time switching with Economy 7

[SparkyTris]

please can wiser people comment on the below:
if I ask for an Economy 7 tarriff, will the energy supplier arrange for a new meter to be installed?

Does an economy 7 meter come pre-preogrammed with the low rate periods?

can I get an aux output signal from the meter to enable me to automatically switch circuits on as and when the low rate periods starts?

thanks

 

[JohnW2]

if I ask for an Economy 7 tarriff, will the energy supplier arrange for a new meter to be installed?

Yes, if you currently have a single-rate non-'smart' meter. In practice, I suspect that they would want to install a 'smart' meter. If you already have a 'smart' meter, that should do!

Does an economy 7 meter come pre-preogrammed with the low rate periods?

Yes, one way or another.

.. can I get an aux output signal from the meter to enable me to automatically switch circuits on as and when the low rate periods starts?

Traditionally (i.e. non-smart meters) the answer would be that that depends upon the meter. However, in terms of 'smart' meters, I'm not sure whether they ever have auxiliary outputs as such. Someone else may know.

Kind Regards, John

 

[flameport]

5 wire smart meters exist, and are designed so that the meter can be replaced at an old E7 installation with storage heaters, so that they can continue to be used without modification.
Availability depends on the supplier and what tariffs they have available.
The 5th switched output would normally be connected to the consumer unit for the storage heaters.

Does an economy 7 meter come pre-programmed with the low rate periods?

Not exactly - switching times are sent over the network to the meter after the meter has been installed.

However the whole concept of a single cheaper overnight rate is going away, and unless you are having storage heaters installed, you would be better looking at variable rate tariffs from suppliers like Octopus.

 

[JohnW2]

5 wire smart meters exist, and are designed so that the meter can be replaced at an old E7 installation with storage heaters, so that they can continue to be used without modification.

Thanks for clarifying. As I said, I was not sure whether such 'smart' meters existed.

Not exactly - switching times are sent over the network to the meter after the meter has been installed.

You are assuming a 'smart' meter. My answer was intended to be more generic, and my "one way or another" was intended to cover 'smart' meters.

However the whole concept of a single cheaper overnight rate is going away, and unless you are having storage heaters installed, you would be better looking at variable rate tariffs from suppliers like Octopus.

One imagines that all suppliers will move in that direction, won't they, given that such usage is one of the main purposes of 'smart' meters?

Mind you, I imagine that the more complex and dynamic the tariffs become, the more will people joggle around their usage patterns (where they can), eventually potentially approaching the situation in which demand (hence presumably also cost) is pretty constant throughout the day and night. One already sees some of this going on in some on-line discussion groups, when tariff timings are published a day ahead.

Kind Regards, John