Our story about the #PowerToSwitch

As regular readers know we recently moved. One of the problems with moving is finding that you automatically take on the previous owner’s gas & electricity companies and get popped on a standard deal. Fair enough at least you aren’t tied into a contract immediately but of course it’s one of the last things you think about. You can boil a kettle; watch TV after unpacking boxes and the heating comes on. Why would it occur to you to go and hunt down a new deal?

However it is amazing the difference in energy costs between suppliers. My first thought was that my friend’s energy supplier sounded cheap why not goes with them? Well it turns out there were almost £40 a month more expensive. That’s a lot! That’s a family trip out to somewhere rather good each month! That is in fact £480 a year! Christmas paid for or a holiday. And really it’s paid for without any hard work on your side.

Our unexpected holiday thats to the switching power!

We spent ages and I mean ages, weeks even pouring over different energy suppliers and trying to actually figure out what the best deal was. Did a one off fee mean less money monthly, how long did the “offer” actually last for, were they green energy &  if they were could we actually afford it! It almost came to the point where we thought “Ah let’s just not bother”. I know quite a few people who have that attitude to! My parents for one!

At the end of the day we would have loved a green supplier but financially it didn’t make sense for us so we have done what we can at home to help that but we ended up as a last try by using a comparison site like BeAnEnergyShopper.com. We only needed our current tariff name & end date, how we were planning on paying I.E Monthly DD or yearly and our annual consumption (found on monthly statements & online account) and away we went. After weeks of trying to wrap our heads around deals in 10 minutes we had three options! Really good options! We were on a fairly decent deal already but we ended up saving just over £300 a year. After just moving house we thought there was no way we’d get a holiday that year but it allowed us to let the stress of the house move disappear! Another bonus is that the time for switching over has dropped. Gone forever is the 5 weeks change over period to be dropped down to just under 3 weeks at 17days. That’s a difference which comes into effect by your next payday!

We now also have one of those lovely widgets which tells us when we’re using excess electricity too so to save even more money this year we remember to ensure the sky box is on standby, the TV is off, the washing machine is full and to use the fire over turning up the heating for a bit.

I was really amazed by how quick and simple it is and do urge you to give it a go. The average is £200 so even if you think you’re on a good deal surely it’s worth it to check? After all you might end up saving enough for a new computer, camera or even a holiday away! And do remember it’s not a one off saving it’s a yearly saving, surely that’s worth ten minutes of your time? What would you spend your saving on?

I'm working with BritMums and DECC alongside the #PowertoSwitch campaign. I have been compensated for my time. All editorial and opinions are my own. Visit BeAnEnergyShopper.com for more information about switching energy suppliers.