How much credit with energy company?

[Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday]

How much credit would you say is sensible to have with your energy company at this point in the year?

we have quite a bit and my DH is keen to have them refund some but I’m nervous about rises etc- we aren’t on a fixed tariff. also trying to work out if we can’t get them to reduce DD.

how conservative should we be? Or just leave it til March and get it then?

We were £800 in credit. We did the maths last week and decided to ask for £500 refund which we got without any hassle.

I think we're definitely going wrong somewhere, as our utility bills are very steep. Our gas bill is much lower than electricity, granted, and especially in the summer months.

@palygold which company please?

£365 in credit
October usage £89 (electric only)
Direct Debit £100
Rebate £66

£500 and it looks like it will go up another £100 with next bill due shortly. Who knows after that.

We’ve got 1k in credit and currently paying £330 a month. Seems a lot of extra money for them to hold but I’m too lazy to phone them up tbh.

I am £765 in credit at present. I keep a close eye on my balance and top up whenever necessary, rather than allowing the supplier to change my direct debits. Whether this level of credit at this point in the year is sufficient will depend on how cold the winter is and whether my student kids choose to spend Christmas with me or their mum (they both have baths every day when they're at home).

How do you manage that? We are in a 3 bed detached, 5 people and October electric bill was £160. Tumble dryer a few times a week (towels, bedding, rainy days), dishwasher, but nothing major.

Is it DH and his power washer?

@lightand

EON (EON Next, as I think they're now called).

How do you manage that? We are in a 3 bed detached, 5 people and October electric bill was £160. Tumble dryer a few times a week (towels, bedding, rainy days), dishwasher, but nothing major. Is it DH and his power washer?

I've been asking the same on this thread. Your bills sound more like mine! Also detached house. No power washer, though.

Still haven't had the heating on, though I feel I should confess I had it on for a few hours a few weeks ago but nothing since.

£70. Why on earth are people leaving such large amounts of money sitting in the energy company's bank accounts earning interest for the energy companies and not the consumer? Its madness!!

I just gave myself a fright after submitting my monthly readings! 4 bed detached in Scotland with 2 adults and 2 teens

I submitted a reading today- we’re £54 in credit. We’re paying £120 per month but last month used £146. They want us to put our DDebit up but DS has just moved out so I’m expecting usage to go down. We have all electric showers but heating is oil.
Looking at our graph for use, it has gone down this year but I think we are being a lot more careful than before.

I rarely use a tumble drier and we dont own a power washer 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've got 1100 in there. It wouldn't be better in my account. I'd spend it

I think I may have found the culprit, we have lived in the house for four years, there are some lights that come on dusk to dawn but we haven't found where the power source is. They are likely to be heavy drain on the power, and will quickly add up over the month.

Are they not likely to be LED and therefore be cheap to run? I wouldn't have thought they'd be responsible for high electricity useage

The box says 1000hrs = 14 kWh, so a drain between the two but not overly. That is possibly 7kwh a month.

I'm going to have to go through everything in the house and work out what it is.

£70. Why on earth are people leaving such large amounts of money sitting in the energy company's bank accounts earning interest for the energy companies and not the consumer? Its madness!!

Because I'm expecting the large credit balance to be used up by next spring and I don't want to be fighting a constant battle with Octopus over my direct debit level. I'd rather be well in credit now, keep my DD constant and be only slightly in credit by April.

I have to do this for my mum as well, so anything that reduces the frequency with which Octopus changes DDs (often without notice) is a benefit to me.

The interest I would earn on the money is negligible, so I'd rather just keep it in the gas & electricity account. I do make sure it doesn't get ridiculously high, though, as if another supplier goes bust it will be a very big one and I don't believe the industry will continue to honour credit balances.