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Ditch dual rate electric meter ?

bsw
bsw Posts: 6 Forumite
Hi,

We've just embarked on selling our house and had the energy efficiency inspection on Friday. The guy gave me a tip which seems to be valid and I'm passing it on: Unless you have night storage heaters or do all your washing / drying / cooking / cleaning in the middle of the night you would be better off ditching your dual rate meter and going for single rate.

I've just checked the tariff - BG Web saver 3 in E Mids. - and the difference is huge, T1 Single rate = 21.652, Dual Rate = 29.63; T2 Single = 9.396, Dual = 10.626. OK there is the Night rate on the dual rate tariff (4.732) but you'd have to use a hell of a lot to compensate for the difference in T1 & T2 rates I think.

Am I missing something or should I ask BG to change the meter?

bsw

Comments

  • PNPSUKNET
    PNPSUKNET Posts: 4,265 Forumite
    just ask to be billed on single rate, but not e7 there isnt a need to change the meter
  • Swipe
    Swipe Posts: 5,502 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    PNPSUKNET wrote: »
    just ask to be billed on single rate, but not e7 there isnt a need to change the meter

    Some companies insist on single rate meter for standard tariff. If the current provider is willing to replace the dual meter for free you'd be stupid not to.
  • dunloadin
    dunloadin Posts: 359 Forumite
    BG will probably change the meter, I'm not saying it's their policy, probably depends on who the old meter is owned by.

    If your in the process of selling your house it might not be worthwile doing unless your not expecting to move in the near future, as it will take a while for them to send the job out and sort out your billing.
  • Fire_Fox
    Fire_Fox Posts: 26,026 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I have no storage heaters and only do laundry at night, no drying or dishwashing overnight - it's marginally cheaper for me to be on E7. Depends on the tariff.
    Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
  • violetta
    violetta Posts: 2,625 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    We live in East Midlands and are with Scottish Power (the fixed deal that ends 31/8). We have no storage heaters and do laundry and dishwashing at night by setting the timers. I worked out last night (in case things had changed since I last checked) that we have saved about £30 over the last year by having E7.

    As Fire Fox says, it depends on the region and tariff, and I don't think it would work out better for us if we did not do laundry and dishwashing overnight.
    A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion
  • Sunnyday
    Sunnyday Posts: 3,855 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I am also with SP on the fixed tariff ending soon and have an E7 meter.

    I`ve worked out my usage compared to the two rate and single rate figures.

    By staying on E7 i have saved over £162 in the last 12 months :j

    We have no storage heaters but we use the washing machine at night and the dishwasher at night. The bread machine goes on every night too and the slow cooker when needed. As soon as the meter clicks and switches over i turn everything on before hopping off to bed.

    Our heating and hot water are fuelled by gas but we do still have the immersion heater in case we have any problems as an emergency backup.

    I`m very happy with my Economy 7 :D

    SD
    Planning on starting the GC again soon :p
  • deffo get the metre changed, we did 3 years ago and never had a bill since, even though we've chase the muppets!!
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