FabSwingers.com forum: An Electric question

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

I Recently moved into a 1 bed flat, my PAYG electric was with EDF, it was costing me £15 a week, which I was struggling to pay as I am on benefit, I phoned around and was told that British gas would be a better supplier for me as they were 6% cheaper and did not have standing charges so I switched, I am now in my 4th week with them and my electric is costing me £17.50, that is £2.50 a week more, does anyone know if I can change again or am I tied in with BG as I never had to sign anything

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I'd be asking BG why if theyre 6% cheaper than previous supplier, your actually paying more

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"I'd be asking BG why if theyre 6% cheaper than previous supplier, your actually paying more

I did, they said I must be doing something different to use more leckie and to give it a couple of more weeks and see how it goes, yes I am doing something different, I'm not cooking a meal everyday now to try and save some money on it

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I'd be asking BG why if theyre 6% cheaper than previous supplier, your actually paying more

"
You need to ring them and ask them why you are paying more and don't fall for their fibble excuses.

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By *eaboMan
over a year ago

marden

you can change suppliers as often as you want. But i would write to them asking why they misled you, follow it up a week later asking why they haven't replied, you may get some money back.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

are you leaving lights on,unnecessarily?

mobile chargers etc,switched on,even when nothing is charging

the immersion heater

tv on standby,other electrical items switched on at the plug when not in use

may all sound little things,but when i wised up to this,we found we were saving up to £10 a month

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"are you leaving lights on,unnecessarily?

mobile chargers etc,switched on,even when nothing is charging

the immersion heater

tv on standby,other electrical items switched on at the plug when not in use

may all sound little things,but when i wised up to this,we found we were saving up to £10 a month"

doing nothing different than I was, except not using cooker every day now

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

go on one of the comparision websites to see who does the best sort of deal that your looking for.

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By *unky monkeyMan
over a year ago

in the night garden

If you shorten all your electrical cables to a couple of inches you might use less electricity, I imagine, I'm no expert.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"If you shorten all your electrical cables to a couple of inches you might use less electricity, I imagine, I'm no expert."

I'm going to try that one, runs of to find Stanley knife

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"If you shorten all your electrical cables to a couple of inches you might use less electricity, I imagine, I'm no expert.

I'm going to try that one, runs of to find Stanley knife"

Nooooooooooo !!! haha ...

Phone up ...state you`re going to switch ...express your dissatisfaction ..they might reduce your tariff ..

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By *ugby 123Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

O o O oo

Sounds like they lied to you if you are only using the same electricity.

I thought you had to sign a contratc to swop providers? Hopefully you have just signed for that and not into a lenghty contract.

Check what you had signed up for then tell BG their reasons for you paying more don't count as you know you are not using more.

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By *ugby 123Couple
Forum Mod
over a year ago

O o O oo

PS Eon online is great...great CS and you can change your tarrif whenever you want.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I could well be wrong ..but I think you can change anytime you want ...there may however be a cancellation fee etc ...and its complicated if you`ve direct debits ..debts ...

Alot of energy suppliers ..do have a social tariff ....for those in need or the vunerable ...

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By *unky monkeyMan
over a year ago

in the night garden

"If you shorten all your electrical cables to a couple of inches you might use less electricity, I imagine, I'm no expert.

I'm going to try that one, runs of to find Stanley knife"

LOL Please please everyone as a disclaimer can I just say don't ever believe a word I say and you won't go far wrong.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

British Gas is actually a French company now

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

See you live in a flat. Don't know what the setup is, but if it is a house that has been made into flats check the following.

Make sure everything is switched off in your flat, plugs out , lights off, etc.

A friend of mine told me he thought his electric meter wheel was still turning with everything switched off.

We switched EVERYTHING off in the flat, and the wheel was still turning.

I investigated and found that a socket on his ring main was in the adjacent flat.

. I disconnected the socket from the ring main and the wheel on his meter stopped. He told the people in the flat and they said their television/ Sky was not working. It was on that socket. He had been paying for their electicity on that socket.

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By *eighleedsMan
over a year ago

leeds

has BG sent anyone out to adjust your token meter yet. this needs doing when you change companies and have a token meter, otherwise you are still getting charged tthe rate of your old tarif.

if they have done this ask them to send someone to check its on teh correct tariff, if they have not done this ask them to send someone to come out and change it

its also unusual for energy comapnys to give quotes of savings when you have a token meter on comparison sites, they are usually for direct debit payment plans only, unless things have changed

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

seems to me there is asome debt attached to the flat

my electric costs me 12.00 a week and thats for a 3 bed house

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By *eighleedsMan
over a year ago

leeds

"seems to me there is asome debt attached to the flat

my electric costs me 12.00 a week and thats for a 3 bed house

was just going to ad this to my above comment, but if there is debt on the meter they old company would have blocked the transfer of supplies to a knew one until the debt is paid off

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By *atisfy janeWoman
over a year ago

Torquay

"British Gas is actually a French company now

Is it?...

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"seems to me there is asome debt attached to the flat

my electric costs me 12.00 a week and thats for a 3 bed house

My first thoughts are your probably right with a debt being attached to the meter. However i was under the impression you couldn't change companies if an outstanding debt was on the meeter anyway.

To the OP

1/you need to contact BG and tell them your issues. They have a 2 tarrif charge and although there is no quarterly meter charge the fiest few thousand units are at a higher rate so you in reality still pay for the meter.

2/Pre pay meters are far more expensive. See if they will remove it for you. I think you will save more than 10% doing this.

3/Ask BG if you will be paying less on your monthly usage figures. If not them you were miss sold and they are in the wrong.

Your best bet is to go to a price comparison website and put your local area in (all areas charge differently) and see who is cheapest. The Uswitch one is apparently quite good.

Remember your the consumer and you shouldn't have to pay more than you need to.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"British Gas is actually a French company now

Is it?..."

Yes

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

[Removed by poster at 22/02/11 14:34:29]

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"British Gas is actually a French company now

Is it?...

Yes"

Centrica is a multi national Company based in the UK mainly trading in Britain and N. America.It trades as 'British Gas' and is listed on the Lndon Stock Exchange

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Ok there was definitely no debt on the meter, I had lived in the flat for 4 weeks before the change over and the increase was noticeable within the first week as I always put money on my key on a Friday and on the following Thurs my electric had run out, the following week it run out on the Weds, nobody came out to check the meter and I had no paper work to sign, it was changed over the phone and took effect 28 days later, a new key was sent to me in the post, which I had to put in the meter before putting any credit on it, so that the key and meter would tally with each other

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

gotta say i'm sorely disappointed this ain't a thread about Nikola Tesla

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By *atisfy janeWoman
over a year ago

Torquay

"British Gas is actually a French company now

Is it?...

Yes"

Nah it's not.....

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By *atisfy janeWoman
over a year ago

Torquay

"British Gas is actually a French company now

Is it?...

Yes

Centrica is a multi national Company based in the UK mainly trading in Britain and N. America.It trades as 'British Gas' and is listed on the Lndon Stock Exchange"

That's what I was going to say.....but opted for ....."Nah, it's not"

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

When you changed supplier did they change your meter too ??

If so, and you have done nothing different to increase consumption, it could be that the previous meter was reading incorrectly or indeed the new meter is incorrect.

If neither of these apply, and you are definately not doing anything to use more power than with your previous supplier, it sounds as though you are being ripped off.

Look at some of your old bills from the old supplier and see what the unit cost per Kwh was and compare it with the new supplier, and see what your consumption was, compared to what it is now see which one is higher. It could well be that the new suppliers power per Kwh is less, but somewhere along the line they are charging and extra fee for something else that they haven't told you about ....

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"When you changed supplier did they change your meter too ??

If so, and you have done nothing different to increase consumption, it could be that the previous meter was reading incorrectly or indeed the new meter is incorrect.

If neither of these apply, and you are definately not doing anything to use more power than with your previous supplier, it sounds as though you are being ripped off.

No did not change the meter, it is a key meter so do not have Bills or previous statements as I only moved in 8 weeks ago

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

You can go to citizens advice and if you take proof of your benefits with you, they can arrange for you to go on a social tariff which is cheaper than normal rates

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"You can go to citizens advice and if you take proof of your benefits with you, they can arrange for you to go on a social tariff which is cheaper than normal rates"

Thank you I will look into that as I am on disablement but I still want to find out from BG why they are more expensive when they were suppose to be 6% cheaper

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By *ce WingerMan
over a year ago

P.O. Box DE1 0NQ

Sorry to hijack thread slightly, but can anyone tell me how you can use electric by leaving your phone charger plugged in? When I walk back into the room I have not once suffered an electric shock. Where does it go???

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Simple, because the power unit uses current regardless of whether the phone is connected to it.

The older ones used a simple transformer/rectifier arrangement - so long as a transformer is connected to the mains, the primary winding will consume power.

The new ones are switched mode power supplies and, although they still use power when the device is not connectted to it, the don't use as much as the older ones.

We have one of those power monitors and it's suprising just how much power you use by leaving many insignificant little things plugged in - partcuularly PC's left running and TV's left in standby.

Prior to buying this monitor, we used on average 15Kwh per day, since buying the monitor, fitting low energy lamps and ensuring TV's are not left on standby, PC's are not left running and all other unused stuff is turned off when not needed, we now use 8-9Kwh per day.

We have a key meter and I think we pay about 15p per kwh - work out what we are saving per day then reckon it up for a year. Suddenly all those insignificant things which we left plugged in have become very significant indeed

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I asked for my electricity meter to be replaced by Npower as I was not satisfied that I was using the amount of electricity they said I was. They obliged, but inbetween waiting for the new meter, I changed suppliers. I had the new meter in for ten days, I then got my final bill from npower and the bill indicated I had been using FORTY TWO UNITS a day in that ten day period from new meter installation to new supplier taking over! I refused to pay and held out for a while until a quarter had passed with edf as the new supplier. They had to give me a refund of over 300 quid as the direct debit payments had been based on the bills from my old supplier and were way too high for my usage. The first bill from edf panned out at 25 units per day.

When I refused to pay Npower the outstanding amount, they said their bill proved the new meter was working fine, I must have been changing my usage habits. I pointed out I did not know when the changeover was going to take place to make an effort to change habits, as they determined that date between themselves and new supplier and it was really weird my readings dropped so much and continued to drop over a quarter. I complained to ombudsman and NPower wrote off their bill.

I was furious to see that at the end of the year NPower had to announce they had misread thousands of meters and they were offering refunds. I couldnt prove anything because old meter had been removed. I reckon they duped me out of hundreds of pounds. Nobody can use 42 units a day and I think they used the price hike to cover up the fact they were not reading the meters correctly and hoped more customers would just accept the charges thinking it was due to rising costs.

Easy rule of thumb for electricity... if it heats something up its expensive, ie oven, dishwasher, tumble drier, washing machine, electric showers and electric heaters over 1kw - lights etc mount up but not excessively.

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By *ue care and attentionWoman
over a year ago

birmingham

"seems to me there is asome debt attached to the flat

my electric costs me 12.00 a week and thats for a 3 bed house

Blooming heck, who you with? I'm swapping!

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By *ornyandnymphoCouple
over a year ago

poole

"seems to me there is asome debt attached to the flat

my electric costs me 12.00 a week and thats for a 3 bed house

Blooming heck, who you with? I'm swapping!"

Me too!!

Paying monthly by direct debit, £200 pcm just for electric. Live in a 3 bed semi, not a bloody mansion!

Told providor something not right, but they won't accept it

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"....... I had been using FORTY TWO UNITS a day ...... "

42kwh over a day is one hell of a lot of electricity ...

On an average day we use 8-9 kwh and on a day when the washer is used a few times it can rise to 12-14 kwh. But 42 ????

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"seems to me there is asome debt attached to the flat

my electric costs me 12.00 a week and thats for a 3 bed house

Blooming heck, who you with? I'm swapping!"

TBH, our weekly bill comes to roughly £12/13 ... But we're both at work through the day and there are only the 2 of us. Energy saving lamps fitted throughout, all but essential stuff is turned completely off - every little helps

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By *icknDeeCouple
over a year ago

hartlepool

Power companies, don't you just love em?

We've just had a quarterly electricity bill for £3000. OK, so it's an old drafty victorian terrace, but it's heated by gas.

*must remember to unplug that phone charger when we're not using it, lol*

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Power companies, don't you just love em?

We've just had a quarterly electricity bill for £3000. OK, so it's an old drafty victorian terrace, but it's heated by gas.

*must remember to unplug that phone charger when we're not using it, lol*"

Been overdoing the old Fab aint we lol xx

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

make sure you are on the essentials tariff

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"....... I had been using FORTY TWO UNITS a day ......

42kwh over a day is one hell of a lot of electricity ...

On an average day we use 8-9 kwh and on a day when the washer is used a few times it can rise to 12-14 kwh. But 42 ????

I think thats why Npower backed down because it was so ludicrous. I tumble dry all of the clothes and my house is split level and open plan so I use a lot of electric plinth heaters etc to heat the bits the central heating doesnt seem to get to. But in summer the electricity used is pretty low and around same as your 12 to 14 a day. I just used to pay up and not even wonder about it till the unit price rose.

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By *etillanteWoman
over a year ago

I pay dd £110.00 a month and we all electric, run our business from home I think we get off pretty well

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