Electricity & Gas - Comparison Websites
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How to save money by changing your electricity and or gas provider
All energy suppliers have a huge number of different plans. Are you paying too much? Are you using the one that is right for you? Did you know that you can often save more than £150 per year by switching?
Some of the factors that can affect how much you pay are location, dual fuel, usage and if you are on economy 7.
The best way to find out whether you are on the right tariff is to put your details into a price comparison website. You can also specify if you want a green tariff.
It may be that you already have the best package for you but it is worth checking these websites on a regular basis as energy suppliers often change their tariffs.
Most of the comparison websites that follow will ask you for certain items, so to save time get the following information together:
1. Annual gas and or electricity usage in either pounds or units. As a rough guide, just add up your last 4 quarterly bills. Make sure that the readings are actual, not estimated.
2. Economy 7 users need to work out the % of night time electricity used. For those of you not sure how to do this click here for some instructions.
Energy Helpline
• www.energyhelpline.com
Headers: Compare UK Gas & Electricity Suppliers
Think you might be paying too much for gas and electricity? Enter your utility details with The Energy Helpline and they will compare suppliers for you and let you know if you could be making savings. Very quick and simple search that allows you to compare suppliers by price, service rating or green tarriff. Energy Helpline is based in London, SE1
Save On Your Bills
• www.saveonyourbills.co.uk
Headers: Electricity, Electricity & Gas, Gas, Phone
Saveonyourbills.com provides a free and impartial service to help UK households and business save money on their bills. You could save up to £150 a year off your household energy bills and up to 35% off your business energy bills. Approved by Energywatch for impartiality.
Tesco.com Gas & Electricity
• www.tesco.com
Headers: Home Energy Selector
Compare energy suppliers with a quick quote from Tesco. Have your annual usage in £s or units ready.
Uswitch
• www.uswitch.com
Headers: Gas And Electricity, Heating Cover, Water, Mobile Phones, Broadband, Home Phone, Digital TV, Car Insurance, Loans, Credit Cards, Current Accounts, Debt Advice Centre, Mortgages
Thinking of switching your utilities suppliers? With Uswitch you can check to see if you are getting the best deal on gas and electricity, home phone, broadband and digital TV plus loans, credit cards and insurance. Type in your current details and uswitch will calculate how much you can save by switching to another supplier. The service is based on up-to-date information from suppliers and regulators.
Your Home Bills
• www.yourhomebills.com
Headers: Energy, Home Phone, Broadband, Mobiles, Car Insurance, Credit Cards, Digital TV, Money
YourHomeBills.com is an online consumer comparison service that assists customers by providing free-to-use search tools for comparing prices on a range of home utilities and services.
Calcualting the % night time electricity usage for Economy 7 users.
Each bill you get tells you the units you have used for both day and night. You have to use the units in the calculation because day and night electricity is charged at different rates and therefore the actual charge in pounds won't reflect the actual usage.
The ratio of night time to day time usage varies over the course of the year so to get a fair comparison use all 4 quarterly bills.
Make a grid similar to the one below and enter the total day units and the total night units from each of your 4 bills. You now have 2 totals, the total of the day units and the total of the night units. Add these together to get a grand total. To find the % night time usage, divide the night usage by the grand total and multiply by 100.
Example: (taken from an electricity only household - that's why the numbers are high!)
| Day Units | Night Units | Start Date | End Date | |
| Bill 1 | 1355 | 3193 | 15/03/07 | |
| Bill 2 | 1259 | 1121 | ||
| Bill 3 | 1307 | 2208 | ||
| Bill 4 | 1982 | 4518 | 10/03/07 | |
| 5903 | 11040 |
Notice that the end date is roughly 1 year after the start date and all the readings are actual as opposed to estimated readings. This gives a pretty good guide to how many day and night units have been used in the course of 1 year.
One you have filled in the grid add the 2 totals together:
5903 + 11040 = 16943
To get the percentage night time useage. divide the night time useage by the total and multiply by 100:
11040 / 16943 X 100 = 65% (rounded) for this particular example.
This is the figure you enter into either a price comparison website or an energy supplier's website.
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