Frugal vs Ethical

[Sunny B]

I just had my electricity bill today - it is the same for the last quarter as it used to be for a whole year

I am seriously wondering if I should try to get a better deal by going for a dual fuel tariff with my gas supplier, but I would feel bad leaving Ecotricity because I support their green energy ethics. Do I save money or try to do the "right" thing?

[roddelmae]

We are with Scottish Power for both gas and electric, and I pay £117 per month, which may seem a lot, but we are both in most of the time, and the boss (Irene) is disabled and can't dash around to keep warm.
I enter the meter readings myself online, although we periodically get a meter reader along to read the meter and check the installation for safety.
When you enter the readings, it gives you the current state of your account. When I did this in November last year it said that I was £186 in credit. Now some would say, Ooooh they've got all that money of mine, that's not right, I'll have some back. But no, I say, winter's coming, and my consumption is going to be higher, so I'll leave it and see what happens next time.
Today I put my readings in and found that all that money has been used up as well as what's gone into the account since then, and we are now just £25.40 in credit.
Winter is still here, so I would guess that next time, I will be in arrears, but any attempt to increase my direct debit will be resisited strongly, on the principle that part of the year they owe me and part of the year I owe them, which is the principle of it all after all.
We are comfortably warm thank you, and we don't scrimp on the lighting for health and safety reasons. We are 98% on energy saving bulbs; people keep sending us free ones, and I've got a stock of spares which will outlive us. Maybe not frugal, but that's the way we like it.

[RoomandKitchen]

Sunny B ... can you DD with Ecotricity and is it cheaper if you do - they may also offer a discount if you have an e-bill and enter your own meter readings?

How much cheaper is Dual Fuel with your gas company... if the saving is considerable and would make a big difference to your finances it might be worth considering in the short term.

I hate having to decide principles over finances on stuff like this

roddelmae - I have the same problems as you with Scottish Power but can't switch as I have storage heaters - my DD goes up/down £25 or so every six months I keep asking them to set it in the middle but "the computer says no"

[p.penn]

I think it may help if you ask yourself these questions:

-can I afford the extra
-do I ALWAYS buy ethically where available - fair trade sugar, coffee, bananas etc and ethically produced meats, fish and so on.
-if not, where would I most like my 'ethical contribution' to go to (ie green issues or humanitarian ones)

I don't have the answers for you, but the questions may help.

[foghornleghorn2]

If you get your gas from an ethical green supplier or Sainsbury you are getting exactly the same gas. There is only one network of pipes and that is owned and managed by Transco.

Energy providers go to the big boys who pull the gas out of the ground and will buy an allocation of gas at so much per cubic metre. The energy company then sells it to you for a profit and they pay Transco a handling fee for "delivering" it to your home.

Suggest that you shop around and get the best deal you can and spend the saved money in a green way.

[Steve the Gas]

Just to be perniticky sp Foggy but Transco hasn't existed for approx 4 years its National Grid Gas.
However in certain parts of the country other network operators look after the network such as Wales and the West Utilities.

[Sunny B]

FHLH2 it's the electricity I'm thinking of changing. I'm with Ecotricity, and I like to support them because they are building more wind turbines than anyone else. I think all the electricity they put into the grid is wind produced. Also they are now starting to produce gas from household waste.
But I can't afford to be paying so much. I will contact them and see if there is any way of reducing my bill before changing.

[foghornleghorn2]

Just to be perniticky sp Foggy but Transco hasn't existed for approx 4 years its National Grid Gas.
However in certain parts of the country other network operators look after the network such as Wales and the West Utilities.

Picky picky picky (only kidding )

Transco, National Grid, same principle applies.

Sunny B, I would get the cheapest energy that you can, electricity supplies are run in a similar way to gas.

Sadly windfarms are not that efficient but that is a different story.

[Stig]

You could consider switching to another ethical supplier for electricity. Ecotricity would be my first choice as well, but you could try Good Energy or even a green tariff from one of the big players, such as npower's Juice.

Once you've switched you might find Ecotricity will offer you a better deal to come back in 12 months time.

Foghorn, wind turbine efficiency - do you mean load factor? Yes, they only generate when the wind blows, but their output is free from the effects of oil & gas prices & from associated oil politics in the Middle East & Russia.

[Mo]

On a different frugal/ethical choice.
I was buying custard powder (usual brand), and noticed that they had the tall drums I hadn't been able to find for ages. But as I picked it up I noticed that 2 squat drums cost less.
'blow that' I thought, and picked up 2 small ones.
And now feel slightly guilty (only slightly) about the extra packaging. 2 small tubs used the same amount of cardboard as 1 tall, but 2 metal bottoms and plastic tops, instead of one.

[foghornleghorn2]

On a different frugal/ethical choice.
I was buying custard powder (usual brand), and noticed that they had the tall drums I hadn't been able to find for ages. But as I picked it up I noticed that 2 squat drums cost less.
'blow that' I thought, and picked up 2 small ones.
And now feel slightly guilty (only slightly) about the extra packaging. 2 small tubs used the same amount of cardboard as 1 tall, but 2 metal bottoms and plastic tops, instead of one.

Recycle the packaging and you are cleansed of guilt.