Heatwise / Economy 10 Tarrifs

The principle works the same as E7 in that you get everything at off peak rates during it's off peak times. E10 gives you 10 hours at off peak as opposed to E7's 7 hour. E10 works in bursts as well as opposed to E7 which has a constant burst (generally between 12-7am)

There are various Suppliers that can support these meters e.g. Npower (they have recently transferred all their customers into a billing system that can now support them), Scottish & Southern. Powergen should support it since there region bought them in before many others.

Most E10 tariff's have a 3 hour 'top up' period in the afternoon/early evening and then revert to the daytime rate with the additional 7 hours at normal Economy 7 timings(usually anywhere between 11:30pm and 8:30am)

E10 metering causes a problem for any Suppliers who are not originally from the area where is was introduced. The reason being, the meter has 2 MPAN's which causes problems as a lot of Suppliers billing system use 1 per meter number and the E10 has 2 MPAN's with the same meter number.

Some Suppliers will add your readings and bill you in peak/off peak blocks whereas some others may be able to support the tariff properly and split the readings across the bill to create more individual rates.

My experience if E10 is a bit limited form the utility section but from what I have seen of Suppliers who struggle to support it, it's a real pain for the customer so you're right to be careful in switching. Some customers get signed up as E7 by sales agents only to find that the Suppier can't support the meter itself as it needs to be E10 only.

P.S. ALL Suppliers have the ability to fit this meter as it's contained in their Market Domain Data (MDD), it's just the fact that they try not to supply you because they don't want to fork out to change their computer systems. Thats a sticky one because by Ofgems standards they cannot refuse to supply for a meter that the industry allows them to have on the basis of billing systems that have not been updated.

When the meter is on the 'cheaper' rates ALL your power is cheper not just the immersion tank.

I have economy 10 as well via (powergen or eon as the parent co. is known). Since i moved in during Feb 2006 all I've ever received are estimates for supply. They refuse, or choose to ignore, the readings given to them by meter readers. I should know I'm a meter reader who has read his own meter and still received an estimate. Not only that but I can name the meter reader who has done the job each quarter. It's a standing joke amongst my co-workers to see how long I can go before I get an actual 'read'. Martin would be pleased to know the £287.43 I currently owe them is earning me interest in a savings account at 5% aer.

My suggestion would be to change to Economy 7 as long as your timer is set correctly (midnight till 07.00hrs or 00.30hrs till 07.30hrs an astronomical amount of timers are miles out) 'cos that's when econ. 7 runs from. In my experience it will be more cost effective for you to change.

If I were you I would ask for a new meter to be fitted on the econ 7 tariff. ( I would do the same but my landlord will not allow it, as is his right)

Please make sure that the readings are recorded correctly as only rate 2 on your meter is charged at the most expensive rate. Rates 1 and 3 are at the cheaper rate.

Hope this helps
Regards
Glenn

Glenn_likes_2_help_others wrote: »

When the meter is on the 'cheaper' rates ALL your power is cheper not just the immersion tank.

I have economy 10 as well via (powergen or eon as the parent co. is known). Since i moved in during Feb 2006 all I've ever received are estimates for supply. They refuse, or choose to ignore, the readings given to them by meter readers. I should know I'm a meter reader who has read his own meter and still received an estimate. Not only that but I can name the meter reader who has done the job each quarter. It's a standing joke amongst my co-workers to see how long I can go before I get an actual 'read'. Martin would be pleased to know the £287.43 I currently owe them is earning me interest in a savings account at 5% aer.

My suggestion would be to change to Economy 7 as long as your timer is set correctly (midnight till 07.00hrs or 00.30hrs till 07.30hrs an astronomical amount of timers are miles out) 'cos that's when econ. 7 runs from. In my experience it will be more cost effective for you to change.

If I were you I would ask for a new meter to be fitted on the econ 7 tariff. ( I would do the same but my landlord will not allow it, as is his right)

Please make sure that the readings are recorded correctly as only rate 2 on your meter is charged at the most expensive rate. Rates 1 and 3 are at the cheaper rate.

Hope this helps
Regards
Glenn

Hi Glenn,

The problem occurs because the Supplier does not really support E10 metering e.g. Npower had 3 billing systems when they merged MIDE, NEEB & YELG together. Out of the 3 systems, only the NEEB one would support dual MPAN metering like E10 or supertariffs. This was because they always had supertariffs. However, those old companies that didn't at re-reg, never made provision for it.

So, some customers get mis sold to these companies and then have the hassle later. Hence, you get estimates. You often also find that your tariff is set as E7 because they have no E10 option.

The E10 & heatwise meters are all held in the Market Domain Data (MDD) for each GSP with all Suppliers. So, there is nothing stopping them except the fact that they don't want to spend money updating their systems.

If you are being billed on E7 type tariffs and your meter has 2 "read" dials, there is nothing stopping them. To be honest with such as heatwise inexperienced staff don't know what to bill and scrap them!!!

Same problem tends to occur with customers with monthly billed meters stuck in old Supplier systems.

Staff training issue mostly within the Supplier to get your readings out.

JasonLVC wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry for the delay, have been away on business the last few days.

My house is about 7 years old and the house was built with Gas central heating and an electric hot water cylinder and an E10 meter!!!.

I gather E10 is good for storage heating but useless for everything else. Hence, why I think I should switch to ordinary Economy 7 as I'm clearly not gettting the benefit of E10 with only my fridge taking energy during the day plus the odd thing on standby. With Eon about to change my meter I'm thinking now's the chance to switch over.

Thanks for all your advice, especially Glen - the power companies just can't cope with two meters at the same address AND 5 different tarrifs - I'd rather pay more and have less hassle!.

Thanks again.

Hi Jason,

You will be getting more OP time than on E7 so I guess it depends on the rates themselves a to whether E7 with 3 hours less OP time is less than the E10 (if the E10 rates are higher that is)

All Suppliers can easily handle 2 meters at 1 property, some business have had up to 10 to use them in zones. This is the old way of metering from years back before de-regulation. Modern E7 was bought in as an up to date alternative to 2 meters. E10 is a whole different thing and many Suppliers never updated their systems as it came into a few regions only.

Powergen & Npower I know can support these. Powergen has had this type of metering avaailable for a longtime whereas Npower couldn't support it until they moved into the new billing system which can.

To be honest, if you are better off on E7, go for it. E10 will cause you nothing but problems and limit who you can switch to.

You can blaim this issue all on the regulators who allowed de-reg when companies couldn't even support all the metering solutions out there!!!

Thats good news for you. E7 is much easier to manage and move around with.

Personally, I've seen E10 be the subject of many a customers angst as Ofgem have never enforced Supplier updated billing systems. Sadly, a Suppliers industry compliance is limited to being able to register and update the metering as opposed to simply bill it. Totally daft, but thats the electricity market for you!!!