Finance Tart

We will start the ball rolling by talking about Electricity bills.

Given the rising cost of Electricity usage in our homes as we have become more of a consumer with luxury goods, such as PVRs, Plasma TVs etc.. and with standby costs and people using electrical goods throughout the home it is very easy to get enormous bills.

The theory is that if you understand your pattern of consumption, then you can do something about it.

One thoughtful utility provider (First Utility) has recently started selling Electricity (they formerly operated in the telecoms space) and hit upon smart metering; that is that via cell-phone technology or similar, they capture your electricity consumption on a half-hour interval and make that data available to you. Armed with that, you should be able to spot abnormalities … e.g. the house is empty in the daytime yet there are unusual spikes and look for the culprit.

One snag … to change to First Utility would cost £49 to join and is a 24 month contract with an exit penalty of £50 should you leave ahead of the 24 month contract expiry date.

A further snag with First Utility is their pricing …
(a) There is no Gas on offer (as yet?) and you will therefore lose any dual-fuel discount compared to your existing supplier
(b) They may not be most competitive on price for your circumstances

An interesting and viable alternative is to purchase your own smart technology. Sometimes known as ‘DIY Kyoto’ because of the ability to manage your own electrical carbon footprint, the WattsOn device (follow the links below to some retailers), has a rather sexy looking basestation that emits coloured glows according to how much energy is being consumed. It also has a display that can output current consumption or indications of the annual electricity bills. The sexy box is complemented by a less sexy but workmanlike transmitter section that clips over the main electricity cable and senses the current being deawn at any given time.

The WattsOn also stores energu consumption and by obtaining a software download from the WattsOn website, you can import the data into a spreadsheet on your PC and analyse and make adjustments to your hearts content.

The great thing about the WattsOn is also its price. If you were considering moving to First Utility to take advantage of the Smart Meter, then don’t!!

Buy the WattsOn and use it to understand your consumption patterns and change them for the better. If you considered joining and paying First Utility £49 to join and then £50 later to leave and find a cheaper Electricity supplier, then the WattsOn is effectively free and yours to keep forever …. plus you can retain your dual fuel discounts with your chosen supplier.

Here are a few places where you can find the WattsOn on sale :

See similar article at : Cheaper Electricity – Elementary Dr Wattson