Changed from Heatwise to E7 - Have I made a mistake?

niceguyed

Hi all,

Yes, it may seem like the proverbial closing the barn door after the horse has bolted but any advice would be gratefully received

I moved into a new build last year which is all electric in the East Mid region. It has a storage heater. The radiators are not heated by the storage heater. The original supplier was Powergen on their Heatwise tariff. Needless to say I was with Powergen a few months when they cocked up my bill as they seemingly did not understand their own tariff! The one meter had about 5/6 readings and two mpan numbers. After the Powergen billing problem which took numerous calls to resolve I vowed to switch supplier. Most couldn't switch because of the heatwise tariff but eventually I went with Npower. After reading a few posts in this forum and wanting the flexibility of being able to change provider (and a simpler tariff) I asked Npower to install an E7 meter, as we put the DW and WM on at night and are both working in the day.
However, I'm now thinking is this going to have consequences on my storage boiler (its a pulsacoil model) as I now seem to have less warm water later in the evening.

Now thinking I may have to go back to Powergen and get my heatwise meter put back.

Any feedback advice gratefully rec'd. Thankyou in advance

Niceguyed

Ken68

Hi Nice.....is it cost effective to pay date rate on your new E7 as against new meter costs, perhaps £40/£50.
I would sooner stay on E7 and invest in insulation, and maybe even a substitute for the rads, say ,an additional storage heater.

niceguyed

Ken68 wrote:

Hi Nice.....is it cost effective to pay date rate on your new E7 as against new meter costs, perhaps £40/£50.
I would sooner stay on E7 and invest in insulation, and maybe even a substitute for the rads, say ,an additional storage heater.

Ken68, thanks for the reply. I've just checked with powergen and i can go back to them on heatwise and have the heatwise meter put in for free if I wish but still confused about what to do after my Powergen hassle before. My flat is a new build and my current boiler doesn't seem like a traditional one. It has a fairly small capacity for storage and heats water from the mains much like a shower does. No room for any substitute heating. Although as a new build the whole place is exceptionally well insulated. Only just turned the heating on.

It seems if I go back to heatwise I'm stuck with Powergen as I don't even think Npower should have taken me on as they don't offer heatwise.

Choice seems to be:

1) Stay with Npower and E7 and get less off peak but have freedom to move providers

2) Go with Powergen and heatwise (again!!) but be stuck with them.

I did some research before I switched, but I really wish I'd dug a bit deeper niow

Ken68

Another option might to to try the cheapest supplier, consistent with a reliable service. EBICO seem popular with low users, tho with differing regional electric rates.

Xbigman

I just looked up heatwise on the PG website and it says it can't find it.

How exactly does heatwise work, what are the tarifs and times?
Regards



X

Hollyharvey

If you live in the former East Midlands electricity region it is possible to access an economy 10 tariff which provides 10 hours of cheap rate electricity (as opposed to the 7 hours in economy 7). This is also known as the heatwise tariff.

There are 3 off peak periods rather than the 7 hours at night with economy 7 they are usually

3 hours in the afternoon between 1.00pm and 4.30pm
2 hours in the evening between 5.30pm and 10.00pm
5 hours in the night between midnight and 7.00am

This can be useful if you are running out of hot water during the evening or your storage heaters are going cool by the evening, as both the water and the heaters can get a boost on the cheaper rates.

As far as I am aware it is only available in this one region and only through Powergen.

HTH

Xbigman

E10 is a more efficient way to run storage heaters, and a storage type hot water system than E7 because on E7 you get no boost in the afternoon.

Notice I said more efficient, not cheaper. You can still boost nearly all modern E7 heaters and water storage systems in the evening anyway on standard day rate electric so if your tarif is good enough it could work out cheaper.
Regards



X

niceguyed

Thanks for the replies. Weighing up my current tariff, it seems I would be better off with heatwise as my boiler/storage has been designed with this in mind.

Firehorse

Hi everybody, hope you all had a super Christmas.

I have been on E10 with Powergen in Suffolk for years, purely for the afternoon boost to my storage heaters otherwise we all freeze come tea time! Powergen have caused no end of problems with my bills this year, having muddled my three readings for a considerable time. My account was somehow cancelled in January 2006, but they still took the direct debit and credited the cancelled account! And despite having two readings from Siemens I am still without a bill, about four months now! Looks like I will have to ring and complain again. :mad: I have been trying to find an alternative provider, but like yourself am finding it difficult. If anyone knows of an alternative I would be very interested.

All the best

Firehorse
X

space_rider

Firehorse, have a look at the back of your bill and ring the complaints hotline number. They will sort it all out for you.

Niceguyed. Are you turning your storage heater boost control back to 1 when the stor rads are charging? If not that will cost you more. Also have you tried turning down the thermostat for the hot water? Ring the energy efficiency line for advice on how to reduce bills. Also Powergen are the only company that can support the heatwise tariff.

FedUpFromCumbria

Firehorse

Your post is fascinating. I have been on a so-called "Reduced Hours Tariff" with Powergen in Cumbria for over 40 years ... it's in essence the same as Economy 10. Back in January there was an attempt to transfer my account to another provider .... it's taken 10 months, 30+ phone calls, and suffering 2 threats of debt collectors to try to get back on to the RHT tariff and eventually they've agreed to do it. BUT, and this is a big but, they are insisting that my original tariff was incorrect and that it should have been 20+% higher! In other words, a tariff increase over the last year of over 65%. I know electricity prices have risen, but not by that much!

I'm increasingly convinced that the so-called incorrect transfer was triggered by Powergen themselves as a means of getting people off the old tariff. It's intriguing to see that something similar may well have happened to you.

It's a nightmare. I'm trying to get energywatch to help. All other ideas welcome!