A Guide to Setting up Electricity in Your New Home
Moving to a new home? Setting up your electricity plan as soon as possible can save you money and give you peace of mind. Here’s how it’s done!
A Guide to Setting up Electricity in Your New Home
Moving home isn’t easy at the best of times. Especially if you’re on a limited budget. But now, in the midst of a global energy crisis, new movers are particularly vulnerable. Not only do they face myriad costs associated with the move itself, they’re also at risk of overpaying for the energy that they use in their new homes.
At Ellie’s Electricians, we want to ensure that everyone gets the best possible value for money when it comes to their electrical's. That’s why we’ve written this guide to show you the importance of setting up electricity in your new home and how to do it right.
Why is it important to set up electricity in your new home?
As the energy experts at Switch-Plan will tell you, setting up electricity in your new home as quickly as possible can potentially save you a lot of money on your energy bills. Especially in the current energy market crisis.
Whenever you move into a new home, there will already be a functioning electricity supply to the property. However, the incumbent supplier (whichever supplier the last occupant used) will place you on their standard variable tariff by default when you move in. This is problematic for two reasons.
Firstly, it means you’ll likely be spending much more on energy than you could be.
Secondly, since the Ofgem energy price cap is likely to go up again in April, your prices could rise even higher next year.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the best way to get your gas and electricity set up in your new home.
Find out your annual usage
Before you can compare the energy deals that are available for your new home, it’s a good idea to establish your annual and / or monthly usage in kWh. This will ensure that you receive accurate estimates when comparing the market.
You could use estimates, of course, but these may mean that the bills you receive bear little or no relation to the quotes that made you choose a given plan.
Find out who supplies electricity to your new home
It’s also a good idea to find out who supplies energy to the property. Checking out the rates for their standard variable tariff will help you find out how much you could save by switching. The previous occupant, landlord, letting agent or estate agent will likely have this information. If not, contact your local Meter Point Administration Service. They will be able to provide you with your new home’s meter number and the name of the incumbent supplier.
Compare energy deals before you move
It’s important to compare energy deals for your new home before your moving day. That way you’ll have a clear idea of which will be the best energy deal for you before you move into your new home. Let’s be honest, the process of moving is always fairly chaotic. If you don’t get it done before you move, it’s likely to be some time until you get around to it after your moving day.
You can’t switch energy plans until after you’ve moved to your new home. But the sooner you move, the more you’re likely to save on your energy.
Decide whether you want a variable or fixed energy deal
Broadly speaking, energy plans fall into two camps— fixed-rate and variable plans. Both have their benefits and caveats, especially at the moment.
Fixed rate plans guarantee your unit rates for a set period (usually 12-24 months) while variable plans rise and fall in line with wholesale energy costs. Needless to say, with these being extremely high, variable plans are very expensive right now. However, fixed-rate plans are not much cheaper at the moment, and some prefer to keep their options open, given that rates could go down as well as up next year.