Economy 7 meter help!

hells_2

Hello wonderful MSErs!
Is anyone in the know about Economy 7 meters and how they work?
We asked specifically NOT to be on Economy 7 rate when we moved into this property 6 months ago and asked to continue on the standard dual fuel plan with Southern.
Since then we've moved to EoN as basically...Southern cocked up with our gas (sent bills but admitted they never actually got the supply) so we chucked everything over to EON as it was easier.

Now then..we have a whopping £476 electric bill, (notwithstanding the £41 a month we've already paid, each month by DD) for the months of June to November! I know!!! (Although they are overcharging us by at least 6 weeks here as EoN took over the account mid to late September anyway)

I've been racking my brains all weekend and today to try and think why it is so high.

Previously we lived (2 adults and visiting child every other weekend) in a 3 bed semi. We used all the usual appliances, being telly, washing machine, cooker, microwave, computer (which is always switched on) and NEVER ever had a bill like this. We now live in a 3 bed terrace so per sq.ft its only slightly larger.

The only thing I have now discovered, is the clock on the electricity meter is 3 hours and 10 minutes out!!!! I honestly think we are being charged day rates well into the night for Rate 1 energy at 14.15p per unit!!!

I've emailed Southern firstly to remind them that while we were customers, we specifically asked not to go on an Economy 7 tariff, because we don't have storage heaters (we have GCH) and we are out at work all day so no benefit to us.

It's the only thing i can think of.
I read the meters yesterday and today, and for some utterly unknown reason we have used 96 units in total of electricity!!

My fella was home all day today but only had the puter on, put the dishwasher on (this goes on 3x a week) and put one wash on (this is on 3 x a week) and will have had a shower.

The entire house is lit with low energy bulbs, the fridge and freezer are not on full whack, we take showers, etc etc etc!

Where the blinking heck is all this useage coming from??? And, do I argue that the meter clock is wrong hence they are overcharging us in the first place!

Other than that, maybe Ray Von off Phoenix Nights has come and wired us up to the street light and we're paying for that, too!

Thanks

Fire_Fox

If you are not on an E7 tariff then you aren't being charged the wrong rate at the wrong time! How many electricity readings are on your bill, one or two? Are the start and finish readings on the bill actual or estimated?

Turn EVERYTHING off for an hour at the circuit breaker and see if the meter moves. Then plus in ONE item with a known wattage and see if the meter moves at the correct rate. Your big power users are heating, hot water and tumble dryers: are you certain your immersion heater hasn't accidentally been left on permanently? How long are you showers and how powerful is it? What temperature are you doing laundry at, are you using the eco setting on the dishwasher? Have you used the tumble dryer and for how long?

macman

But you don't say anywhere what your actual consumption is, only how large your bill is, which may be irrelevant-is this based on actual or estimated readings?. You need to look at your opening meter reading 6 m ago, (or whenever you started with eon), and you reading now, work out your consumption, do a day basis pro rata, and check if your bill is accurate or not.
Do you have electric heating in the house? This will be the main consumer if so, along with hot water heating, tumble drier, washing machine and electric shower. Do you have an immersion heater being left on continuously?
Not leaving the PC on 24/7 would help too.

smjxm09

If you are really being charged day rates well into the night then that is to your advantage as you will then have been charged the cheaper night rate well into the morning when you are using more electricity.

You are correct in wanting just a single rate when you are heated by gas, as you actually pay a higher day rate and standing charge for the privilege of saving a few pennies at night. In my case I would be paying an extra £127 a year if I was on economy 7.

Are you really sure that you used 96 units of electricity in 24hours and not 9.3 units of electricity? 93 units is like having 4 single bar electric fires on 24 hours a day. Using an average of 93 units a day would mean using 33945Kw over a year. Even at 10p a unit that would give you a yearly bill of £3394.50 plus the standing charge.

Also if you are paying 14p a unit that also seems a lot. I am paying 8.5p a unit for my electricity so go to www.which.co.uk and use their free comparison site.

dogshome

Hi hells - It seems that at sometime in the past your house was heated by storage radiators on an ECO 7 tariff, then a previous owner installed GCH.
When a Utility is advised of this change, it is dealt with in one of two ways. Either a new Standard Meter is installed, (some suppliers do this free whilst others charge), or the supplier makes the tariff change by simply adding the readings of the Day Meter and Night meter together, and charging it all at the Standard rate.
It would appear that Southern were charging Standard rates on combined meter readings, but the central registry of meters agency will still have your house listed as an ECO 7 dwelling, and this is the information they would have passed to EON when you changed from Southern, which EON had to act upon unless informed otherwise by you
WRITE to EON,( Don't Email or phone), pointing up the history with Southern, and requesting that they also charge Standard tariff rates on the meter totals - Also check your bills to see how many Night Units are being charged for - with GCH & hot water it should be just a few being used for the fridge, freezer and and any thing left on standby. If it's a lot check that the immersion heater in the hot water tank is switched off.
Best of Luck

gemstars

I can help you understand your bills if you can post your:

starting readings?
latest readings?
is the bill actual or estimated?

If you can start with this people will then be able to offer advice. :-)

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi hells :hello:

dogshome has hit the nail on the head, E.ON will leave the economy 7 meter in place and change the tariff to a one rate, therefore, adding the readings together.

When you changed over to E.ON you would have been quoted and chosen a tariff, which tariff did you choose? and did you select economy 7 or not?

The best thing to do is to contact E.ON and check your prices and usage, you can also speak to the consumption department to help reduce usage.

Hope this helps.

Helena

hells_2

I love this site sometimes but I wish people would read posts and their content....:rolleyes:

Firefox: I did not say I had a tumble dryer, so no, why would I be using it.... as I don't have one. All the washing in our house is done at 30 deg and the dishwasher is on 3 times a week and not on top whack.

Macman: I mentioned we have GCH, so no, we don't have an immersion heater or electric heaters!

Just to reiterate... I specifically asked Southern NOT to charge us for Economy 7 but yes, they have. They are charging 2 different rates. Upon checking the meter on Monday, the readings (which yes, I add together) are 96 more, in total, than on Sunday. So maybe we're paying for the whole street!!!

Gemstars: I don't need you to assess my bill, but thank you. The post was for the purpose of asking about the Economy 7 meter, and not the tariff and whether I can argue that I am being charged incorrectly.

Dogshome and EON rep Helena: Yes, you are both quite right. The house has been converted back from 2 flats to a single dwelling when GCH was installed (earlier this year before we moved in). The Econ 7 meter has stayed put. It's an EON Meter and when I spoke to the nice people at EON they understood this straight away and we are NOT being charged an Econ 7 rate under EON. This billing system shouldn't be a problem (I hope) (We are on the Winter Gas dual fuel tariff now)


smjxm09: The day rate on Econ 7 is 14.5p and the night rate is 4.5p!!!

"If you are really being charged day rates well into the night then that is to your advantage as you will then have been charged the cheaper night rate well into the morning when you are using more electricity."

How is that so? If the meter clock is 3.5 hours slow, then we are surely being charged day rate at 7pm when we are home and using more electricity at that time of day, not in the morning. That's my issue.

We are going to experiment by looking at the meter whilst everything is switched off and see what occurs.

I have emailed Southern in any case to ask them to reassess and re-bill us. I am also looking for the meter readings from the day we moved in, but if I can't find them, I am a bit stuffed I think! It'll be my word against theirs.

Let's put it this way: the 'reading' that Southern gave us from June on the bill were 53 (day) and 23 (night). I don't believe that's accurate.

The readings NOW are something like 2323 and 6253 (approx). I have a feeling the first readings are wrong, they have to be.

macman

Macman: I mentioned we have GCH, so no, we don't have an immersion heater or electric heaters!

I can assure you that I did read your post. It's very common for houses with GCH to have an immersion heater as a backup, or dating from before the CH was installed. There have been several cases on this board recently of people having GCH, yet leavingan immersion heater on 24/7.It's also common for people with GCH to use electric heaters in some rooms, or forlocal warmth.
If you don't give all the necessary info in your first post, then expect people to ask questions.

hells_2

Thanks but I tend to just give the facts out when I post anywhere, so yep, I know very well we don't have an immersion heater and that we don't have electric heaters anywhere....given that I live in the house, I'd know if we had them or not. If it makes you feel better, we have a brand new combi boiler. Everything in the house is brand new. It's like a new house, inside the shell of an old Victorian one.

Which is why I didn't bother to post about something I don't even have.....I don't have a Porsche either...!!

gemstars

hells wrote: »

Thanks but I tend to just give the facts out when I post anywhere, so yep, I know very well we don't have an immersion heater and that we don't have electric heaters anywhere....given that I live in the house, I'd know if we had them or not. If it makes you feel better, we have a brand new combi boiler. Everything in the house is brand new. It's like a new house, inside the shell of an old Victorian one.

Which is why I didn't bother to post about something I don't even have.....I don't have a Porsche either...!!

That's just silly. You may know what you have and don't have but we don't so how can you expect people to help you figure out....

hells wrote: »

Where the blinking heck is all this useage coming from???

... if we aren't "allowed" to ask questions?