Confused about economy 7

cee1985

Hello, long timer lurker, first time poster yada yada..

Anyway back on topic. I've recently moved to a new 1bed flat which is electricity only (no gas) and it appears that I have a dual rate/economy 7 meter.

My concern is that I don't feel I will benefit from economy 7 rates as I don't really tend to use things overnight and I don't have storage heaters. My water heater is constantly on anyway and is thermostatically maintained. I work 9-5 Mon-Fri and will tend to be in most weekends and I live on my own. My boyfriend occaisionally stays over for a week or so every couple of months or whenever he can get time off from being in the Army overseas.

My old flat did not have a econ7 meter so I was just on a standard rate. My question is that can I still have a standard tariff even with a dual rate meter and do i just quote them the daytime rate, or will I still have to provide them with both the daytime rate and the night time rate? OR does this mean I have to go with an economy 7 tariff?

I only question this because I was particularly interested in British Gas' Websaver4 tariff but it seemed cheaper if you had a single rate meter than if you had a dual rate meter!

Any help would be muchly appreciated!

Cardew

You simply elect to change your tariff from E7 to a normal tariff.

You don't say who is your current supplier. Some insist you have a new meter, some just add the 2 meter readings together. e.g. if you have used 1,000 daytime units and 200 night units, you will be charged for 1,200 at the single tariff rate.(I have this arrangement with BG)

Beware some suppliers try to get you to pay for a new meter, others don't.

carolt2

If you phone your current supplier they might be able to put you on a single rate tariff.
They might let you keep your present meter.
If they did this they would just add the day and night readings together.
If they don't allow this you might be able to get your meter changed to a single rate one. However they may charge you for this.

cee1985

Cardew - I am assuming you have a dual rate meter but are on a standard tariff? Would they normally have that sort of arrangement or is it only in exceptional conditions?

Sorry I should have also mentioned that my current provider for the old flat is Eon, I went with them as this was the recommended supplier from the apartment management company. As I have stayed with them just literally moved flats they've said I can go with any provider I want so I did a comparison and found that BG was cheaper.

I'll call them tomorrow to discuss this as I'd rather speak to someone than apply for this kind of thing online. But thank you for the advice anyway.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi cee1985

Just to confirm, with EON you can have a dual rate Economy 7 meter but go on a single rate tariff without having to change the meter. As other posters have said, we add the day and night rates together and charge all on a single rate tariff.

There is nothing exceptional about this. Just give us a call if you would like to switch. This can be done quickly and easily over the phone.

You are doing the right thing using a comparison site to make sure you choose the best deal for your circumstances.

Hope this clears up our position on this but give me a shout if you need any more info. Happy to help.

Malc

Cardew

cee1985 wrote: »

Cardew - I am assuming you have a dual rate meter but are on a standard tariff? Would they normally have that sort of arrangement or is it only in exceptional conditions?

My arrangement is as you say - a dual rate meter and on a single rate tariff. I am with BG on an old fixed rate tariff but the arrangement was made some years ago before I went on my present tariff.

As you can see, E-ON allow the same sort of arrangement, I assume BG still also allow the arrangement.

Fire_Fox

cee1985 wrote: »

Hello, long timer lurker, first time poster yada yada..

Anyway back on topic. I've recently moved to a new 1bed flat which is electricity only (no gas) and it appears that I have a dual rate/economy 7 meter.

My concern is that I don't feel I will benefit from economy 7 rates as I don't really tend to use things overnight and I don't have storage heaters. My water heater is constantly on anyway and is thermostatically maintained. I work 9-5 Mon-Fri and will tend to be in most weekends and I live on my own. My boyfriend occaisionally stays over for a week or so every couple of months or whenever he can get time off from being in the Army overseas.

My old flat did not have a econ7 meter so I was just on a standard rate. My question is that can I still have a standard tariff even with a dual rate meter and do i just quote them the daytime rate, or will I still have to provide them with both the daytime rate and the night time rate? OR does this mean I have to go with an economy 7 tariff?

I only question this because I was particularly interested in British Gas' Websaver4 tariff but it seemed cheaper if you had a single rate meter than if you had a dual rate meter!

Any help would be muchly appreciated!

Why are you leaving the hot water on all the time?? What type of heaters do you have?

dunloadin

If you have an all electric flat, but no storage heaters, theres a good chance that what you have is an Eco10 meter.

Be wary of changing to a single rate tariff if you still have elecrical heating and hot water, your basing your decision on the summertime use. Expect 3x the consumption you have now when the heating goes on, bills will be crippling come the winter months.

tfspark

Sorry to jump on this thread but I have similar questions to the OP.

I have duel fuel with Scottish Power. My deal has just come to an end. If I go on comparison sites and use the economy 7 tariffs I can save up to £130. But if I use my same past figures but not and E7 tariff I can save £300.

I guess I am not doing a true comparison by using my (E7) figures to find a non E7 tariff.
It appears a non E7 tariff is cheaper, anyone clarify?

Cardew

tfspark wrote: »

Sorry to jump on this thread but I have similar questions to the OP.

I have duel fuel with Scottish Power. My deal has just come to an end. If I go on comparison sites and use the economy 7 tariffs I can save up to £130. But if I use my same past figures but not and E7 tariff I can save £300.

I guess I am not doing a true comparison by using my (E7) figures to find a non E7 tariff.
It appears a non E7 tariff is cheaper, anyone clarify?

The problem with an E7 tariff is that whilst you pay a cheaper rate for 7 hours you normally pay considerably more for your daytime electricity i.e. for the other 17 hours.

Therefore you need to save enough in the 7 hours to pay for the extra you pay during the other 17 hours.

There is no easy way to work out what the 'break even' point is for any given household as it depends on the area you live and the tariff/company you use. It can be anything between 10% to 50% of your total electricity used in the 7 hours to break even.

In general terms it is very difficult to make Economy 7 be worthwhile unless you have night storage heating

As you have dual fuel, you presumably use gas for heating and it is pretty certain that you shouldn't have an Economy 7 tariff.

tfspark

Cardew wrote: »

The problem with an E7 tariff is that whilst you pay a cheaper rate for 7 hours you normally pay considerably more for your daytime electricity i.e. for the other 17 hours.

Therefore you need to save enough in the 7 hours to pay for the extra you pay during the other 17 hours.

There is no easy way to work out what the 'break even' point is for any given household as it depends on the area you live and the tariff/company you use. It can be anything between 10% to 50% of your total electricity used in the 7 hours to break even.

In general terms it is very difficult to make Economy 7 be worthwhile unless you have night storage heating

As you have dual fuel, you presumably use gas for heating and it is pretty certain that you shouldn't have an Economy 7 tariff.

Thanks Cardew for such a speedy reply, I do have gas heating. Combi boiler so gas hot water all year round.

Looking at past bills, 20% is used over night. Not good when national average is 54%.

According to comparison sites EON seems to be the cheapest for non E7 tariff. I like the reply from Malc (eon rep) regarding no meter swap etc. But, there are threads on here about big lost discounts when you switch from EON to a new supplier.

I'd almost made my mind up today to switch to SP online saver 6, which is duel fuel E7, but now I've got to start again..........ho hum:rolleyes: