Switching electric/gas providers (see first post for links)

chasm

Getting offered 22% discount off the standard unit rate with BGE if I renew my contract. Has anyone phoned them and been offered a better rate or is the emailed offer the best I'll get? TIA

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694323#Comment_121694323

That's exactly what I was afraid of, thanks for the warning although I'd never considered going to them tbh, they absolutely screw people over with their prepay power.

Caranica

Time to sort my gas contract. Currently with SSE Airtricity. Electricity (autumn renewal) is with Energia. Where are the best deals these days?

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694323#Comment_121694323

This is why I don’t like yuno or any of the prepay set ups in general

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694665#Comment_121694665

Everyone is different just like car insurance there’s not really a one size fits all sadly, the companies like the confuse us so we don’t switch

GBX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694665#Comment_121694665

Default answer is it depends on your usage. Work out your 12 month usage and use Switcher or Bonkers to get an idea

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694712#Comment_121694712

it is fairly straightforward for gas, pick whoever is offering the cheapest new customer deal.

according to Bonkers, Bord Gais are currently the cheapest, that's with a 16% discount. If you can get hold of one of their sales reps you may be able to get a bigger discount.

Caranica

Thanks. I was asking because I got a much better electricity deal thanks to guidance on here than any of the switcher sites were suggesting

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694426#Comment_121694426

I'll be emailing them in the next 48 hours to ask but contract up in early March.They want me to renew soon.It is worth calling them more than once as I was given different discounts on each call I made

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121694883#Comment_121694883

gas is simple yes but electricity depends very much on usage, for me energia is currently the best because of the low standing charge and 15% offered to stay and we don't use much with our last bimonthly bill being 160, if i move to bg i will be paying something similar and need to pay 50 to leave but energia are reducing prices in march so they will be cheaper again

like i said it is not a one size fits all

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695407#Comment_121695407

sure but the question was about gas: "Time to sort my gas contract"

OmegaGene

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121695772#Comment_121695772

electricity was also mentioned

ablelocks

apologies for off topic but i think it was mentioned here over the last couple of months - i tried to find it, but couldn't -

someone else here had overly high usage and discovered either a faulty pump or perhaps a faulty meter. The reason i ask is that my parents most recent bill is €950 - i know their rate is 41c kwh but this bill seems really high for an elderly couple, even with a plug in hybrid.

they have a smart meter (on a non-smart tarriff) so can a report be got from it that shows where the energy is being used? or is it best to get an electrician in?

Mods - feel free to delete or move if needs be

zell12

CSO say that wholesale electricity prices in December 2023 were at their lowest point since April 2021. So I guess that is reflected in the bills 🙄 In April '21 I was paying 17c/day 8c/night and a €150/year sc

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2024/0130/1429413-cso-wholesale-price-index/

Cape Clear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696039#Comment_121696039

I was with Panda at the time and I was paying 0.1504c per unit 24hr tariff S/C €189 PSO €78.24 all ex vat the vat rate at the time was 13.5% while it is currently 9% and PSO is currently nil.

ongarite

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696006#Comment_121696006

Register account here & have the MPRN to hand. You can then view the 30 minute/hourly data.

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/existing-connections/meters-and-readings/my-smart-data

Check usage at night time as this would likely show faulty appliance, pump, etc...

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696006#Comment_121696006

Do they have a well or a septic tank? Either of these can really eat the juice if they're running constantly. Outside toilets can freeze and then thaw letting water run. Is the new meter recently installed? They could have had a series of underestimated bills and when the reading from the old meter was submitted they got a nasty one.

JTMan

Are people still expecting Flogas to follow all the other providers and announce cuts?

Cape Clear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696006#Comment_121696006

Do they have a heat pump that might have defaulted to a boost setting after a power outage? Any new devices/ appliances installed lately?

ablelocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696198#Comment_121696198

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696449#Comment_121696449

thanks

have a well, septic tank is old one, so no motor there. no outside toilets.

meter is in place a couple of years i think

haven't had a chance to review bill history yet

no heat pump - its oil fired heating and not aware of any new appliances recently.

won't get to check anything till the weekend.

corcaigh07

Signed up to Electric Ireland D/N rate (new build with a smart meter) but unsurprisingly was put onto a 24 hr rate without any notification and they have said in Live Chat that I can only go on D/N if I had a legacy meter.

Which provider is more open to D/N than them?

Mav11

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698413#Comment_121698413

AFAIK you have to have a special D/N smart meter to avail of that tariff and you'll only get that if you currently have an old D/N meter.

jasonb

I have scrolled back a few pages and can't find this mentioned...

I moved to FloGas a few months ago, and I use their budget scheme, so I pay the same amount to them every month (in two instalments, why they have to charge separately for Gas and Electricity is beyond me). Anyhow, my latest bill has come in, and I noticed that it still didn't have the Government €150 energy credit on it.

Or at least I thought it didn't. When I looked at FloGas's billing page (it's not the most intuitive system to use) I realised that I did get that €150, back in December, but instead of me paying €150 less for one month, they have just said that I owe them €150 less, but continue to charge me the same monthly budget amount. In other words, my current Electricity Balance with them is something like -€350, but they still charged me the same budget amount. When I was with Airtricity, also on the monthly budget scheme, they took the credit off the payment, so for one month my bill was reduced.

Anyone else notice this with FloGas? Does this mean that instead of my monthly bill being €150 cheaper, that they will just lower the monthly budget amount the next time the figure comes up for renewal, as my balance is negative? I thought the whole point of the Govt Credit Scheme was to give people a little more in their bank account at this time of year, and I was looking forward to paying €150 less this month!

zell12

So you agreed to 'I use their budget scheme, so I pay the same amount to them every month', and now you're asking randomers why you signed up to it? 😣

jasonb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698785#Comment_121698785

Nope, I'm not asking why I signed up to it. I'm asking other people who signed up to it if they also just got the credit added to their ongoing balance, rather than a reduction in their bill for that month.

My previous experience with a monthly Budget plan (with Airtricity) was that the credit was taken from the bill itself, so basically I paid less in the month that the credit was applied. So I thought the same would happen with FloGas, but it hasn't. Hence me asking people on here, many of whom I know moved to FloGas a few months ago as it was the best deal at the time, if they also had the same experience with how the Credit was applied.

loyatemu

they'll recalculate your budget payment periodically based on what you owe vs what you've paid. If prices are going down your payment will also go down. If they owe you money when you switch, you'll get it back.

FWIW Bord Gais and Energia also take the gas and electricity separately on their budget plans, SSE take a single payment.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698820#Comment_121698820

I can't help you unfortunately, I never use those level pay plans for the exact reasons you've outlined, try giving them a ring I've found their CS to be very helpful. I fear it will be a case of the computer says no as you've agreed to pay a set amount each month with a review at the end of the 12 months. I prefer to pay money off in the month it isn't due always leaving it so they'll require money on the bill due date. I like it that way in case I change providers and don't end up chasing credit on a closed account.

jasonb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698851#Comment_121698851

Well, that goes to show that I'm not at my sharpest this morning, you are correct, I was last with Airtricity, Bord Gais was the time before that, and yes, Airtricity are the ones who took a single payment for both Gas & Electricity, and who gave the Government Credit against your bill for that month, not against your outstanding balance. I've edited my previous posts to change Bord Gais to Airtricity to avoid confusion.

jasonb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698874#Comment_121698874

Yeah, the budget plan can hard to keep track of, and figuring out exactly what your balances are etc., but I needed a way of having a good idea of knowing what exactly will be paid each month, and I was used to using Budget plan from Airtricity too. I'm gonna ring FloGas to see if they can let me know when the next budget review is. If the Govt Credit doesn't affect the budget review then really all that's gonna happen with the Credit is it will sit in my account until I leave them!

gormdubhgorm

An Electric Ireland fella rang me up there yesterday as my contract is shortly coming to an end. He seemed very vague and was constantly going through a "spiel". I was actually left more confused by his call than after it.

Mentions of 14% discount on the current plan and another 8% less in March, was all I got. He just constantly spoke barely giving me time to gather my thoughts and interject. There were lots of words but not much definite clartity.

There was not one mention of "unit price" he was unable to estimate the price of another contract given my current usage as he did not have access to that information. I honestly think his strategy was to bamboozle me, so I would agree to get him to sign me up to another contract so he would go away. With very little facts or clarity given.

All I could think was if there are elderly customers out there they must really pressure them into sales all the time, and they would not be "tech savvy".