Poll

Home / Utilities / Gas & Electric / Cheaper Energy Solutions / Reduce Gas Bill

Reduce Gas Bill

There are a number of gas suppliers these days for customers to choose from and many payment plans. Gas is bought as units so comparing what a supplier charges per unit and multiplying it by the number of units you use tells you what your gas bill is. In addition there may be a standing charge that you also need to pay every month. Read more...>

Gas unit prices change in accordance with the market conditions and ultimately rely on what the suppliers are paying for gas from the producers. One way in which consumers try to control their gas bills and protect themselves against sharp rises is to opt for a fixed or capped unit price. This means that for the agreed period of time the gas price won’t change or in the case of a capped deal won’t go above a certain price. The downside of a fixed unit price is that although you are protected against rises if the price of gas drops sharply then you won’t see the benefit in a reduced bill.

Capping or fixing your gas unit price doesn’t give you a total prediction of your gas bill because the other variable is how much gas you use. If you use a lot, perhaps in a cold spell, you will raise your gas bill. To even out seasonal fluctuations in useage and therefore bills many gas payment plans work on a fixed monthly charge that aims to cover the whole bill for the year. In this way you may for more than you use in the summer and less in the winter and the total bill is reviewed at the end of the year.

Changing gas supplier is easier than you may think and the paperwork is minimal especially if you arrange the change online. However, if you have taken a specific price reduction deal already, you may be tied in for a period of time as a condition of the deal.

Top Tips

It’s easy to let gas bills come and go but it’s now so easy to compare suppliers online that it may be worth seeing what money you could save
It doesn’t have to be a big hassle to change suppliers - your new supplier will do the donkey work once you’ve agreed to switch
There won’t be a disruption to your gas service and it won’t be turned off during the switch
You don’t have to have your garden or road dug up to switch gas supplier