Moving home: an energy checklist
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Moving into a new home can be a stressful experience.
With so many documents to sign, keys to pick up and clothes to put away, it can be a challenge to find time to sit down and sort out your new home’s energy supply.
Here, our energy advice service team has created an easy energy checklist, full of tips to help make moving into a new home as smooth as possible…
Take a meter reading:
Your priority should be to take meter readings in your new home as soon as possible.
This is important as the opening reading will be used by your supplier as the basis to bill you.
Many homes will have smart meters, which send readings automatically. However, meters are not always that smart and your supplier may not be able to connect to it.
To give yourself peace of mind take a quick picture of the meter on your first day in the house – doing this will ensure that you’re only paying for the energy you will use.
Top tip: Meters can often be tricky to locate. Try asking your estate agent or housing provider if they know where the meter is before moving in.
Find out who supplies energy to your house:
We often think of energy accounts as being tied directly to us, opening one directly with a company in a similar manner to wi-fi or phone contracts.
However, this is not the case. Energy companies supply the properties we live in with electricity or gas, while we take responsibility for paying for the energy used by the property. This means that your new home will already have an energy company supplying it when you move in.
Finding out your supplier is an important step as it can help you to work out how much you should be spending on energy and can ensure you don’t have any problems later down the line.
Check with the landlord, agent, solicitor or, conveyancer for details if you don’t know the previous occupier.
Top tip: If you still can’t find your supplier, try calling up a supplier you have heard of and ask them. All energy companies keep a database of who is supplied by which firm so will be able to pass the information on.
Check your energy set up:
Before you start to think about what tariff you’d like, it’s important to understand what types of supply are in your home and how they work.
Do you have electricity and gas, or is it electricity only?
What type of heating system is present and how many readings are present on the meter?
Finding this out gives you the information needed to select the best tariff for you.
Top tip: Don’t worry if you’re not confident in these areas as it can be quite confusing . Why not contact our energy team? We may be able to visit and help you.
Set up an account with your current supplier:
The best way to avoid any energy problems occurring when moving is to set up a variable tariff account with the supplier your property is listed with first.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to stay with them long-term if you don’t want to, just avoid signing up to any ‘fixed term’ tariffs as these have exit fees for leaving.
Signing up with the old supplier helps in a couple of ways:
- It gives you all the information you need to make an informed switch later down the line if you want. The current property suppliers will know how much energy the house is expected to use as well as letting you know what type of meters you have. It will also give you a clear idea of the energy usage in your property.
- It will give you a clean split with whoever was inhabiting the property before you, ensuring you don’t get mistakenly sent any debts that they may have incurred while living there.
This can be done by most people simply and easily online, however, in some cases, you may need to call your supplier. Come and see our energy team if this is something you would like help with.
Top tip: When signing up try and find out your Estimated Annual Consumption (EAC). This is a figure which tells a company how much energy your property is expected to use and is listed in kilowatt-hour (KWH), for example: 2,300kwh.
Research the best deals:
Now that you have set up a contract with your current supplier, it’s time to check what other deals may be available.
For most people price is a large consideration and by using comparison websites like Uswitch you can compare the best deals on the market.
Using the estimated annual consumption for your home will make sure that you get the most accurate quote and will allow you to compare tariffs. Just remember that these figures are estimates and your actual usage and therefore your cost may change.
However cost is not everything and it’s also good to have a think about other factors such as customer service or the availability of green energy tariffs. You can check out ‘Which’ for a full breakdown of supplier’s customer service scores.
Top tip: Try to find out the kilowatt-hour charge of each tariff you’re comparing as this will give you a clear idea of what is cheapest.
Switch to the best deal if needed:
Once you have chosen a tariff, it’s time to complete your switch.
This could mean a better deal with your current supplier or a new one. Most switching is relatively straightforward and can be done either online or over the phone.
Switching is a quick process taking two to three working days.
However, do remember that you will have to pay for any energy you use with your old supplier from the point you move in until the switch is fully completed. You will usually be sent a bill for this after the switch goes through.
Top tip: Many suppliers have referral deals which can give you and the person referring to you a signing up bonus. Ask your friends if they have a code they would recommend.