Confused about - Economy 7 electric meter

dizzy-di_2

Hello
I am hoping someone can help me. I moved into my 2 bed bungalow 15 months ago, went on comparison site and changed to npower for dual fuel online tarif.

I noticed i have 2 dials on my electric meter one is economy 7 - now this dial is totally stationary, and has not moved since we moved in.

I have paid off my bill and started a direct debit, and they wanted to set it at £146 per month, i feel this is much too high.

I asked the man on the phone what i should be paying based on my readings since i had been an npower customer, and he said £90 per month. The reason for the higher charge is because i am on an old meter (i have now got an appointment to have it changed in 2 weeks time).

Why should it matter if the economy 7 meter doesnt move? I am confused, and dont want to not be paying enough, but i have never paid over £100 per month - even when i had prepayment meters in my previous bigger, colder property. However i do understand costs of fuel has gone up, but not to £146.00 per month, that is also with a clear account, no bill to be paid off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

macman

So you are not actually on a E7 tariff?-I presume not, as in a house with gas CH it is unlilely to be economic to do so.
If you are on a standard tariff but with an E7 meter, then the total is calculated by adding the two readings together.
if the meter is broken, they will have to make an assessment of your off peak usage and charge you accordingly.

Premier_2

dizzy-di wrote: »

Hello
I am hoping someone can help me. I moved into my 2 bed bungalow 15 months ago, went on comparison site and changed to npower for dual fuel online tarif.

I noticed i have 2 dials on my electric meter one is economy 7 - now this dial is totally stationary, and has not moved since we moved in.

I have paid off my bill and started a direct debit, and they wanted to set it at £146 per month, i feel this is much too high.

I asked the man on the phone what i should be paying based on my readings since i had been an npower customer, and he said £90 per month. The reason for the higher charge is because i am on an old meter (i have now got an appointment to have it changed in 2 weeks time).

Why should it matter if the economy 7 meter doesnt move? I am confused, and dont want to not be paying enough, but i have never paid over £100 per month - even when i had prepayment meters in my previous bigger, colder property. However i do understand costs of fuel has gone up, but not to £146.00 per month, that is also with a clear account, no bill to be paid off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Are you currently on an E7 tariff?

If so, it sounds like the switching mechanism for the meter has failed. If, stuck on normal, you won't be getting any low rate electricity, (and vice versa)
Contact your supplier to get it resolved.

If not on an E7 tariff, you were extremely lucky to have been put onto a single rate tariff with a dual rate meter, especially via a comparison site. Some suppliers won't accept that at all.

One_Day_Rodney

I had a similar problem when I moved into my place.

I was on the economy 7 tariff (which I was happy with) but the 'low' (economy 7) meter reading never changed!
So I rang my supplier and they sent around a meter installer to check it out.
When he arrived, he spotted the problem straight-away. When the previous owner had the place re-wired, the electricians had removed the time signal controller which told the main meter which reading to increment ie. 'normal' or 'low' reading.

He fitted a new time controller and away it went.

My bills dropped by about 40% :T

dizzy-di_2

Hello
Thanks for your replies, I have never been on an economy 7 meter before, so to be honest i am not sure how they work.

As i said when i moved I took readings and found that the economy 7 dial remained unchanged, but the normal dial moved. So i presumed that i was only on a normal meter, i initially was on an on line tariff, paying DD. However the meter reader must have notified Npower of the economy 7 meter, as i had a letter showing economy 7 prices etc.
Shortly after they tried to increase my DD to £165 per month to pay off a shortfall with the bill. I told them i was going to pay off the bill and go to another supplier, I have now paid my bill, but have decided to see how things go.

They are going to change the meter over for me, as the man from Npower said economy 7 meters are generally used for electric heating and emersion heaters ect.

Npower i must admit have been very helpful, but i will have to see what effect the new meter has, he told me to change my tariff to an online one, once the new meter is installed.

Thanks everyone.

macman

You still haven't answered the question-are you or are you not on an E7 tariff?
Your bill will clearly show what tariff you are on, if you have an E7 one then it will say so and you will be billed at two rates.

dizzy-di_2

macman wrote: »

You still haven't answered the question-are you or are you not on an E7 tariff?
Your bill will clearly show what tariff you are on, if you have an E7 one then it will say so and you will be billed at two rates.

I have just checked online, and elec tariff is - go fix economy 7.
Readings are as follows -
23/12/09 = night is unchanged + day is 91063

3/7/10 = night unchanged + day is 93701

Total 2638 kw -

Total bill is £364.85 (this includes £39.36 standing charge for economy 7 meter)

Any advice would be appreciated.

dogshome

Hi dizzy-di - It would seem from the 10 month meter readings that you are indeed being charged on an ECO7 tariff, thro' a meter on which the Night rate recorder has failed

As you are probably aware ECO7 supplies cheap power overnight to heat Storage Radiators & a Hot Water tank, what you may not be aware of is that the power it supplies in the Day is at higher price than that from a Standard meter - A quick calculation on your £365 Bill shows that you are paying
around 12.33pence a Unit, whereas the charge on a Standard meter would be between 7 - 8pence and your £365 bill would be reduced to appx. £243.

It is likely that some previous owner discarded the Storage radiators and installed Gas CH.
When a Utility is advised of this change, they will either change the meter for a Standard model or simly add the Day & Night ECO7 readings together and charge the total at Standard rate.
If the Utility is not told of the change, then they quite rightly continue to charge on an ECO7 tariff and the customer has no redress, so it is important that you inform n'power of your gas CH and have the meter changed to a Standard model a.s.a.p

However, there have been several instances where the supplier was informed and opted to add the ECO7 Day Night readings together for chargeing at Standard meter rate, but at some point possibly at the time there was a new account holder or a Switch, this note on the account was lost and the supplier reverted to an ECO tariff - It is worth trying to research the previous owners and supplier, because if indeed there was an 'Add Readings' together arrangement that has been forgotten, you can claim back past overpayments

macman

If you have gas CH and are still on an E7 tariff you are (probably) throwing money away, as dogshome advises. Change to the cheapest standard tariff and get your metering sorted out.

Premier_2

dizzy-di wrote: »

I have just checked online, and elec tariff is - go fix economy 7.
Readings are as follows -
23/12/09 = night is unchanged + day is 91063

3/7/10 = night unchanged + day is 93701

Total 2638 kw -

Total bill is £364.85 (this includes £39.36 standing charge for economy 7 meter)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Contact the supplier and get the meter fixed.

You have been overpaying as a result of the faulty meter; none of your units consumed are recorded as low rate. The supplier will adjust the account accordingly once they have an idea of what would be a reasonable split estimate.

Once you have an idea of the normal/low rate split, you can do your own calculations. (or ask the supplier to help) as to whether E7 is right for you.
Enquire about any charges that you may incur if you decide to come off E7 (e.g. meter change) and be aware of any early exit fees you may incur from your existing tariff.

Btw, I've GCH and am on E7 as it saves me money!

Terrylw1

Hi,

Have a read of this thread as it could be relevant to you. The same happened here and if you are in the old Midlands region, an engineer may have done it for Npower, so it might not be a fault. If it is this, you have grounds to argue that you don't use E7 for heating if you have say gch.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2731093