How to compare gas prices

Your boiler is the heart of your home, providing hot water for relaxing bath times and central heating to keep the whole house cosy. Your gas supply is essential for keeping your boiler ticking over as well as providing power for any gas stoves, ovens and fires you might have at home – if you’re not on the cheapest gas rates, this can see your energy bills go through the roof, particularly in winter.

That’s why it’s vital to compare gas prices and switch to a better deal if necessary – if you’ve never switched before, you’ll be surprised just how simple it is.

How to compare gas prices

Gas comparison sites like UKPower make it easy to compare cheap gas deals from a range of suppliers – to get started, just enter your postcode in the box at the top of the page and this will take you to our gas comparisons page.

Then just enter a few more details about your current gas supplier and how much gas you use and our comparison tool will instantly return a list of cheap gas deals, ordered by how much each deal should save you per year.

It helps if you can tell us how much gas you use, or how much you spend on gas, as this will help us return more accurate quotes, but if you don’t have those figures to hand, we can still give you a quote that’s based on the size of your house.

You then just have to choose the deal that suits you best, and we’ll take care of the rest. If you pay your gas bills by Direct Debit, you’ll also need to enter your bank details – once that’s done, you can sit back and start saving money on your energy bills.

Average gas prices

What happens when you switch gas supplier?

Once you’ve agreed to switch with us, we’ll sort things out with your old supplier and your new supplier, who will then be in touch with more details about your new tariff, as well as date when they expect the switch to be complete.

The switch should take no more than 17 days, including at 14-day cooling off period, during which you can back out of the deal without being charged a penalty fee.

There’ll be no interruption to your gas supply, not even on the day switch completes, and no need for any work at your property as your gas will be provided through the existing pipes.

How to get the best gas prices

There’s a lot of information displayed on your gas bill, but when comparing gas prices to find a better deal, there are only two you need to consider – the unit rate and standing charge.

The unit rate is displayed as your gas prices per kWh, and this is simply the amount you pay for the gas you use. When you sign up to a fixed rate deal, this unit rate will stay the same, but your bills will still fluctuate depending upon the amount of energy you use.

The standing charge is a fixed daily rate your supplier charges to cover the cost of physically supplying gas and electricity to your home, and keeping it connected to the energy network. No standing charge tariffs are available, but they come with a much higher unit rate and are usually only suitable if you’re away from your property for long periods during the year.

As a rule of thumb, the cheapest gas deals are those with the lowest gas price per kWh - our comparison tool returns results that show you how much you can save over the course of the year, but if you want to see how much the unit rate and standing charges are on any tariff, just click the corresponding ‘Plan info’ button.

Why compare gas prices?

Gas prices are always changing, and there are a whole host of reasons for these fluctuating rates, from wholesale energy prices to an increase in demand – you may have noticed prices usually increase after a particularly cold winter, this is because the greater demand caused by people using more energy to heat their homes pushes prices up.

Running regular gas comparisons is the only way to make sure you’re on the best deal with the cheapest prices, and it’s usually worth locking your rates in with a fixed rate deal as this is the only way to shelter yourself from the inevitable energy price hikes.

Although saving money on your energy bills will no doubt be your main reason for comparing gas prices, you should also consider the levels of customer service on offer from a new supplier and the reliability of their service – it’s always worth checking reviews and customer satisfaction scores before you switch.

Whatever your reason for running a gas comparison, switching with UKPower is the simplest way to a cheaper deal on your household gas.

To compare gas prices, enter your postcode at the top of the page, or give our switching team a call on 0800 320 2000.