| Reading time: 3 mins If you’ve just purchased your first home, congratulations! You’re about to embark on a long journey that hopefully turns out to be very fruitful for you. One of the biggest bills you’ll need to take care of as a homeowner, as well as your council tax and water rates, are your gas and electricity bills. For most people, they’re usually one of the largest outgoings they have each month.
And if you’ve just bought your first house, then this can definitely be pretty daunting. The good thing is that it doesn’t have to be, as getting a cheap energy quote is much easier when you own your home as opposed to renting it. So, what should first time buyers be thinking about if they’re looking for the top energy deal for them?
Gas and electricity quotes for first-time buyers
The truth is that first time buyers don’t actually get any special treatment over your average homeowner. They still need to go through all the same processes as anyone else would, and there are more than 100 different energy suppliers to choose from.
We recommend that our readers check out Bulb to see what kind of offer they can get. They have 100% renewable energy, which is a big factor in many people’s decision nowadays. As well as this, they also have increased the amount of green gas they use – it’s only 10%, but that’s ten percent more than most other energy providers. Plus, all of their gas is carbon offset too.
If you don’t fancy checking out Bulb to see what offers they have, then you could look at using an energy switching service instead. They essentially take the role of decided who your energy will be supplied by, always finding you the cheapest deal. If a better deal pops up next year, then you’ll automatically get switched over to the better offer.
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What else should first time buyers consider?
When it comes to energy, there are probably a few other things you’ll want to think about before deciding on the right deal for your new home. You’ll obviously have to think about your energy supply first and the company you’re with, as this is going to have the biggest impact on your energy prices and its the quickest way to save money.
Fixed is usually cheapest
Many first time buyers are searching for the cheapest deal possible. If this is you, then it’s likely that a fixed rate will be your best bet. They typically offer the lowest energy bill at the end of the year, for most people anyway.
If you’ll only use a lot of energy at certain times, then you can think about an Economy 7 meter instead. This can be called different things with different suppliers, like the Octopus Go tariff which reduces your energy costs during certain times of the day. Your current energy supplier may or may not currently offer you the ability to do this.
Insulate your home
If you’ve just moved into your new place and the bills are a little higher than what you’re used to, often this can come down to how well your home is insulated. First time buyers that find their bills to be higher than what they’d like will want to check how well the home is insulated – this means loft insulation, draught proofing and potentially cavity walls too.
Of course, there are smaller things you can look at here – simply keeping your windows shut can make sure that you have a lower energy bill at the end of the year, as you’re allowing less energy to escape from your house.
Get a smart meter
When you’re just moving in, you’re going to already be signed up to an energy company that the previous owner was using. You can stay with them if you want, but if they don’t have a smart meter installed, you may want to think about this. It can end up making your bill management a whole lot easier, and they’re free when you switch too.
This sounds simple enough, but if you’re still using an older smart meter, then you may need to end up switching to a new one instead.
Conclusion
Overall, you don’t have to do anything different when signing up with a new energy supplier. Although it can appear daunting having full control over your own bills, actually nowadays your energy is probably one of the easiest of them all.
With smart meters, we generally know exactly how much energy we’re using each month. All you need to do is find the right supplier, whether that’s the cheapest one, the greenest one, or something else.
