Economy 7 meter

[Terrypaul]

I have a newish meter that has the standard tariff & Eco 7. I can scroll through for the separate readings. My question is this "Should the Economy 7 meter still be recording electric usage even though the only appliance connected to it has been switched off for over a year?" The appliance was a spare immersion heater which is switched off through 2 separate isolating switches and has been for 14 months. EON told me on the phone that this is normal. Does anyone know for sure?

 

[Tipper]

But surely the whole house goes economy 7 overnight, so the meter would be totting up the whole house usage.

Maybe you should rethink not using the immersion heater overnight?

 

[ericmark]

Economy 7 is a tariff not a system. With the old white meter only items connected to that meter worked on off peak, but newer systems allow any item to use off peak. However when you have the Economy 7 tariff you pay more for day time power than having a standard tariff so if not using the off peak then get a different tariff as it costing you money.

 

[JohnW2]

But surely the whole house goes economy 7 overnight, so the meter would be totting up the whole house usage. ... Maybe you should rethink not using the immersion heater overnight?

In fact, given that the implication is that there are no storage heaters, the OP really should be rethinking whether he wants E7 at all - since (s)he is almost certainly paying more for electricity than is necessary.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Iggifer]

If it is just a single dual rate meter, with no time clock; then chances are it records from the 'peak board' from 7am-midnight on rate 1, then rate 2 from midnight-7am. If the OP is not on an E7 tariff they'll just add the two together.

The flat I live in has a dual rate meter but no E7 anything, so they just add the two together

 

[JohnW2]

If it is just a single dual rate meter, with no time clock; then chances are it records from the 'peak board' from 7am-midnight on rate 1, then rate 2 from midnight-7am. If the OP is not on an E7 tariff they'll just add the two together. The flat I live in has a dual rate meter but no E7 anything, so they just add the two together

That makes total sense, but (for goodness knows what reason!) many suppliers don't seem to like the 'adding together' approach. Virtually everyone I know who has got rid of an E7 tariff has been told that they have to have their meter changed to a single-tariff one, even when they have pointed out that the 'adding together' approach would achieve the same thing.

The crucial question (to which I foolishly assumed the answer!) is whether or not the OP is on an E7 tariff (which {s}he clearly shouldn't be).

Kind Regards, John

 

[Terrypaul]

Thanks everyone for your answers. That has cleared it up completely for me. I will contact my supplier and go for a single tariff. Thanks again everyone for answering so quickly. Should have come here in the first place.

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks everyone for your answers. That has cleared it up completely for me. I will contact my supplier and go for a single tariff. Thanks again everyone for answering so quickly. Should have come here in the first place.

You're welcome. If, as you seem to imply, you are currently on an E7 tariff then, assuming you don't have night storage heaters, you will almost certainly gain financially by changing to a 'single tariff'. Per the recent discussion, whether your supplier will then physically change the meter, or simply 'add together' the two readings from your current one, appears to be something which varies from supplier to supplier - but it makes no difference to you!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Terrypaul]

Thanks John, Yes, I am on E7 as well at the moment. I will be changing it to single tariff tomorrow. I only had an extra immersion heater connected to it which we found we do not need.

Regards, Terrypaul

 

[Iggifer]

I used to be on a pre-pay E7, changed it to a standard tariff and they just uploaded a code to the key that updated the meter when I next topped up.

That stayed as 2-rate 2, the update just changed the price per kW/h

 

[Taylortwocities]

And did you end up with lower bills, as a result?

 

[Iggifer]

And did you end up with lower bills, as a result?

Definitely. Can't remember the exact prices as it was a while ago, but went from something like 18p peak and 12p off to 15p combined. Obviously with no storage heaters I was using nothing at night time, wasn't even an immersion fitted

 

[stillp]

We were on E7, trying to use the tumble dryer, washing machine, dishwasher and immersion heater only at night. Could still only get to about 10% of consumption on the night rate. Came off E7 and saved a significant amount. Supplier insisted on changing the meter for another dual-rate one set to the same charge for each rate!

 

[JohnW2]

We were on E7, trying to use the tumble dryer, washing machine, dishwasher and immersion heater only at night. Could still only get to about 10% of consumption on the night rate.

Indeed. With my tariff, the break-even point is at about 33% night rate.

Came off E7 and saved a significant amount. Supplier insisted on changing the meter for another dual-rate one set to the same charge for each rate!

That is bizarre! What sort of meter was this that knows about 'charges' (rather than just kWh)?

Kind Regards, John