is already another saving by just getting off the higher rates of my previous provider.

That was Energia who actually rang me up this morning trying to win me back as a customer. I told him Glow Power had given me a standing charge of 128 and thats all that mattered to me because Id done the sums. He said all they could do was 220 a year (same as last year) but he could re-apply the 12 month promotional unit price for another year. I declined as my paperwork is filled out and it still wouldnt have saved me money because of the high standing charge.

There must be a fine line between what standing charge and unit prices you are on. Heavy users of power would perhaps see better value from lower unit prices but if you're not a family of 4 or 5 then its likely going for a lower standing charge makes more sense. You've got to figure out your annual usage and then do the sums to be sure of which way is best for you.

Ive set an annual alarm on my phone now so I'll switch again this time next year. Loyalty is punished with higher prices so Im just going to keep switching every year, it only takes 10 minutes and is a no brainer to save a few hundred.

Probably just best to check on bonkers.ie and onebigswitch.ie and see what deal comes up cheapest for you. Try to find out how many units you used in the last 12 months to get an accurate estimation of the best deal

When I go into the site and go to drop down menu for service providers - Prepay Power (my current provider) is not there to select from.

Chinese whospers wrote: »

I'm not following you very well, but re the above - GDPR very much protects you whether you're with a company or not a customer of a company.

In fact, it's even more important that a company doesn't contact you without your permission if you're not a customer.

They said their loyalty dept (or whatever it's called) couldn't email me due to GDPR & I had to phone them to see if they had any better offers. Once I put in the move to a different provider, I got the email that I quoted in the post with a better offer. Does that make better sense?

dermatrov wrote: »

I looked at their actual usage on their web account. (about 7500 electric and 15000 gas over the year, which is high. )

The gas usage seems very high. It might be time to check if the boiler needs a service or if they can buy a new boiler. Check if they have heavy curtains and look at insulation.

My mum had oil heating and the boiler gave in and it was costing her 4 to 5fills a year. The old boiler struggled and most of the time the immersion had to go on in the afternoon so her electric was high also.



She got a new boiler and she has already saved. Instead of the 4/5fills she only had 3 per year as the house is heating up quicker also she had free hot water set when the heating went on. Electric also dropped by 60euros bimonthly.



Within 2years the boiler has paid for itself.

Also maybe check the timer and set it so it is only on during the day and not at night. You do not need heating on when in bed.

Yeah in my own case I just saw my normal bill jump by about 30 quid so I switched straight away from Energia to Glow Power. Energia rang me up on the day before the switch was actually happening and offered the previous years rate but their standing charge was very high (220) and Im not a heavy user so stuck with Glow Power whose standing charge was 128. . About 10 days later Energia sent me a letter saying they're sad to see me go, etc and if I wanted to switch back their offer was still on the table. But no point taking it as the sums for me say I'll make savings with the lowest standing charge possible even if the unit price is slightly higher.

Perhaps next year I'll just ring up Glow Power and give them the chance to offer the discounted rate before moving. But switching really isnt much of a hassle, its about five minutes filling out a form and then its done. It wouldnt bother me at all to just do it every 12 months if I had to.

I was switching to glow power from electric Ireland. I rang electric ireland and they said please stay we'll give you €50 credit. I told them I'd save €200 by switching . They said ok switch then , bye. Anyways I processed the switch and then a few days later electric ireland rang me and said they'd give me €200 credit on my account and a free climote with free installation worth €200. I took the deal and I'll be trying the same again in 12 months time. It's worth it for very little hassle.

Any thoughts on iberdrola? Switched the parents there a few weeks ago was simple enough