With so many things to organise and move, moving house can be an extremely stressful time of your life. Though it can seem somewhat overwhelming at times, we are here to help make your move as stress-free as possible.
Read this article for guidance on what to do before, during and after you move out of your oil heated house.
Moving Homes Checklist: What to Do Before Moving Home
Confirm Your Moving Date
Before you start packing your bags, it’s important to have a specific date in mind that you vacate your current property. Consult your estate agent or contract to see what your given moving date is, then you can begin your preparations accordingly.
Book Your Removals Company
Once you know your moving date, it’s time to organise how you plan to move your belongings into your new home. Whether booking a removal company or asking friends and relatives to help, ensure that you give them enough notice so you can book a slot in their schedule. This will make for a stress-free moving day and make the overall process run a lot smoother.
Tank Removals
When moving home, it’s important to decide early on what you will do with your oil storage tank. If your tank must be removed, the most cost-effective method is to contact an experienced expert to dispose of your oil tank. When performed by the right people, this is typically a very straightforward process and allows for your tank to be taken to a licensed recycling centre.
If you need help removing your tank before you move home, get in touch and we’ll refer you to an expert to ensure this job is carried out safely.
Monitor Your Smart Meter
When moving from your oil-heated home, it isn’t always easy, or cost-effective to take any leftover oil with you. We recommend only purchasing what oil you need in the lead up to moving home so you can run your oil level as low as possible.
To avoid over-ordering fuel and wasting money, it would be a good idea to have one of our smart meters installed. Certas Energy’s new smart monitor app: FoxRadar takes away any guesswork and helps you keep track of your oil levels.
With a smart meter, you can estimate how much oil you will need to use in the lead up to moving house. This will ensure that there is minimal oil left over once moving day arrives whilst also helping save money.
Contact Your Utilities Companies
Giving as much notice as possible, contact all of your utility companies to make sure that you don’t continue to pay for bills once you have moved. These companies will require as much notice as possible as it could take a few weeks for them to cancel your accounts.
No matter how you pay for your oil with Certas, we simply require one month’s notice to ensure that we can stop all deliveries to your address. Check your Certas account to see when your next delivery is due and ensure that you contact us with enough time to spare.
Redirect Your Post
Don’t miss any important bills such as credit card statements that may be mailed to your old address, as this could lead to further problems down the line. You can redirect your post to your new address online for a small fee with The Royal Mail.
Sort Through Your Possessions
Moving home is the perfect opportunity to give yourself a fresh start and declutter your home. Websites such as Vinted and Facebook marketplace are the ideal location to get rid of your junk whilst earning money at the same time. When you begin packing any remaining items, ensure to label all boxes to make unpacking in your new home faster and stress-free.
Pack Your Moving Day Essentials Kit
It’s going to be almost impossible to get everything unpacked on your moving day. Make sure you have an essentials kit prepared beforehand for things you can expect to need on your first day. Items such as: utensils, cups, basic food items, drinks, torch, lightbulbs, toilet paper, cleaning products and a first aid kit are must-haves. Tailor this to your own needs and make your first night in your new home as easy as possible.
Moving Homes Checklist: What to Do On Moving Day
Tour Your New Home
Congratulations, you’ve just moved into your new home!
Get accustomed to the space and take a tour of the home. Doing so will make it easier to visualise where your things should go when it comes to moving items into each room.
Top tip: After a long day unpacking, the last thing you want to have to think about is laying your bedding before you go to sleep. Make this the first thing you do and you’ll thank yourself later.
Turn on Fridge and Freezer
Make sure you turn on the fridge and freezer at your earliest convenience, as they can both take a few hours to chill completely. The earlier you can get them going, the faster you can get your food packed away.
Send Utility Readings
So you don’t find yourself with unexpected charges at the end of the month, it’s vital that you send your new utility meter readings to your providers as soon as you move. Whether this is for gas and electricity meters or your oil-heated tank, sending readings helps decipher your future estimated bills and prevents charges from your previous owners energy bills.
Enjoy Your First Day
After all the stress of moving into your new home, take this first day to enjoy the new house. Order some nice food and sit down and relax – almost everything else can wait until the morning.
Moving Homes Checklist: What to Do After You’ve Moved
Set up with Certas Energy
If you are moving to a property that needs heated oil, double check that you have a safe heating oil tank. Find more information on oil tank maintenance.
Once you have your oil storage tank ready, choose how you would like to pay for your energy and Certas will sort out the rest. If you had a smart meter previously fitted at your old home, ensure you remember to take this with you when you move. With the new Fox Radar monitor, simply bring to your new property and you’re ready to go!
Contact us for help moving your smart meter into your new home.
Change Your Locks
It’s always a good idea to change the locks on a new home so you know for certain who has access. It’s not always clear who may have spare keys for the home so arranging for a locksmith to change the locks will give you a peace of mind that your belongings are safe and sound.
Enjoy Your New Home
Now you’re all set up in your new home, it’s time to enjoy yourself and make your house a home.
