7% British Gas Price Cut – Forget The Hype, We Can Save You Much More

Last week we sent news of the British Gas cut, but we never sit still when it comes to offering you a deal. So now, after more research, we have something even better to tell you – we can save you a lot more than that 7 per cent.

The hype tells us that around 8m households will save an average of £55 thanks to British Gas’s decision to cut its standard gas price by 7 per cent. But we can show you how to save even more. On average, Totally Money energy switching customers have saved £243.60 by switching – the maximum saving was a massive £2,190.

Energy customers need to look beyond the hype and check out the deals for themselves, because your overall saving could be much higher.

This is the third time in a year British Gas has cut its prices. Last year it cut 10 per cent off both standard gas and electricity prices, and it now claims to be the “cheapest major supplier of standard gas at average consumption – and therefore of dual fuel – right across Britain”.

But that’s the point – there are still many suppliers who can out do British Gas depending on where you live. If you use a lot of energy, you need to look at other ways to cut costs too. So follow these three tips to save even more:

1. Compare providers in your area

A quick search on the Totally Money comparison service shows that if you are living in Birmingham and pay £1,050 a year for both gas and electricity from E.On on its E.On Energy Plan, you would save nearly £186 a year for getting a different tariff with the same company. The First:utility Smart Dual fuel online saver v3 would cost £864.30 a year. Even better – and it proves the point – British Gas comes in in fourth place in the search with its WebSaver 6, at £874.01 – so you would pay an extra £10 a year for the company claiming it is the cheapest. So beware of buying into the hype.

2. Change how you pay your bills

Energy companies load your bills if you make it harder for them to get their hands on your cash. Anyone paying by quarterly cash or cheque, or pre-payment meter, will find themselves paying significantly more than those paying by monthly direct debit.

The savings for changing to the latter are significant. The best deal for this Birmingham resident switching from paying by quarterly cash or cheque to monthly direct debit would be with Scottish Power’s Online Energy Saver 9 at £796.77 – saving £253.23 a year. British Gas is pushed into fifth place.

If you can change from a pre-payment meter to monthly direct debit, then the saving would be £253.24 with Scottish Power’s Online Energy Saver 9 – but you would need to have your meter changed so you could pay by monthly direct debit.

If you are renting, or you can’t change the meter for another reason, then the best you can do is save £37.10 with British Gas’s Pay As You Go Energy.

3. Use less energy

Using an energy monitor in your home to keep a close eye on energy usage can save you as much as £75 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

This can be a pain, but your bill will be cheaper – yet few of us do this.

Some energy providers will give you a free energy monitor, so you can see how much you are using by overfilling the kettle, or leaving your telly on standby. If you want something a bit more high tech, Google is now offering an energy monitoring service for the home.

The Google PowerMeter will help you monitor your electricity usage day-by-day. You can buy an AlertMe energy monitor which clips onto your electricity meter and transmits the usage to your iGoogle homepage via your wireless broadband connection.

The PowerMeter software – which is free – then lets you track the usage so you can see where you can save money. The AlertMe system costs £69 to buy, and you have to pay £3 a month for the service. Once your energy savings are taken into account, it will soon pay for itself.