How I cut my energy bills in half
Blog by: Rachel Lacey on May 5th, 2011
I've got a confession to make. Despite writing numerous stories on how much you can save by switching energy suppliers, when we moved house last year we stuck with our existing supplier, which once again I’m embarrassed to admit, hadn’t been reviewed in some time. Switching suppliers was always on the to-do list, but what with unpacking and fixing all those problems you inevitably discover when you move into a new house, it never got done. Or at least until a month or so go - almost a year after we moved.
After a couple of tight months I decided we had to be able to save some money somewhere, so rather than facing up to the grim task of cutting back on niceties, I decided to practice what I preach to see if we could shave some money off our energy bills (which were getting close to a £130 a month).
Approximately 20 minutes later I’d pretty much cut our huge Scottish and Southern bills in half - with my monthly direct debits now standing at around £64 with EDF. The process was as easy as I’d remembered and the changeover was problem free. I did have one phone call from a rather enthusiastic Scottish & Southern salesman asking me why we were leaving them, but when I quoted the savings we were getting with EDF it was him that rather sheepishly had to end the call. I’d also been a bit concerned that Scottish & Southern might be a little lax in repaying the credit in our account but I had absolutely no need to worry.
However, while we have slashed our bills, I’m still dreading our next one. Unlike my colleague, Cathy Adams, who wrote about how her neighbours’ love of central heating has meant she’s not yet had to switch hers on in her latest blog , our house isn’t quite so toasty warm.
The wind rattles through our front door and our ancient double-glazing is about as useful for keeping the cold out as a sheet of clingfilm. The solution is undoubtedly replacement double-glazing and a new front door, but sadly our budget isn’t going to stretch to that this year.
So, we decided to embrace energy efficiency on the cheap. One trip to Homebase later and we were stocked up with foam fillers to plug the draughty gaps round the doors and some reflective insulating wrap to go behind our radiators. And as my husband set to work fitting it all, I nobly got the laptop out and found some cute old fashioned draught excluders, just like the ones my Grandma used to have. I’m not expecting a miracle, but fingers-crossed it will go some way in stopping all that expensive heat flying straight out the door.
A small tip but oddly enough it works - draw the curtains and leave them drawn! It keeps the cold of the windows out of the rooms. I tried it as an experiment and it forms additional double glazing. Make sure, though, that they are not draped in front of the radiators for that sends all the heat behind the curtains. Just tuck them behind the radiators.
Sounds great. I am with Scottish Hydro for my electricity supply perhaps I need to change to EDF.
My flatmate keeps EVERY light turned on even when he leaves the house ! He is Britains most wasteful person & might as well build a bonfire in the garden & shove fivers & tenners on it,but of course 'mummy & daddy' will pay if his rent goes up.I will have to extend my overdraft !!
Sorry to bring you back into the real world but whenever you swap energy companies they always put you on a much lower direct debit. Think about it, no company can cut your energy bills in half! They wait a while before putting it up because you will owe them the difference so put the money away in readiness.
I have to agree with Kevandhil, the companies get you hooked, then later on increase your monthly direct debits to cover the gas/electric used.
I am retired now but used to work for npower and am still with them for dual fuel from before the change from NEEB to npower.
I still have to keep on top of them as they are constantly trying to up my monthly direct debits so that I end up in credit.
If I do end up in credit, I ask for a cheque, then I recalculate what my direct debit should be and I tell them!
I have done all of the usual, low energy bulbs (not very bright my wife says), I have an electricity monitor and I can't switch off all of our appliances as they require mains electric so that they do not need constantly resetting, these are radio alarm clocks, Sky box, freeview box, video recorder, outside infra-red light, etc.
I pay £72 per month for both fuels, I live in thecold North-East of England and am on online billing and very happy with npower, so long as they don't make any cockups!
Sincerely
Harry
im with eon and they they just informed me thst they woul like to put my payments up as to 134 from 88 a extra 46 pounds and im tired in to 1st of may next year i feel as if they have broken there contract to me whats your opinion
yours patrick
I have changed to Utility Warehouse-my neighbour is an agent, they don't pay to go on comparison sites, and it halved my bills-however, the added bonus is when I took on their card-free for 6 mnths then £1 a month, for £12 a yar it is saving me between £120 and £200 a year on my Sainsburys bills alone-you have a pre-arranged amount you want to keep on it and it automatically tops up £100 when it falls below from your bank account, they inform you by email, when I pay at any of 30 shops-Argos M & S among them-you get a credit of 1.5 per cent off your months bill-and if you spend £50 at Sainsburys then fill up with petrol there within 14 days you get another 1.5 per cent credit. win/win
Hello Everyone
Don't be conned into thinking you can save hundreds by swapping energy providers, you won't. Their prices are all about the same, one way of saving is by going direct debit with them, but don't forget you are paying up-front for your energy and they are making money on your payment. I pay quarterly and just before I have to.
If you can afford to then put your direct debit into a seperate savings account rather than into their account, then you can pay quarterly like I do, you might even make a little bit of money as well!!!
Chris
Patrick, and anyone thinking of changing energy providers.....use your kwh useage figures ( which you will find on your previous bills), NOT your current monthly payments, when using a price comparison site.
I know it will take a bit longer to find the figures, instead of typing in your current monthly direct debit, but it is far more accurate. Try to find figures for the last 12 months if possible. This will provide the most accurate comparison and, hopefully, a realistic monthly repayment.
All good, but why didn't you make your own door draught proofers yourself to save even more money. Knitted or sewn, your choice.
I'm convinced that it doesn't matter which utility company you're with. I changed to npower because it gave me the best deal at the time (after using a few of the comparison sites). However, it took 7 weeks for the changeover and by that time, I ended up with one of the poorest deals, (again when I checked the comparison sites).
As you are locked in for a year, I think it's too much hassle to bother saving a few quid each year. The best way to save money is not to use your electricity or gas unless it's really necessary.
Got fed up of direct debits rising then being in credit 6 months later, so, started doing monthly readings and worked out how much i should be paying, i now tell suppliers how much i will pay not what they say i need to pay.
I agree to some extent with POWERMAN about saving your money in a savings account and paying quarterly but do you still get the online and direct debit discounts (as well as the dual fuel discount)? Is a quarterly direct debit arrangement possible?
I also agree with his comment about it not being possible to halve your energy bill. All the so-called cheaper Co. does is give you a lower monthly payment - eventaully you'll find your payments are not covering your bills and you'll have to put your monthly payments up. This has happened to me time and again. I am very surprised Moneywise published this - it is too simple to be true. What you need to look at (see the previous post) is how much each supplier charges per unit of electricity and gas; then you will see if it really is cheaper.
If you do change your supplier, always change via a cashback site such as Top Cashback or Quidco as there some large amounts given for signing up for energy this way and the cashback can effectively lower your payments for the 1st year. You could change every year to get cashback.
I am with Eon and whenever I check comparison sites, they come out top. I had a credit of over £100 in my account so I asked for it back recently. They gave it back and put up my direct debit from £85 to £116 amonth! I have already warned them I may switch suppliers if a large credit accrues again. They simply want the money in advance now!
I live in the North East of England and every time I use the price comparison sites my local supplier, npower, comes up as cheaper than any other supplier, so I don't switch.
So is there a conspiracy to keep me on the same supplier?
I have never switched because I have never seen these savings of £200-£400 materialise. I currently pay £75 per month for dual fuel.
As I said above, I used to work for npower but am now retired and I too use the KWh as well as the monthly direct debit when using these sites to see if anyone can give me cheaper gas and electric.
My sister is an agent for Utility Warehouse and just before THEIR price rise they seemed a good deal but then their prices shot up so it was pointless switching to them although they do seem to have some good deals on phone systems, etc.
I wonder how Rachel Lacey, the author of this piece is now getting on with EDF, has she had her first bill, have they increased her monthly payments and I wonder where she lives?
The South of England is 10 degrees of latitude lower than here in Newcastle upon Tyne, thus should be much warmer all year round and therefore use less gas.
Also it should be a lighter, longer day, thus requiring less electicity.
Her bill over the summer will have been low as the most electicity and gas are used in the winter months.
I make graphs of our usage and we use 6,000Kwhs of gas in the summer but it rockets to twice this figure,12,000Kwh in the winter.
My electicity is pretty steady throughout the year, using 2,500Kwh per year.
Perhaps Rachel would like to reply to my queries above.
I have to say that I have changed gas and electric companies many times before and 2 years ago I switched to a new company OVO, they have been absolutely fantastic in every way. Because we switched to them in winter our direct debit started a bit higher to cover our winter costs, but, just as they promised, they reduced it down in the spring and a year later it was set at just about the right amount to put us in credit in the warmer months, enough to cover the extra in the colder months. My husband and I have both been so impressed with their customer service and prices and they only have two plans so it is so much simpler too. And they saved us money right from the start. I would highly recommend them and even by saving money, I would never return to one of the big six providers who I had so many problems with before.
On the subject of radiators I was told by a neighbour that I should replace my existing cast iron radiators with modern ones made of aluminium because they are more efficient and will save money. I'm not convinced myself how this could be true but he says he works in that field of business.