Dual Rate Meter frustration

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sillygoose
sillygoose Posts: 4,794 Forumite
in Energy
So annoying when companies can't cope with a dual rate meter, some can't differentiate from economy 7.

I hate the bl##dy thing!

Mainly the smaller, and sadly cheaper companies don't.

Some try to offer me Economy 7 tariffs which I don't want, I have gas central heating, cheap night power is useless to me.

I just need them to be able to take Reading 1 and Reading 2 and add them up.

I am currently with GB Energy (Coop) who cope OK but their 'generosity' has run out and they are only offering a much worse renewal. They don't offer smart or meter changes.

Wondering if its worth having a spell with a larger supplier so I can get a smart meter installed? I know it probably won't be smart when I switch again, but are they generally only single rate display? or am I likely to end up with a replacement dual rate smart meter? :mad:
European for 3 weeks in August, the rest of the year only British and proud.

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  • Carrot007
    Carrot007 Posts: 4,534 Forumite
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    If you are on a dual rate meter at some point you would have and probably still are "officially" on a e7 tarrif (or something more complex that will cause even more pain).

    Some companies to save costs will charge you as a single rate customer. But it just causes issues if you move to a supplier who does not support this.

    The correct way to fix this is to have a change to a single rate meter.

    Whatever coop say they have to change meters as it is a requirement of being a supplier. What they mean is they try to avoid it where possible.

    If they are happy billing you single rate with a dual rate meter then they don't have to change it (unless it was faulty).

    So you need to go to a supplier who will probably set you up as e7 as this should still be how the meter is recorded on the database.

    Then you will request a change to single rate, which may be chargeable.
  • sillygoose
    sillygoose Posts: 4,794 Forumite
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    A further complication, according to a suppliers website,

    "Rate 1 will be your low or night rate, rate 2 will be your normal or day rate"

    I just checked mine, its daytime and its using Rate 1!

    Had this issue before in that it seems backwards and suppliers get confused between which is night and day, nightmare to sort out.
    European for 3 weeks in August, the rest of the year only British and proud.
  • House_Martin
    House_Martin Posts: 1,462 Forumite
    edited 19 January 2018 at 5:11PM
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    sillygoose wrote: »
    A further complication, according to a suppliers website,

    "Rate 1 will be your low or night rate, rate 2 will be your normal or day rate"

    I just checked mine, its daytime and its using Rate 1!

    Had this issue before in that it seems backwards and suppliers get confused between which is night and day, nightmare to sort out.
    Rate 1 on digital meters are usually day. None of the suppliers I work for can yet offer economy 7 smart metering.No idea why. Our meter readers at M.D.S ( formerly G4S ) who work for BG, Scot Power, EDF routinely mess up eco 7 meters. Their hand held computers are the reason why because on the night rate it shows 1 ( with a 2 next to the day reading )so as soon as they see a number 1 on a digital meter they put that reading into the night field.
    Secure Liberty smart meters will work with Eco 7. Eon, Utilita, Ovo, First Utility use these meters
    If I had an eco 7 meter with gas central heating I would switch to Iresa Energys latest eco 7 fix.
    It will probably beat your 24 hr single rate tariff however much night use you use.More the merrier.
    Eg Day rate 11.5 kwh, night is 8 p/kwh and only 21 p a day standing charge ( South Yorks rates )
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239 Forumite
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    House_Martin wrote: »
    None of the suppliers I work for can yet offer economy 7 smart metering.No idea why.
    Because the smart meter programme is an absolute shambles?

    Prioritising E7 meters as an early part of the programme would have alleviated the issue of drifting timeclocks and customers wanting single rate charging like sillygoose.
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
  • sillygoose
    sillygoose Posts: 4,794 Forumite
    edited 19 January 2018 at 7:40PM
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    House_Martin wrote: »
    Rate 1 on digital meters are usually day. None of the suppliers I work for can yet offer economy 7 smart metering.No idea why. Our meter readers at M.D.S ( formerly G4S ) who work for BG, Scot Power, EDF routinely mess up eco 7 meters. Their hand held computers are the reason why because on the night rate it shows 1 ( with a 2 next to the day reading )so as soon as they see a number 1 on a digital meter they put that reading into the night field.
    Secure Liberty smart meters will work with Eco 7. Eon, Utilita, Ovo, First Utility use these meters
    If I had an eco 7 meter with gas central heating I would switch to Iresa Energys latest eco 7 fix.
    It will probably beat your 24 hr single rate tariff however much night use you use.More the merrier.
    Eg Day rate 11.5 kwh, night is 8 p/kwh and only 21 p a day standing charge ( South Yorks rates )

    Thanks, that looks pretty good, its quoting me even better..
    Day rate 11.29 kwh, night is 8.02 p/kwh and only 18.39 p a day.

    What makes me nervous is if they get messed up defining Day and Night to 1&2.. but then it could only go in my favour as I would pay the cheaper rate for the bigger usage...lol :D

    Edit oh hang on...
    "Important Unit rate and standing charge do not include VAT."

    hmmm... Ahha so most quoted tariffs don't include VAT so it is a valid comparison..phew
    European for 3 weeks in August, the rest of the year only British and proud.
  • spiro
    spiro Posts: 6,403 Forumite
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    I think you will find under the CMA outcome that suppliers are required to offer multi-rate meter customers a single rate tariff without the need for a meter exchange.
    IT Consultant in the utilities industry specialising in the retail electricity market.

    4 Credit Card and 1 Loan PPI claims settled for £26k, 1 rejected (Opus).
  • Chrishazle
    Chrishazle Posts: 609 Forumite
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    I also have a 2 rate meter (suspect the house originally had storage heaters when built c1990). BG, Sainsbury's Energy and Affect Energy (current supplier) are all quite happy to have R1 and R2 readings and bill me on single rate rather than an E7 tariff - Scottish Power a few years ago could not do this. I've lived here just over 10 years, BG/Sainsburys until last Feb then Affect, who so far are excellent, not quite the cheapest but good customer service and monthly emails requesting meter reading. Fix runs out end march, I suspect I'll stay with them on their Jan 2019 fix.

    Making life more interesting, I also have 3 phase power, so BG could not fit a smart meter, and AFAIK 3 phase smart meters are still NA!
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