Economy 10 - unexpected high bill!

daverave7

Hi,

I live in a new build apartment where we have an Economy 10 meter which is meant to give us a cheaper rate during the periods 12am to 5 am, 1 pm to 4 pm, and 8 pm to 10pm (all GMT). Therefore I make sure that most of my heating (including heating the hot water tank) and major electrical appliances are operated durind cheap times.

I've recently had an unexpected bill in excess of 500 pounds for the last quarter. Plus, the bill shows myself as using more Units during Peak period than Off-Peak period! This has surprised me and I am now suspicious of my meter. Has anyone had or heard of any problems with these Economy 10 meters?

Moreover, I've also heard (second hand info!) that the electricity company needs to replace all economy 10 meters in the block of apartments because the timers "tick over" too fast. Could this be a possibility?

I have not contacted my electricity supplier yet but wanted some advice on how best to approach them. If I query the meters, are they likely to check it?

Cardew

The first thing to check is the time the supply switches to the E10 meter.

I am assuming in a new build this is done remotely and not by a mechanical timer?

Certainly with mechanical timers it is common for the clock to be 'fast or 'slow' and of course the timings change for British Standard Time.

I think you need to have some 'evidence' before you approach the supplier.

Premier_2

Have the supplier transposed the peak and off peak registries?
(I presume you checked they have read the correct meter - its not uncommon for new flats to have wrong meters associated with each flat)

How are your heaters timed? I would have thought with a relatively new property the storage heaters would on on a unique off peak circuit i.e. a circuit that only becomes live during off peak periods.
Or are they controlled by thier own timers?

daverave7

Thanks both!

I've seen the meters and they are digital.

Also, each radiator has it's own individual timer which I programme for off peak only. The individual timers aren't great and tend to lose time but I keep an eye on them.

I guess my best bet would be to put on all appliances at 11.50 am BST and watch the meter tick over and see if it changes to the off peak meter at Midday. I just hope I don't blow any fuses.

Cardew

daverave7 wrote: »

I've seen the meters and they are digital.

The meter display might be digital, but a mechanical 'clock' (with cams) switches the supply from one meter display to the other.

On my arrangement(Economy 7) that is exactly what happens and a small arrow shows which display is in use.

dunloadin

The key word here is meters....as in more than one....therefore you may not have Eco10, or a version of it that gives no cheap rate for your domestic consumption. Look for words such as Heatwise/comfort plus/total control on your bills.

Your heating, is it combined storage heating/convector heating? If so then it makes sense to set the timers to come on when you get the low rate through the day and not the high.

skelly01

I wqould check that they have not got your peak and off peak readings mixed up. It happened to me and took some persuading that the company were in the wrong and not me.

grey_lady

I have economy 10 and my last meter which was working fine, was swopped over as it was 10 years old without my knowledge when i was away on holiday!

The new meter has never worked, it doesnt tick over at all but several engineer visits later I still dont have a new meter in there, the last visit was yesterday where he said that there wasnt enough room in the cupboard for the two economy 10 meters (the existing meter is just a single unit) he also said that economy 10 is pretty rare nowadays
and suggested i went onto something else - but i need the boost during the day for the hot water.

Couple of my neighbours in the same block have had issues with their economy 10 meters as well.