Changing from Economy 7 to Standard Tariff

Narola1976 wrote: »

First Utility reckons I use 75% of my electricity during the day which is of course not what economy 7 is all about.

What do you reckon you use in the day and at night? Over what length of time have FU looked at your usage data? Does it vary Winter to Summer, are they only looking at the last six months?

You need to get hold of your actual meter readings (not estimates) going back over a long period of time, say two years. Then see what average consumption you have at night and daytime and then look at different tariffs to see which works out cheapest - both as E7 and as a single rate.

At 25% you are already well on the way to breakeven for some tariffs, If your actual night time consumption is higher than this (or if you can increase the percentage at night) then E7 might still be cheaper than single rate. Don't just take the word of an energy company as correct advice

Narola1976 wrote: »

FU have advised that they could put in a smart meter but this means going on a standard flat rate which actually sees the night rate increasing significantly and when they did the sums with me I was actually going to pay more not less.

...because of this. You need accurate average figures over a reasonably long period of time and then calculate exactly what you would save (or pay extra) with the different options.

The Smart meter is a red-herring. It won't save you any money, it might just make you more aware of what energy you are consuming. If you are looking to switch I would say getting a smart meter before is a very bad idea.

Narola1976 wrote: »

Uswitch advised me that it will be short term pain for long term gain. Once the smart meter is in I could then look for a cheaper standard rate.

Strange advice! You shouldn't need to suffer 'short term pain', nor do you need to have a smart meter to get a cheaper standard rate. You need to find out if a single rate tariff would work out cheaper, and if so, look at the metering options to make sure that getting the meter changed (if necessary) won't cost more than what you can save on a cheaper tariff.

As well as the big companies AVRO also have the same rate for day and night E7 usage.
Within a few pounds they are still one of the cheapest dual suppliers for where I live.
I have been with them for 18 months with no trouble and using their penalty free switch I am getting out of my existing 12 month contract to go on to a cheaper tariff that they have just introduced. Like most offers it could easily be withdrawn in the near future so you have to act swiftly.
Some people do complain that AVRO take a DD payment 2 weeks before the supply starts put I can live with that for the savings I am making and the flexibility of knowing that I am not tied to the 7 hours of economy 7 for maximum benefit. My current night use is now about 25% down from over 30% as I prefer for safety reasons to use some appliances when I am up.
If you can just put your annual consumption for both elec meters and gas meter into a comparison web site and see what comes up. Because you have to contact them to do a switch rather that going through a comparison site you may need to tick a box on the comparison web site to include all utility companies.

Cardew wrote: »

Unless they have changed recently, Scottish Power will NOT add the day and night(peak and off-peak) totals and treat as one total. Like BG and Eon Ovo will add the two readings.

Given that under CMA finding that E10 etc customer should be able to go on a single rate tariff with no change of meter I expect all suppliers should now cope with this.