BTW I don't understand "the previous owner of the property I'm now in was with EDF Energy so to pay the outstanding balance with them I signed up for monthly direct debit". You do not have to pay a previous occupiers "outstanding balance". Is that a misunderstanding? I hope you supplied meter readings when you first occupied the property.

Correct, you should not be paying the previous occupiers outstanding balance, EDF should have asked for a reading when you signed up. Also check that you are not being estimated on the previous owners usage, you should get the overpayments back through time, double check your first bill and ask them to reduce the DD amount taken from your bank if it is way over the top, the bill will show the amount used and the amount you have paid for, British Gas Websaver 11 Duel Fuel is about the cheapest at the moment, or if you want to stay with EDF ask for Online S@ver 12 Dual Fuel.

Kane_richards:

I tend to agree with the last poster that the current monthly amount does seem a bit high, though equally the flat could be badly insulated and you like to be warm.

The actual number (now) is really not that relevant. Ignore it for the moment. Go to your preferred Consumer Focus accredited comparison site and do a comparison. Use "average annual consumption" figures. You will get a list of tariffs in increasing price order. That's it. Choose you supplier and tariff. Note that the cost per year is only valid for the "average consumption" you entered.

How much energy you are using is a different question and can only be answered by monitoring your meters. Get a handle on your consumption by reading the meters daily for a week, then weekly for a month. After that keep on top of any estimated bills by submitting actual readings. Obviously its a cold time of year and your consumption, particularly gas, will be high.

Suppliers monitor account balances with the objective of achieving a zero account balance by the next review date (usually annual but NPower is bi-annual). By all accounts some suppliers do this better than others.

BTW I don't understand "the previous owner of the property I'm now in was with EDF Energy so to pay the outstanding balance with them I signed up for monthly direct debit". You do not have to pay a previous occupiers "outstanding balance". Is that a misunderstanding? I hope you supplied meter readings when you first occupied the property.

Kane - Certainly does not sound correct. I would call EDF first to clarify what tariff you are on. I also use the comparison web sites to choose my suppliers (although I would never use British gas what ever the price) so that is well worth doing. Be careful as Dual Fuel are not always the best as it all depends on your consumption - EDF should be able to tell you what the flats fuel use was for the last year that would at least give you a rough estimate. Please note that i only pay £60/month for gas and elec for a 4 bed detached bungalow!

Hello,

I've recently moved into my first home and am now in the process of getting to grip with bills coming from everywhere (oh parental home, how I miss thee)

The previous owner of the property I'm now in was with EDF Energy so to pay the outstanding balance with them I signed up for monthly direct debit however I appear to be getting two bills in, one for power, one for gas (£106 (60 Gas / 46 Pwr) a month for a small 2 bedroom flat)

Excuse the supreme noobness here, but is this really what I will need to pay on average for power and gas? Is there any way to chance so I am on this 'dual fuel' tariff I keep hearing about. In essence, is there anyway to make it cheaper

I looked on Money Supermarket and it says using Dual Fuel it could cost me only half as what I would be paying (£502.31 pa best offer) so I'm unsure if I'm getting done somewhere or this is just another harsh lesson in the whole 'moving out experience'

Can anyone make any suggestions to get the bill lower with EDF. Should I phone them up or is there a better way?

I tried to go into the 'My Account' page on their site however they appear to be working on it.

Regards,

KR.