Energy Suppliers

ChrisD. · 17 Oct 2019 at 09:21

Bulb customers with smart meters - how long after switching do you see the readings appear in your account? With BG it was odd, electricity was updated every few days from memory, whereas gas was only updated when the bill was produced.

Edit - it's literally just updated with an electricity reading this morning.

The move from BG to Bulb has gone without a single hitch, quite happy.

jpaul · 21 Oct 2019 at 21:07

slightly off topic -
UK eco alternative to the Tesla power wall - brilliant - https://www.theengineer.co.uk/abandoned-mine-shafts-energy-storage/

Captain · 21 Oct 2019 at 21:55

HybridX said:
Lol wut

You will be amazed at the amount of people that refuse to read their meters or cant be arsed to read them. Then to top it off the meter reader doesnt get access and they then have the balls to whinge about estimated bills. I think you will find the MAJORITY of people dont bother reading their meter so having the ability to read it for them is beneficial.

Also its about an hour not half a day

As @BigBoy stated anyone installing SMETS1's will get fined out the ass for their trouble. All suppliers should be DCC enrolled now for SMETS2 but even then some companies are still struggling to even do the basics with SMETS2

Depends on the supplier, Bulb emailed me when I applied for a meter and the email said installation would take 4 hours to complete.

Kol · 21 Oct 2019 at 22:03

jpaul said:
slightly off topic -
UK eco alternative to the Tesla power wall - brilliant - https://www.theengineer.co.uk/abandoned-mine-shafts-energy-storage/

Fascinating. Thanks @jpaul

BigBoy · 21 Oct 2019 at 22:25

Clov!s said:
Depends on the supplier, Bulb emailed me when I applied for a meter and the email said installation would take 4 hours to complete.

I install for EDF and EoN (but not any more) and install time only varies when there is more work to be done, average install time is 45mins for electric and 38mins for gas, that does not include any major pipework or wiring changes.

b0rn2sk8 · 21 Oct 2019 at 22:37

They gave me a 4 hour slot but were done in well under an hour for electric only.

mad_allan · 30 Oct 2019 at 10:53

Would it be possible for someone to trust me a Bulb referral link please?

Kol · 30 Oct 2019 at 10:55

@TNA you missed out by a whisker last time & you @wedrum

wedrum · 30 Oct 2019 at 10:55

mad_allan said:
Would it be possible for someone to trust me a Bulb referral link please?

sent bud

Mahonyy · 30 Oct 2019 at 10:58

I've sent you one mad_allan

Kill_Phil · 31 Oct 2019 at 06:36

Switching to so energy, can't see much in this thread about them but seem to have good feedback on trustpilot

pastymuncher · 6 Nov 2019 at 08:48

I have just left Bulb for the MSE Eon deal. This is the second time I have been with Bulb and left for another provider and once again Bulb has shown that their customer service is second to none. My switch completed on the 4th November. Yesterday I had my final bill from Bulb along with a statement that my credit will be refunded within 14 days. I logged onto my banking app today and found I had already had my refund of £90.90 from Bulb using the faster payments system. That was even quicker than the last time and even then I had my credit refunded within a few days of the switch. I wish all of these providers were so quick with refunds as some of them you have to fight to get your money back (looking at you Utility Point).

On a side note, that £90.90 has built up since July and follows the trend of when I was last with bulb and had a refund of over £260 after being with them for 14 months. This system of fixed direct debits doesn't work, not for us anyway. I give my energy provider reading once a month, usually a couple of days before my billing date although I would do it more often if they wanted as it only takes a couple of minutes. Why can't they use that reading and take a direct debit for the enrgy that I have actually used? I don't think I have ever used more enrgy than the direct debit I pay every month, even in the Winter so why should I keep building up a big credit balance in my account? it's not as if they pay me interest on it.

b0rn2sk8 · 6 Nov 2019 at 09:03

I’m not sure operating the switch service as it’s meant to be operated constitutes ‘second to none’ levels of customer service - that’s how it’s meant to work for everyone all the time.

I’ve switched providers 5 or 6 times in the last 5 years and it’s always been as you just described. I’ve dealt with 3 providers in the last 4 months due to a house move - all terminated or switched fine within the SLA’s, billed correctly and refunds issued promptly without needing to speak to anyone.

hughtrimble · 6 Nov 2019 at 10:13

pastymuncher said:
I have just left Bulb for the MSE Eon deal. This is the second time I have been with Bulb and left for another provider and once again Bulb has shown that their customer service is second to none. My switch completed on the 4th November. Yesterday I had my final bill from Bulb along with a statement that my credit will be refunded within 14 days. I logged onto my banking app today and found I had already had my refund of £90.90 from Bulb using the faster payments system. That was even quicker than the last time and even then I had my credit refunded within a few days of the switch. I wish all of these providers were so quick with refunds as some of them you have to fight to get your money back (looking at you Utility Point).

On a side note, that £90.90 has built up since July and follows the trend of when I was last with bulb and had a refund of over £260 after being with them for 14 months. This system of fixed direct debits doesn't work, not for us anyway. I give my energy provider reading once a month, usually a couple of days before my billing date although I would do it more often if they wanted as it only takes a couple of minutes. Why can't they use that reading and take a direct debit for the enrgy that I have actually used? I don't think I have ever used more enrgy than the direct debit I pay every month, even in the Winter so why should I keep building up a big credit balance in my account? it's not as if they pay me interest on it.

Is this caused by not having a smart meter? I.e. would the bills fluctuate if on smart meter.

I ask as I've just gone to DDs rather than bills that adjust every month for usage, and I can totally see substantial credit building up with them.

touch · 6 Nov 2019 at 11:04

pastymuncher said:
On a side note, that £90.90 has built up since July and follows the trend of when I was last with bulb and had a refund of over £260 after being with them for 14 months. This system of fixed direct debits doesn't work, not for us anyway. I give my energy provider reading once a month, usually a couple of days before my billing date although I would do it more often if they wanted as it only takes a couple of minutes. Why can't they use that reading and take a direct debit for the enrgy that I have actually used? I don't think I have ever used more enrgy than the direct debit I pay every month, even in the Winter so why should I keep building up a big credit balance in my account? it's not as if they pay me interest on it.

You can change the DD amount in your account settings. You've clearly got it set too high if your usage is always lower than your DD amount.

The setup works well for me but I've got a record of all my monthly meter readings for the past 3 years so I know how much I use. When I moved to Bulb, I told them my annual usage and they recommended a monthly DD of £55.61. I've been with them 16 months now and my average monthly usage is £54.74 so over the course of a year my account balances out with the DD amount. Some summer months I can use as little as £30 per month and winter months can be £100 (electric heating) so it's much easier for monthly budgeting to pay the same amount every month.

PiKe · 6 Nov 2019 at 17:07

touch said:
... so it's much easier for monthly budgeting to pay the same amount every month.

Which is why smart meters are such a bad idea!

TheVoice · 6 Nov 2019 at 17:14

b0rn2sk8 said:
Had a Scottish power one fitted the other day, condition of the tariff. Mines been fine, unplugged the smart display and put it in a draw though. Waste of electricity

They couldn’t install the gas due to distance from electric box (opposite sides of the house so no signal) so I still have the dumb gas meter.

Are they still providing those really basic-looking black and white in-home displays? They look naff, at least most of the other providers appear to be providing a full-colour one that actually shows you a decent amount of info.

b0rn2sk8 · 6 Nov 2019 at 17:46

It’s black and white but also in a draw, waste of electricity.

shadow_boxer · 8 Nov 2019 at 11:03

Are people moving away from Bulbs vari-tariff at the moment? I joined them back in March time but having a quick search now and it looks as if I could probably save around £100 per year by switching to another fixed tariff? The flexible monthly direct debit doesn't really bother me too much. We've built up a fair bit of credit over the summer so I guess it'll be a simple refund if switched.

TNA · 8 Nov 2019 at 11:30

shadow_boxer said:
Are people moving away from Bulbs vari-tariff at the moment? I joined them back in March time but having a quick search now and it looks as if I could probably save around £100 per year by switching to another fixed tariff? The flexible monthly direct debit doesn't really bother me too much. We've built up a fair bit of credit over the summer so I guess it'll be a simple refund if switched.

Unless the company goes under...

Not likely much of a concern with the big companies, but need to be careful with the small ones.