Changing electricity supplier

[Crofter]

Up here in the north of Scotland we have a slightly unusual tariff called Total Heating Total Control. It is a two rate, two meter tariff, but unlike E7 you can have 24/7 access to the cheap rate. Sounds too good to be true? Well the catch is that you are only allowed to use the cheaper meter for heating appliances, and your home must have a certain proportion of storage heating. The electricity company will energise the storage heaters at times of their choosing, based on weather forecasts.

The advantage is that you can run other things like panel heaters, immersion heaters, and electric showers at whatever time of day you like, and get the cheap rate.

 

It used to be a not bad deal. But a letter arrived yesterday saying that the price for both rates is going up. So even the cheap rate is now going to be uncompetitive- over 15p a unit! The higher rate is well over 20p a unit. Ouch.

 

So I think it's time to ditch this tariff for good. I can get a flat rate tariff at 14p/unit on a single meter, or I can get a normal E7 tariff.

 

Question is- when I make the switch, will I need to consider the hardware and meter side of things at all? The whole house is wired for THTC, with two separate circuits running from two CUs and two meters. And if I need to change any of this, who pays for it??

 

Hoping @ProDave might be able to offer some advice on this one...

[ProDave]

You are probably best just staying with SSE and switching with them to E7 or E10,  They will change the meters for one dual rate meter. In the process your off peak loads will be connected to the off peak output, and everything else, including your present "cheap" 24/7 heating stuff, will be connected to the normal feed.

 

Then you can switch suppler to anyone else offering E7 or E10

[Jeremy Harris]

SSE just put the rates up here, too, I got a letter from them yesterday and they've whacked up the price of E7.  I've switched to Bulb, around £200 cheaper.  If you find Bulb are competitive where you are, you can use this code to get £50 free credit: https://join.bulb.co.uk/?referral=jeremyh2413

[Stones]

21 minutes ago, ProDave said:

You are probably best just staying with SSE and switching with them to E7 or E10,  They will change the meters for one dual rate meter. In the process your off peak loads will be connected to the off peak output, and everything else, including your present "cheap" 24/7 heating stuff, will be connected to the normal feed.

 

Then you can switch suppler to anyone else offering E7 or E10

 

+1 THTC is really nothing more than a legacy tariff that SSE want to phase out, so prices are high. As Dave says, let them pay for the CU work, then switch.

[lizzie]

I’m with bulb too, just on my 3rd month so should start getting some realistic numbers for usage soon.  

[newhome]

1 hour ago, Crofter said:

Question is- when I make the switch, will I need to consider the hardware and meter side of things at all? The whole house is wired for THTC, with two separate circuits running from two CUs and two meters. And if I need to change any of this, who pays for it??

 

I have a similar tariff with Scottish Power and I asked them about swapping to a single meter tariff / economy 7 etc. as I'm completely unable to swap supplier currently. They told me that they would put the new meter in but they were not responsible for rewiring the 2 CUs into a single meter and I would need to engage an electrician and pay for that myself. Essentially I had to get the electrical work done first and everything running from the standard meter and then they would swap it. 

 

My rate seems a bit better than yours however. I'm currently on: 

 

Standing charge 19.57

Heating meter 7.818

Standard meter 15.116

 

In the end I decided to stay where I am for the time being because the rate I am paying isn't too terrible compared to what I could get elsewhere, and I can use my heating more or less 24 hours (there are 3 x 2 hour breaks in a 24 hour period at a time of Scottish Power's choosing). Thus I have a TS so that I am not impacted by the breaks. 

 

Here is a thread discussing your tariff and who is responsible for the swaps. The second page has recent posts from someone annoyed about the current price increase. It does sound a lot compared to what I'm paying for a pretty similar set up. 

 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5619838

 

[ProDave]

The THTC consumer unit setup is a complicated and messy thing.  You might want to take the opportunity just to get an electrician to swap that for a normal simple off peak consumer unit,  but that shiny new off peak CU may make your main one look old and tatty so you might want to swap that as well,,,,,,

[newhome]

10 minutes ago, ProDave said:

The THTC consumer unit setup is a complicated and messy thing.  You might want to take the opportunity just to get an electrician to swap that for a normal simple off peak consumer unit,  but that shiny new off peak CU may make your main one look old and tatty so you might want to swap that as well,,,,,,

 

@ProDave if I wanted to swap to a normal type meter in the future is it an easy job for an electrician to wire both my CUs into the main meter? The thread on Money Saving Expert mentions tails but don’t really understand what that means. Just want to know what to expect if I do decide to swap. Thanks 

 

[joe90]

Interesting thread, I am about to change supplier to Octopus (but will now look at bulb as well), Octopus will change my standard meter to E7 with no charge and their day rate is cheaper than my current single rate, also they offer E10 (but call it E7 but giveyou 10hours cheap rate???).

[PeterW]

40 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

@ProDave if I wanted to swap to a normal type meter in the future is it an easy job for an electrician to wire both my CUs into the main meter? The thread on Money Saving Expert mentions tails but don’t really understand what that means. Just want to know what to expect if I do decide to swap. Thanks 

 

 

Out of the meter(s) there will be some grey wires about the thickness of a Sharpie marker and similar colour. With yours these go to different boards as there are different meters and you’re on 3 phase . These are meter tails. 

 

A single phase conversion would run all the tails from your existing CUs into a set of Henley Blocks, then one single tail into the new meter. 

 

This Article is quite useful on what Henley’s do

[ProDave]

4 hours ago, newhome said:

 

@ProDave if I wanted to swap to a normal type meter in the future is it an easy job for an electrician to wire both my CUs into the main meter? The thread on Money Saving Expert mentions tails but don’t really understand what that means. Just want to know what to expect if I do decide to swap. Thanks 

 

Yes, as p;er what @PeterW has posted, your electrician will make the necessary connections using Henley Blocks

[newhome]

4 hours ago, PeterW said:

A single phase conversion would run all the tails from your existing CUs into a set of Henley Blocks, then one single tail into the new meter. 

 

Could I do that and still retain the 3 phase boiler? 

 

[Onoff]

2 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

Could I do that and still retain the 3 phase boiler? 

 

 

Wouldn't you be better retaining the 3P in case you ever aspire to an EV that fast charges?

[newhome]

3 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Wouldn't you be better retaining the 3P in case you ever aspire to an EV that fast charges?

 

Lol. Maybe. But I’ll likely be moved by then, especially if Scotland starts using the Scottish Merk or whatever! 

[Onoff]

2 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

Lol. Maybe. But I’ll likely be moved by then, especially if Scotland starts using the Scottish Merk or whatever! 

 

Nothing to do with vodka being expensive there then?

[Jeremy Harris]

4 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

Lol. Maybe. But I’ll likely be moved by then, especially if Scotland starts using the Scottish Merk or whatever! 

 

For a moment there I misread that as "merkin"... ?

[newhome]

3 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

For a moment there I misread that as "merkin"... ?

 

Would be ginger no doubt ?  

 

A McMerkin! ?

[newhome]

6 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Nothing to do with vodka being expensive there then?

 

I’m 20 miles from England so all good ?. One thing’s for sure though, I’m not getting involved in foreign currency to buy it! 

[Cpd]

HELP ! As a single guy living frugally I was able to keep my electric bills just about under control - add in my partner moving in and 2 children and then (surprise surprise ) I get Chronic Fatigue Syndrome....... then skip 4 years and I’m in recovery and the realisation is ..... my electric bill is now out off control. Admittedly I have two houses, one cabin and a BIG shed...

 

I have two supplies and two meters, both just standered ones. One in the cottage that has a spur to the cabin and one in the main house that has a spur to the shed. 

 

The house is lived in 24 hrs a day for 365 days a year, two children two permanent adults and at least one additional adult for 8 months 

the shed gets a LOT of use ( well I hide in there quite a lot.....) 

The cottage is in a state of renovation (long delay due to ill health) but obviously lights and power tools but NO heating 

the cabin is used extensively through the year, heating, hot water, lights  etc. estimate of two adults for six  months solid. 

 

The main house is total sh!te with very little insulation 

The cottage will be well insulated 

The cabin is poorly insulated.....

The shed is uninsulated 

 

I had planned to get the cottage done and rent it out over the summer and live in it during the winter while I undertook the work on the main house but again those plans have been on hold or going very slowly for 4 years  due to ill health. 

 

So over the last 4 years my usage has gone from aprox  2000Kwh to nearly 9000kwh 

 

Obviously this is just madness and I will be doing all I can bar moving into a cave to get things back under control, this is not going to be easy. 

I have one electric reader that you plug in to an appliance to see what it’s using but will get more ASAP and try and find out where all this electric is going.......

pretty sure I need to switch electric provider as SSE have hiked there prices to eye watering levels. 

 

I am pretty sure this is all just down to me not paying any attention to this escalation and letting things slip  as I was in no state to think about anything but getting better. 

 

But I wanted to put this all down (as embarrassing as it is) to make sure I’m not missing anything obvious or doing something really stupid, or some other random thing I have missed.

I have included a copy of the last bills (one from each meter) And also an internet quote from bulb and octopus energy based on 9000kwh usage ( which I hope to dramatically reduce.....) 

if people have anything constructive to say in regards to this situation then I would love to hear it as I need to seriously deal with this mountainous task..... 

[Gow]

Here's a non-techie short-term answer: Pure wool  socks, a thermal vest and a duvet ski suit would keep your warm until you get your home properly insulated. ☺️ Nowadays lots of folk bake themselves alive in overheated home.  A cosy wee indoor ski-type suit would help you and those affected by fuel poverty to keep warm and reduce the heating bills.    

 

"Every winter hypothermia extends its icy grip, causing 25,000 extra deaths per year in England" 

 

Where have all the housecoats gone? (Cue for a song...) ❄️ ❄️☃️

 

 

 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I reckon you can probably get a quick win by just changing suppliers.  I recently switched from SSEs E7 tariff to the E7 tariff from Bulb and saved well over £100 a year, just from that.   You do need to check carefully on your local tariff prices, though, as I found that there are wide regional variations, so a supplier that's good value in one region may not be in another.  If you choose to switch to Bulb (something we've found pretty painless) then this referral code will save you £50 (and knock £50 off my bill!): bulb.co.uk/refer/jeremyh2413

 

Worth looking if you can make enough of a saving by switching time of use of stuff to make changing to E7 viable.  The general rule of thumb seems to be that if you can move about 35% to 40% of your consumption to the E7 period then you'll start to save money.  Shift more to the E7 period and the saving ramps up (currently we've managed to shift usage so that we at around 56% at the off-peak rate, a significant additional saving over just switching supplier).

 

Reducing consumption tends to be a fairly long process of identifying where you may be wasting electricity and doing something about it.  The biggest single saving I made by doing this was discovering that our old fridge freezer was using loads more electricity than it should be, and changing it for a new one that only used about 1/3rd as much.  Getting the other loads down, especially the plethora of low, but often always on ones, was hard work, and even now our background load is higher than I'd like it to be.

[Ian]

If you have a low electricity usage it would be worth looking at one of the suppliers that offer a tariff with no standing charge. I'm using Scottish Power's "Power Up" tariff where you buy the energy up front but there's no standing charge. The more you buy the lower the unit charge - the most you can buy is a 6 month block.

In 2018 my usage was 1,528 kWh of electricity and I paid £257.39 in total.

That's 16.8p per kWh but I've saved approx £90 by avoiding the usual standing charge which means the equivalent tariff rate compared to a normal rate with a standing charge would have been about 10.9p per kWh.

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by Ian

[lizzie]

I have changed to Bulb but I am only in my third month so too early to properly see what costs will be. At the moment I am paying £96 a month for gas and electricty (their estimate).  It think after first quarter they will review. My quarters readings are likely to be skewed  with MVHR running at stupid levels for last 11months that will have been using more power ditto with ufh which is a law unto itself.  MVHR now sorted ufh hopefully will be sorted in next few weeks so realistically next quarter will be the one where I will see some realistic consumption rates for the house.

 

I was with B Gas for gas and elec on their standard tarrif - on that for construction and couldnt get away from them in a hurry as they could not trace my meter. Turns out it registered to a house on a huge housing estate in Worcester. Judging by the size of the bills I got I was paying for the house in Worcester too LOL

[Cpd]

9 hours ago, Gow said:

Nowadays lots of folk bake themselves alive in overheated home.

I can assure you that I don’t have or try to have an overheated home, the main living room / kitchen is heated with a wood stove. It’s the only room that’s heated throughout the day. Bedrooms are only heated when people go to bed and most are heated to aprox 15 degrees. The cabin is used by geusts who I assume like to cook themselves but they pay for the privilege. 

 

55 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

reckon you can probably get a quick win by just changing suppliers. 

Yes I will check Bulb Info as it looks promising, due to the nature of occupation I know that I can’t make good use of E7, I will however get some energy monitors to try and ascertain exactly where all this electric is going, from there maybe I will be able to re look at E7 

 

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

Reducing consumption tends to be a fairly long process of identifying where you may be wasting electricity and doing something about it.  The biggest single saving I made by doing this was discovering that our old fridge freezer was using loads more electricity than it should be, and changing it for a new one that only used about 1/3rd as much.  Getting the other loads down, especially the plethora of low, but often always on ones, was hard work, and even now our background load is higher than I'd like it to be.

When I first moved back here I was working at reducing consumption and my bills went down each year for 3 years, that was before I became a family man........ from that moment on it’s been a steady march to madness. There is a big old chest freezer rumbling away in the shed........  I will make it my mission to track this monster usage down. 

 

41 minutes ago, Ian said:

If you have a low electricity usage it would be worth looking at one of the suppliers that offer a tariff with no standing charge.

I assume this sentence is aimed at others with well insulated houses ? 

 

20 minutes ago, lizzie said:

Turns out it registered to a house on a huge housing estate in Worcester.

I really sometimes feel that my electric usage is just “unreal” and that it has to be something wrong with the meter..... but there are two meters and they are both working fine as when you turn everything off the little red light does not flash like one of those flashing red lights on the back of a push bike ! 

 

 

 

 

[Gow]

Re: Overheated houses

Apologies, this was not a reflection on Cpd's situation. 

According to the EST, reducing heating by just 1°C could cut 10 per cent off the heating bill and reduce our carbon footprint:

 

10. Turn Down Your Thermostat!

The simple act of turning off your thermostat while you’re not home can save you 15% on your energy bill. By keeping cool during the day, and warming up with blankets and sweaters instead, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.

 

They go on to suggest that: It's generally not considered safe to set the thermostat lower than 18 degrees however we run the heating 24/7 in winter at 16C and boost it to 18 to 20C max when it is very cold and we are stagnating in front of the telly. However this is a mid-terrace house so that and the woolly socks etc help