Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Nov 2007
- Posts
- 4,233
Not a clue, have a complaint with british gas at the momemt. Looking forward to their reply.
Not a clue, have a complaint with british gas at the momemt. Looking forward to their reply.
Soldato
There's no way that just having a smart meter will increase your bill by 300%. You were probably underpaying before and it's caught up.
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Nov 2007
- Posts
- 4,233
100 seems a lot for a 2 year old 2 bed flat though? British gas really under estimated our usage otherwise :s
Soldato
Is this for gas AND electric you had with BG? I'd expect that to be £60ish a month for the two.
I suspect what's happened is they've grossly underestimated your usage and you hadn't supplied them with many meter readings so they were estimating. When they took the old meter out, they'd have taken an accurate read and re-calculated your bill using that and will now get accurate readings from the smart meter. I used to work for an energy supplier and saw this happen a lot.
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Nov 2007
- Posts
- 4,233
Mmm i suppose so. Now that we have switched supplier does anything need to be done to to our meter or does it just go back to being a normal meter.
Also when i called initially to complain they told me only the electric readings are being taken from the meter. Engineer **** up?
I'm now paying £112 a month for a 2 bed modern flat....because I originally went for the 'low user' option and racked up about £400 'debt'
do/did your meter readings match what's stated on your bill?
even estimated bills they need to take or you need to give them a reading every so often
do/did your meter readings match what's stated on your bill?
even estimated bills they need to take or you need to give them a reading every so often
Soldato
If you've been underpaying for a while, then that will be to cover both your current usage and the outstanding balance
Soldato
The electric meter will subnit electric readings and the gas will send its own seperate reading. If your display unit only shows electric but both meters were changed then it's not been paired correctly. That is only a guide though, the meter itself is what submits the data to the supplier, not your in home device.
Depends on your new supplier as not all use smart meters. If they don't, it's useless and you'll still need to give them meter readings.
Soldato
Being on a 100% renewable energy tariff just means they buy 100% renewable energy from the the wholesale market and pump it into the national grid for every KWh you use.
Of course it comes down the same pipes and wires as every other supplier. It's like them folk who are scared to switch to small suppliers as they think they are going to get cut off if they go bust.
Of course it comes down the same pipes and wires as every other supplier. It's like them folk who are scared to switch to small suppliers as they think they are going to get cut off if they go bust.
Associate
- Joined
- 6 Sep 2017
- Posts
- 256
We are completing on 28th Feb, getting our keys and moving in...this is our first property.
How can I make sure I get best rate with suppliers?
Current owners are with British Gas for Gas and Electric and I am not sure if I should be calling them on the day of moving or somehow find different supplier, considering I dont know exactly how much I will be paying with them vs others?
I believe current owners have a top up system but did say energy company offered changing their meter but they declined.
Thanks in advance.
How can I make sure I get best rate with suppliers?
Current owners are with British Gas for Gas and Electric and I am not sure if I should be calling them on the day of moving or somehow find different supplier, considering I dont know exactly how much I will be paying with them vs others?
I believe current owners have a top up system but did say energy company offered changing their meter but they declined.
Thanks in advance.
You have to take over the current supply wit BG, take a meter reading with the current owners when you take the property and then contact BG within a couple of days. No need to mess around with it on the day, just make sure you get the meter reading with the current owners (take a picture).
You need to get BG to change it to a credit meter first and the ditch them for a cheaper supplier. You will struggle to get a decent tariff without a credit meter.
Just use one of the usual comparison/MSE sites to get estimates and then use a referral code/Quidco to actually make the switch if it’s cheaper.
Associate
- Joined
- 6 Sep 2017
- Posts
- 256
Thank you for the info, I wasnt sure if taking over with BG will tie me in for say a year contract or I can leave anytime.
Meter change is one of the first thing I would want to do, don't like the idea of top up. Do they carry out this for free typically?
I believe owners are dropping off keys to an agent from whom we will pick them up. Will snap a photo of meter as soon as I walk through the door.
Thanks!
Meter change is one of the first thing I would want to do, don't like the idea of top up. Do they carry out this for free typically?
I believe owners are dropping off keys to an agent from whom we will pick them up. Will snap a photo of meter as soon as I walk through the door.
Thanks!
1) only if you sign up to a fixed contract, just sign up for the standard variable tariff, they all have one and you can leave at any time.
2) not sure, I don’t think so. They want you on a credit meter because they are cheaper to operate. You’ll probally get a smart meter if you don’t have one already. If the meter is already smart (and BG compatible) then no swap required.
Has anyone who has taken a smart meter been impressed by the data it gives them, or the monitoring 'device' ?
AFAIK there are no phone/pc apps that give you access to the live data from the meter , which I guess is down to security issues (if you phone speaks to the meter then maybe someone can compromise the meter)
Or, has anyone taken a smart meter because it offers a preferential tarif , I'm not sure if the switch sites are currently picking these deals up ?
Soldato
I had a smart meter installed last year (needed an isolation switch fitted and my supplier would only do it if they could fit a new meter, even though, they don't actually support smart meters!)
I have however just initiated a switch to Octopus as my fixed deal is ending in April, and will be moving to their Go tariff. Its an EV tariff, which gives 5p/unit from 00:30-04:30 (along with with a decent rate outside those hours).
One of the prerequisites is a smart meter which can provide a reading every 30 mins
They can only ask you to have 30min readings, they cannot make it a prerequisite and that's law!
Soldato
It is for that particular tariff, in the same way as you can't have an economy 7 tariff if you don't have an economy 7 meter
No it's not the same, under law they HAVE to have a separate tick box/question asking for your permission to read the meter more regularly than once a month.
Tarrifs cannot request to be read more than that without an opt in tick box.
Soldato
Source?
Anyway, pretty sure they can stipulate the conditions for a particular tariff if they want to!