The world of gas and electricity is full of jargon and strange sounding terms. Here we’ve put together a guide to the terms used by the energy suppliers that you get your gas and electricity from.
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Business energy plans are designed specifically for commercial premises such as offices. They will often offer different rates and will expect a higher amount of energy usage.
These plans are similar to fixed rate plans and guarantee that the price you pay for energy will not go up for a fixed amount of time. They differ from fixed rate plans because they allow your rate to fall if gas or electricity prices go down.
Citizens Advice is a charity that is set up to provide consumers with advice on their rights when it comes to everything from energy to retail.
Direct debit is an automated payment set up from your bank account. They transfer money to an organisation of your choosing on a regular basis. Energy suppliers often give discounts to people who choose to pay via direct debits because it saves on administration costs.
This refers to an energy plan that provides you with both gas and electricity. This often means that you’ll paying a better price for your energy supply. See if you could save money by switching to a dual fuel tariff by running a quick energy comparison on our website.
These tariffs allow you to pay lower rates for energy at off peak times. The lower rate lasts for 7 hours per day and are normally overnight. The charges you pay during the day will often be higher.
Electricity and gas suppliers normally base your bills on estimates that are established by average amounts of energy consumption. You can get more accurate bills by taking regular meter readings or by installing a smart meter.
These plans are similar to capped plans, they allow to set your price of energy for an agreed period of time. They normally start off slightly higher than standard plans but can save you money if you expect energy prices to rise.
This refers to energy from renewable sources such as wind or solar energy.
These are energy plans that are managed online. Many energy companies offer discounts for these type of plan as they cut costs of administration and do not require as much paper.
This stands for the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, they are the UK’s regulator for these markets.
If you are on one of these meters then you can pay for your energy up front as opposed to on credit. You will often pay higher rates on these type of meters.
Solar energy is a renewable energy sources that comes from the Sun, normally converted into power via solar panels.
This the type of plan that you automatically get put onto if you don’t choose a specific deal from your energy supplier. These plans are normally the most expensive.
This is a fee from your energy supplier that pays for your connection to the mains supply, these charges remain the same no matter how much energy you use.
Wind energy is a renewable energy sources that comes from the wind, normally converted into power via wind turbines.