Powergen / Eon / 3 rate tariff - need to sort things out!

frivolous_fay

Hello,

Have now lived at my for a year. Purposefully didn't switch leccy suppliers because we didn't know how much we were going to use.

I now have a fairly detailed breakdown of how much we're using, although there are some complicating factors (the fact that I haven't been sent a bill since October,
and also that I discovered they had reset my meter in Feb without telling me - I found a card in my meter cupboard)

Anyway... armed with my consumption info, I'd like to switch - BUT - we're on 'Domestic Economy 10 plan' and I think it's actually costing us money so I'd like to get shot of the 3rd rate.

In a year, according to my figures...

Day - 2711 units
Night - 2303 units
'Stored heat' - 4783

I'm paying £50 p/m DD, although I have strong reason to believe we're about £100 in debit by now (as above, no bill to confirm this)

My October bill shows the day units are about 10.28p each, and the other two rates half this.

Soooo...

- Will cutting out one rate be very complicated, bearing in mind that we use storage heaters?
- I'm assuming we're paying through the nose for the day units as a result of the cheap offpeak rates. Can I make a decent saving by switching to E7?

I'm happy to look through the price comparison sites, but I'd appreciate an experienced eye who might be able to confirm whether the meter issue will be a massive complication, and if we've been paying 10p+ per unit for no good reason!

Many thanks in advance...

spiro

You say you are on 3 rate, what makes you say that? What hours the heating available and do you have a 'boost' button for use in the afternoon? E7 is just a generic term for 2-rate metering designed for those with electric heating (storage) and the number of hours you get can vary between 7 and 10 although very few suppliers offer a 10hr tariff. On you bill is printed an S number, if you can provide me with the 3rd 4th and 5th digits on the top line and the 1st 2 digits on the bottom line I can get a better idea of what type of meter you have and therefore what your options are. This will not allow me to obtain an information about you personally such as your address.

frivolous_fay

It's economy 10, not 7. When I first moved in I was confused because I gave them two meter readings and they wanted 3. Hence three rates.... although admittedly the offpeak meters are billed at the same price, although on two separate reads.

There is a boost option for the afternoons - I think there's a switch by each storage heater labelled 'Afternoon boost'

I do find the whole thing a bit baffling to be honest, and I couldn't tell you whether we are billed according to the time we use the electric, or because certain appliances are on a different circuit.

Supply number(s) - these show in two grids. Will give you the full ref on top row in case I mess up the numbers you're asking for:

S|02|652|025
|10|1247|

S|02|668|022
|10|1247|

Since I posted, I've read a post that says you want to be using 40% of your electricity offpeak if your'e on an E10 tariff, and I've worked out that we are, so perhaps it's not such a crummy deal after all?

tulip46

Hi Fay, I am also on Economy 10 with EON. If you want to switch to Economy 7 you will have to have your meter changed (used to be free, don't know about now). I used to be on E7 but found the storage heaters had cooled down too much by the evening, so switched to E10 for the afternoon boost when needed.
The drawback is that not many companies do E10, which means it's not mentioned on comparison sites, although I read in another thread that 3 other companies seem to have it: apparently EDF, Southern Electric, and Npower. I have not tried them yet. I did phone EON to ask if there was a capped tariff for E10, but there wasn't.
Hope this helps.

spiro

frivolous_fay wrote: »

It's economy 10, not 7. When I first moved in I was confused because I gave them two meter readings and they wanted 3. Hence three rates.... although admittedly the offpeak meters are billed at the same price, although on two separate reads.

There is a boost option for the afternoons - I think there's a switch by each storage heater labelled 'Afternoon boost'

I do find the whole thing a bit baffling to be honest, and I couldn't tell you whether we are billed according to the time we use the electric, or because certain appliances are on a different circuit.

Supply number(s) - these show in two grids. Will give you the full ref on top row in case I mess up the numbers you're asking for:

S|02|652|025
|10|1247|

S|02|668|022
|10|1247|

Since I posted, I've read a post that says you want to be using 40% of your electricity offpeak if your'e on an E10 tariff, and I've worked out that we are, so perhaps it's not such a crummy deal after all?

The 1st S number has an MTC of 652, which decodes to an SSC of 0310. The switching times for this SSC are controlled by a tele-switch (radio signal) therefore I cant advise what they should be. The 2nd S number has an MTC of 668, which decodes to an SSC of 0401. The is the heating curcuit but again is tele-switched so I cant advise the switching times. This makes it almost impossible to do a direct comparison to any E7 tariff. The key difference between what you have now with the E10 setup compared to an E7 setup is that with E7 you would loose the afternoon boost for the heating. Therefore the choice of E10 v E7 will depend on you use or not of the boost facility.

frivolous_fay

Thanks I'm not sure about the afternoon boost (I was expecting it to show on one of the meters, but which?) as we're hoping to revamp our heating.

Since I posted I've managed to get eon to send me a bill (first one since October) and it was a little bit of a shock... when I calculated what I expected to be paying I hadn't taken into account a) price increase b) standing charge and c) VAT.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a E10 tariff with no standing charge? I'm a bit cheesed off that I'm paying it, seems so 20th century!

brysiewysie

tulip46 wrote: »

If you want to switch to Economy 7 you will have to have your meter changed (used to be free, don't know about now)

It's £50 now unless you're a vulnerable customer

stewie_griffin

brysiewysie wrote: »

It's £50 now unless you're a vulnerable customer

I was under the impression that only none essential meter exchanges were chargeable and since this meter exchange would be done to change the OPs tariff I would have thought it would be done for free.

dunloadin

Tulip46, how did you manage to change from E7 to E10? E10 is for use with wet heating systems(radiators), not storeage heaters.

brysiewysie

stewie_griffin wrote: »

I was under the impression that only none essential meter exchanges were chargeable and since this meter exchange would be done to change the OPs tariff I would have thought it would be done for free.

No, it's £50 for any meter exchange (unless you go to a pre-pay meter) unless you're a priority services register case (vulnerable type customers)

owain.davies

Looking at your usage patterns with your heating, i'd say that yo uare using mor than enough to be saving money by being on the special heating tariff, and i imagine you'll find it very hard to switch. EDF can't accept E10 meters, and i don't think NPower do, so SSE might be your only bet.

Be interesting to know if they will take you on?