Hi Mr Spock

Thanks for your comments. I've looked at the online tariffs and it looks a good option - like you say the time periods are good expecially the afternoon one. I have however turned the temperature of the hot water down on the boiler this weekend - it was set at 80 degrees. This seems to have slowed the meter down a bit (!). On reflection I think I'll stick with ScottishPower and monitor my usage regularly.

Hi Taffy14

I also have TwinHeat B with ScottishPower (formerly Manweb) and have done so for many years. I find the benefit of the twin heat b low rate periods brilliant, especially for domestic washing (dishwashing & washine machine) where else can you find cheap rate electricity at 12 noon in the afternoon, till 3 and from 9pm a night. Hence why the pricing is reflective for the tariff.

However this tariff is preserved with ScottishPower so you wont find it anywhere else. But it doesnt mean you may loose this tariff if you change supplier as suppliers dont always change the meters when you move over to them (except for BG - they tend to like their own meters) so you may loose the tariff as their meter might not have the same timesettings as ScottishPowers.

The best thing you could do is one of either two things, one is clear the current balance and make an application with your chosen new supplier. During the registration stage they will electronically request details of your particular make of meter, its at this point you will establish if your new supplier will be able to bill you. If you get a letter with a supply start date you should be ok. Your meter will still have the day & night time settings, however, your supplier will probably bill you as Economy 7. But you might get a letter to state your new supplier cant bill you as they realise you have a different type of meter.

The other way is to stay with ScottishPower, make better savings by moving to their online tariffs, I have done this and you are able to accurately monitor your usage & adjust make additional payments by debit/credit card, if required, ontop of your monthly direct debit payments

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the particular tariff, but it's important to compare units used and not just the billed cost. Was it an actual read or an estimate? Was last year an actual read or an estimate? Also make sure you are aware of the actual full and cheap rate unit costs on your tariff so that you can calulate the cost or the benefits of a cheaper but single tariff. It's not a true storage heater tariff but are you using storage heaters or panel heaters?

I would suggest that you compare your total annual usage with a price comparison site to establish that you really are benefitting from the Twin Heat tariff. No competition would suggest to me that the SP don't need to be that competitive. Also the usual suggestions about online tariffs and monthly direct debit savings.

If your heating is electric then an increase of £65 per month this winter compared to last winter strikes me as being very small and not at all huge.

Those seem to be very generous times to be offered cheaper rate electricity - perhaps the reason why you can't find the tariff from other companies. How do the prices compare with standard tariffs?

Hi

I'm with Scottish Power and like other people have just had a horrendous electricity bill from Scottish Power (up £198 from the same quarter last year). I'm on the Twin Heat B tarrif with SP which means that we have cheap rate electric twice a day (12 noon - 3 pm and 9 pm to 1 am). I've checked websites but cannot find another supplier who offers twin tarrif electric for these times. Is there another company or am I stuck with SP? This recent bill has completely flawed me as it's a huge increase on my last bill. It seems SP can just make prices up as they go along knowing we're going to have to pay!!