Moving house

How do I use Powerswitch to choose a power company for my new address?

If you’re moving to an almost identical home in the same area, with the same number of occupants and the same appliances, you can use the power bills from your existing provider to see who the best provider is likely to be at your next address.  

But it’s much more likely you’ll use a different amount of energy in your new home. For example, any differences in size and layout, or the level of insulation, could affect how much it costs to heat your new home. Built-in appliances (such as heat pumps, rangehoods and extractor fans), and any gas features (such as gas water-heating, cooktops or fireplaces) could dramatically alter your energy use.

To make the best estimate of your energy use and find the best provider for your new home, we’ll need to know:

• The location you’re moving to.
• How many people will be living there.
• What type of water heating you’ll have (for example, electric, gas, solar).
• What type of home heating you’ll have (for example, heat pump, gas, woodburner).
• Whether you’ll be using gas or electric ovens and cooktops.

Your energy use should start to stabilise within a few of months of moving in to your new home. We suggest you check your energy bills when your usage has stabilised and then use Powerswitch again to make sure you’re on the best plan for your new home.

Who do I need to contact?

Whether you stay with your existing supplier or switch to another company for your new home, you must let the provider at your old address know that you’re moving and give an end-date for services at the property.

Whichever provider you choose for your new address, you’ll need to let it know the address and the date you want services to start.

Important: Inform all parties of your intentions as soon as possible. Having new services connected can take up to 3 weeks.

What else do I need to do?

Regardless of whether you switch to another provider or not, you’ll need to take a final meter reading at your old address and phone this in to the power company. If you can’t access the meter or don’t know how to read it, the power company can send someone to take a final reading, but you’ll have to pay a fee for this.