Energy Prices

[Left Back]

2 minutes ago, Bairnardo said:

You would have to assume any major move is getting held back to be announced by the new PM, as some sort of boost to them with thw ider electorate, after a race to the bottom style campaign having to appeal only to Tory party members and torch their appeal elsewhere.

Don't think it would be wise to sign up to anything until their nasty wee rat race is over and the winner wants to score some quick points.

That in itself is a gamble.  the race isn't over until after the next price cap rise is announced and I'd guess at that point any fix rate deals that might be able to save you money over the next 12 months (if the cap isn't frozen) will be revised upwards.

[flyingscot]

17 minutes ago, Todd_is_God said:

It wouldn't really be his fault, though. His advice on whether to fix or not is valid so long as the cap does as is it projected to, and there is no hint currently of any government intervention to prevent it doing so.

Personally I've held off as I cannot see a scenario where the cap is actually allowed to reach the amounts predicted (i.e. £5,400), but if nothing is done then I will have lost out a bit.

Both are gambles (fixing or waiting to see if the cap is frozen), but this is a great example of where people need to take personal responsibility for their affairs, review all the information available to them, and make a decision on what to do instead of just doing what someone else says.

I've jumped for a fix of sorts, but can bail out to Standard Variable for free at any time. It shows as pretty much slightly less than October cap at the moment.

If I get it wrong it was my choice, people like Martin Lewis can only give advice and it's up to you to weigh it up. 

[Bairnardo]

2 minutes ago, Left Back said:

That in itself is a gamble.  the race isn't over until after the next price cap rise is announced and I'd guess at that point any fix rate deals that might be able to save you money over the next 12 months (if the cap isn't frozen) will be revised upwards.

Theres not a huge amount of good options out there tbh. 

 

And less so whilst we continue to f**k about without a government

[Todd_is_God]

36 minutes ago, Left Back said:

That in itself is a gamble.  the race isn't over until after the next price cap rise is announced and I'd guess at that point any fix rate deals that might be able to save you money over the next 12 months (if the cap isn't frozen) will be revised upwards.

The current 'deals' already factor in the current projected cap for October, January and April. No deal will save you money. Only reducing your usage will.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Todd_is_God

[Left Back]

1 minute ago, Todd_is_God said:

The current 'deals' already factor in the current projected cap for October, January and April. No deal will save you money. Only reducing your usage will.

the one I signed up to a week or so ago saves me money.  A significant amount.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

3 minutes ago, Left Back said:

the one I signed up to a week or so ago saves me money.  A significant amount.

^^^ windows up and heating off.

[Todd_is_God]

8 minutes ago, Left Back said:

the one I signed up to a week or so ago saves me money.  A significant amount.

I'm deliberately ignoring the likes of UW

[Left Back]

1 minute ago, Todd_is_God said:

I'm deliberately ignoring the likes of UW

I'm not with UW.

[Todd_is_God]

1 minute ago, Left Back said:

I'm not with UW.

Ok. However, like I said, currently (i.e. right now) there are no deals.

I can "save" money by entering my actual usage (as this will be lower than the typical usage and therefore lower than the headline figures) but it would not represent a saving versus the variable rate as it stands.

There are also very few suppliers willing to take on new customers anyway, so it's pure luck if your current supplier has dropped the ball for a moment.

[Darren]

39 minutes ago, Left Back said:

the one I signed up to a week or so ago saves me money.  A significant amount.

Who did you sign up with?

[Left Back]

14 minutes ago, Darren said:

Who did you sign up with?

I was already with Octopus.  I signed up to there Intelligent Octopus tariff

[Bairnardo]

I was already with Octopus.  I signed up to there Intelligent Octopus tariff

Remind me, have you got panels/battery?

[Left Back]

1 minute ago, Bairnardo said:

20 minutes ago, Left Back said:

I was already with Octopus.  I signed up to there Intelligent Octopus tariff

Remind me, have you got panels/battery?

Panels.  No battery

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Panels.  No battery

You have an EV?

[Left Back]

Just now, UsedToGoToCentralPark said:

34 minutes ago, Left Back said:

Panels.  No battery

You have an EV?

Yep.

[54_and_counting]

9 hours ago, Hard Graft said:

When is the SG going to announce the start of their low cost energy company? It will be a great benefit at this time and should help out the majority of people.

Apparently the plans for this are stuck on an island, the scotgov are getting the ferry built to get to said island as we speak 

[54_and_counting]

3 hours ago, Todd_is_God said:

It wouldn't really be his fault, though. His advice on whether to fix or not is valid so long as the cap does as is it projected to, and there is no hint currently of any government intervention to prevent it doing so.

Personally I've held off as I cannot see a scenario where the cap is actually allowed to reach the amounts predicted (i.e. £5,400), but if nothing is done then I will have lost out a bit.

Both are gambles (fixing or waiting to see if the cap is frozen), but this is a great example of where people need to take personal responsibility for their affairs, review all the information available to them, and make a decision on what to do instead of just doing what someone else says.

They aren't gambles, as your decision isnt regulated by the gambling commission 

[MacDuffman]

On £130 a month with Ovo for the last year. They offered fixed rate at £340 a month for 1 year or £342 for 2 years or go on variable rate of £160 which will obviously go sky high in future. Waiting on new Tory idiot to decide which way I go before October.

[Todd_is_God]

11 minutes ago, MacDuffman said:

On £130 a month with Ovo for the last year. They offered fixed rate at £340 a month for 1 year or £342 for 2 years or go on variable rate of £160 which will obviously go sky high in future. Waiting on new Tory idiot to decide which way I go before October.

Similar boat (though with SSE).

The only issue is that if the way forward is not a price freeze, then that £340 won't be available as the fixed rates will start to factor much more the April projection.

It's why the radio silence is no use to anyone.

[Left Back]

9 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

At the moment the benefit of fixed deals is too marginal.

Right now I'm happy to wait and take the gamble.

I've already got our summer usage down as much as I can.

The focus will be on getting our winter usage down as much as possible and that's primarily heating bills.

What I don't know is whether 2 hours of having an oil heater in the room we are using is cheaper than having the central heating on for the same amount of time. Will have a better idea when the new cap is announced on 26th of this month.

That reminds me, I need to get a new inner-thing for the letter-box. The old one isn't insulated and we get a draft blowing in.

Should be simple to do the maths even based on the latest estimate.

The latest estimate for gas is 15.11p per kWh.  Electricity is 53.68 per kWh.  Assuming a 30kw boiler you'll be £4.50 per hour (forgetting about efficiency, will be slightly more than that as gas boilers aren't 100% efficient) and a 2.5kw oil heater you'll be  £1.34 per hour (assumed to be 100% efficient). 

Of course neither will run for a full hour as they'll get up to temperature and the thermostat will switch them off until heat loss happens and they fire up again.  Remember that a 2.5kw Oil heater is only putting out 2.5kw of heat so will take significantly longer to heat a room than properly sized radiators so the gas boiler should be running for far less time than electric heaters.

The real question you should be asking is how long each one takes to heat the room compared to the other and then it's easy to work out.

I can tell you before you start the Oil Heater will be more expensive as the ratio of gas to electricity costs haven't really changed.  Electricity typically costs 3-3.5 times what mains gas costs.  If electric heaters were cheaper no-one would bother with GCH.