-
Read more
David vs Goliath: can Homebox take on the major comparison giants
On the face of it, major comparison sites provide consumers with all the information they need to quickly determine which company is offering the best value when it comes to utilities like energy and broadband. Here we look at whether these websites really do offer the best deal and if they are all they’re cracked up to be.
Big name providers, such as Confused.com and Compare the Market, only host half the available suppliers, meaning consumers are not being shown the best tariffs available. If we take energy as an example, the average comparison site hosts just 30 suppliers, when there are over 70 operating in the UK.
Comparison site giants give prominence in their search results to firms offering the biggest referral commission, pocketing vast sums of money and misleading consumers in the process …
-
Read more
Review of The Martin Lewis Money show
I watched last night’s show, the first in the new series, and thought I would share what I learnt:
- Switch your energy tariffs now – for a typical usage rate of £1,060 , you could switch to a fixed deal of £820. If you want longer term security, Martin mentioned the standard two year fix from isupply at £870. You can also pick a tariff no matter how much you use – Green Star unlimited usage comes in at £1050, perfect for people who are too scared to put their heating on, as they know the price is fixed no matter how long they use it.
- It’s easy to switch – five punters easily switched on the show. Paul who’d been with British Gas with 37 years, because it’s a trusted big name could save
-
Read more
Get ready for colder weather – with a sheep
While I hope that we have an Indian Summer (today is gorgeous), I am also planning for the colder months. One thing I will do is get the chimney cleaned and after that I will use my Chimney Sheep – a thick pad of soft grey felt – for no more draughts and no more getting covered in soot.
I got the product last year and the design and quality of the chimney sheep really impressed me.It has proved to be a great alternative to balloons that stop drafts in the chimney.
Our house has always been draughty around the fire place…essentially an open hole straight from the roof to the living room. Previous attempts to reduce the draught hadn’t really worked and I know that inflatable balloons popped easily or deflated over time. I …
-
Read more
British Gas customers to get free electricity at weekends – FreeTime
British Gas is planning to offer free electricity for up to eight hours at weekends to two million customers who have smart meters installed.
Customers will be able to choose to use the free power either on Saturday or Sunday, between 9am and 5pm. This initiative could save customers around £60 a year.
However, when looking at comparison sites, it may still not be the cheapest deal on the market, so shopping around is still recommended.
As only 2.4 million British Gas customers have smart meters, most won’t be eligible immediately. Dual fuel customers with British Gas smart meters already installed will be able to take up the deal, as well as anyone else who wants a smart meter and is able to have one installed. The average dual fuel bill will be £1,001, based …
-
Read more
BillHub launches to simplify spliting and managing shared bills
Free-to-use utility billing service, BillHub has launched in the UK. It is designed to allow housemates – from students to young professionals – to split all their monthly bills and keep track of the exact outgoing payments from all parties online or via an app.
The BillHub makes the bill payment process more convenient, transparent and secure for renters. With the number of renters rising, since deposits are getting higher, it’s annoying that one person has to pay the bills and claim money from other occupants, so BillHub could be a great solution.
Users of the platform can mix and match the energy and internet providers they want from a range of providers which BillHub has partnered with – these include energy providers GenRent and Spark Energy, and broadband companies Virgin Media, Plusnet and TenTel. …
-
Read more
Best smart thermostat for energy savings – a UK comparison
2016 means green in our house. We have a hybrid car and just fitted solar panels. While it’s great to save the environment, we also like to save money too.
I have been looking into and have tried a couple of smart thermostats recently, and liked the ability to control my heating remotely, so I decided to share my research with you in this list.
I have researched Netatmo, Nest, momit and tado (pronounced tardough). All four systems are more intelligent than traditional thermostats, as they allow you to control your heating remotely via an app on your smartphone or tablet.
I looked into several criteria that I wanted in a thermostat and then ranked the devices per criteria. It’s not scientific, but it may help you make a decision.
Compatibility
These products are developed …
-
Read more
How do smart thermostats save you money?
You are no doubt turning up your thermostat as the cold snap has well and truly kicked in. Wouldn’t it be great if you had an intelligent thermostat that could control temperature for you, works with an app that allows you to set a monthly energy budget, and looks good too?
There are a range of new clever thermostats, from Google’s Nest, to German company’s tado, Netatmo and more. But I think I found a thermostat that offers the same functionality, but isn’t as expensive as the rivals, since it’s at least £50 cheaper!
Spanish energy company momit has some affordable and stylish thermostats for energy conscious consumers who want an intelligent device to control household temperature and save money.
Let’s look at their flagship product – the momit Home Thermostat has an attractive display …
-
Read more
New app for forecasting energy bills
Wouldn’t it be great if you could see your energy consumption on an app…in money terms?
Well lucky npower customers can do that. The energy provider has launched a new consumer app which can help you to forecast your bills. Available for both Android and IOS platforms, the app’s most distinguishing feature, the timeline, is an industry first (according to them).
The app enables npower customers to better handle their energy accounts – and so their finances – with improved and more intuitive account management. Features include:
- Unique timeline function to see past and future consumption, account events and payments
- Ability to submit meter readings
- View a history of bills, payments and meter reads
- Online chat facilities to help customers with queries
The npower app is available for customers to download from the Apple …
-
Read more
Six tips to save money in your kitchen
Energy bills, as ever, are a hot topic at the moment, and it seems that everyone is trying to cut back on their gas and electricity consumption. But even though it is one of the busiest rooms in a house and one that guzzles the most energy, the kitchen often gets overlooked, as many people believe they can’t save here. But that just simply isn’t the case, and you don’t need to invest in expensive gadgets or make drastic changes to make savings. So here are our top six tips for saving energy and money in the kitchen.
Insulation
Kitchen appliances produce heat and so a great energy saving tip is to invest in insulation so that none of it is wasted. Cavity wall insulation could save you up to £100 per year on heating …
-
Read more
Winter is coming – tips on reducing energy bills
Winter is coming. I even brought my Christmas cardy out and my sheepskin slippers. I think we’re all a bit worried heating bills this winter, so now is the time to be preparing our homes to keep bills down.
Mr Bargain Hunter bought us a tado device earlier this year which helps us control heating remotely, but there are definitely less techy ways to reduce heating bills. Especially as I am one of more than ¾ of Brits worried about bills going up.*
Fit radiator reflectors
I have been using these for a while but not behind all radiators due expense and faff – Mr BH uses insulating tape to stick them to the wall! So imagine my excitement when Radflek sent me their Radiator reflectors. They reflect 95 per cent of wasted heat back …
