Eco 7 clock wrong

avocetgirl

Hi!

After changing supplier back in July my account has only just been sorted out and have received our first bill but because we are on an Economy 7 meter we have to have ecomony 7 rates they won't use standard rates as EON used to! Very annoyed that we weren't told this but we have been given the option of having a standard meter fitted! I was concerned that we would be paying way over the odds as i switch everything off at night but when the woman from EDF looked into it she said we were better off by a few pounds using the Eco 7 rates which I found very strange. I have since looked at the meter and the clock is out by 3 hours!!!! Saying it's 7 am when it's 10.30 am! Really don't know what to do! Think I will get the meter changed anyway but feel very annoyed with EDF's customer service as they haven't sent a meter reader round the whole time! I find there customer service rubbish and really wished I hadn't changed supplier from Eon but should I use this 3 hour error to my advantage!?!!??:o Don't want to get found out and charged!

Neil_Jones

An actual meter inspection is only required at least once every two years.
Morally, the correct thing to do is contact EDF with regards to the clock.
With regards to meter changes, the decision for this is ultimately with the supplier. You can ask, but the decision is up to them.

Richie-from-the-Boro

avocetgirl wrote: »

Hi!

After changing supplier back in July my account has only just been sorted out and have received our first bill but because we are on an Economy 7 meter we have to have ecomony 7 rates they won't use standard rates as EON used to! Very annoyed that we weren't told this but we have been given the option of having a standard meter fitted! I was concerned that we would be paying way over the odds as i switch everything off at night but when the woman from EDF looked into it she said we were better off by a few pounds using the Eco 7 rates which I found very strange. I have since looked at the meter and the clock is out by 3 hours!!!! Saying it's 7 am when it's 10.30 am! Really don't know what to do! Think I will get the meter changed anyway but feel very annoyed with EDF's customer service as they haven't sent a meter reader round the whole time! I find there customer service rubbish and really wished I hadn't changed supplier from Eon but should I use this 3 hour error to my advantage!?!!??:o Don't want to get found out and charged!

What clock ?

The time you receive cheap leccy and the time your cheap leccy changes to expensive leccy is totally out of your control.

What clock ?

Look it varies by region and by supplier but your basics [ assuming you have night store heaters and an E7 supplied hot water cylinder ] are :

- you get leccy at night about 60% cheaper than during the day
- in order to benefit from E7 you need to use about 40% of all your leccy at night
- you should also get a full tank of cheap hot water heated during the night for use during the day

HappyMJ

avocetgirl wrote: »

Hi!

After changing supplier back in July my account has only just been sorted out and have received our first bill but because we are on an Economy 7 meter we have to have ecomony 7 rates they won't use standard rates as EON used to! Very annoyed that we weren't told this but we have been given the option of having a standard meter fitted! I was concerned that we would be paying way over the odds as i switch everything off at night but when the woman from EDF looked into it she said we were better off by a few pounds using the Eco 7 rates which I found very strange. I have since looked at the meter and the clock is out by 3 hours!!!! Saying it's 7 am when it's 10.30 am! Really don't know what to do! Think I will get the meter changed anyway but feel very annoyed with EDF's customer service as they haven't sent a meter reader round the whole time! I find there customer service rubbish and really wished I hadn't changed supplier from Eon but should I use this 3 hour error to my advantage!?!!??:o Don't want to get found out and charged!

You will not be charged so use it to your advantage whilst you can. Sometimes you will be better off on E7 rather than standard rates. Try entering the usage figures on a comparison website to see what the difference is for yourself rather than relying on EDF. For example in my region if you used nothing at night at all you would still be better off on E7 if you were with SocttishPower as the E7 day rate is cheaper than the standard rate. In our area for some reason everyone has an E7 meter despite having gas so most people end up on ScottishPower as it always tops the table when they compare E7 rates. They don't go to the effort of comparing standard rates. Usually with most suppliers and tariffs the percentage to start saving is around 30%. Even then the difference would only be a few pounds either way at that point depending on the tariff.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

What clock ?

I think avocetgirl may still have her E7 controlled by a mechanical time switch, such as this.



Edit: avocetgirl, as your timer is 3 hours late it is to your advantage, as you will be on the cheap rate until mid morning allowing you to use washing machine, dryer, oven on cheap rate.

As your supplier gives you so many cheap rate hours in a 24 hour period, you're not really doing any wrong.

Have a look at the clock and you will see the on/off triggers.

Cardew

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

What clock ?

The time you receive cheap leccy and the time your cheap leccy changes to expensive leccy is totally out of your control.

What clock ?

Look it varies by region and by supplier but your basics [ assuming you have night store heaters and an E7 supplied hot water cylinder ] are :

- you get leccy at night about 60% cheaper than during the day
- in order to benefit from E7 you need to use about 40% of all your leccy at night
- you should also get a full tank of cheap hot water heated during the night for use during the day

The clock will probably be as shown in post#5 and it is fairly common for them to slow or speed up over a long period - mine is about an hour out.

Many companies will(EON and BG at least) will put you on a normal 24/7 tariff even with an E7 meter(they just add the two totals showing on the meter)

I think you will find that these days the percentage used on cheap rate to benefit is well below 40% on many tariffs. I have just done a check for my area(Midlands) and the break even percentage is 15% on the cheapest internet tariffs (NPower, OVO, SPower)

avocetgirl

Hi thanks everyone! It's a new meter well within the last 5years. Really don't know how come the clock is out! Rates on edf are more for eco 7 thats what made me think something was wrong so i clicked through settings and saw clock was way out! We don't have storage heaters and have combi boiler and gas oven so we aren't really gaining alot! Should i just keep quiet then and take advantage? Don't want to be faced with a big bill as surely it's not my fault and i should'nt have noticed!

spiro

avocetgirl wrote: »

Hi thanks everyone! It's a new meter well within the last 5years. Really don't know how come the clock is out! Rates on edf are more for eco 7 thats what made me think something was wrong so i clicked through settings and saw clock was way out! We don't have storage heaters and have combi boiler and gas oven so we aren't really gaining alot! Should i just keep quiet then and take advantage? Don't want to be faced with a big bill as surely it's not my fault and i should'nt have noticed!

With modern meters typically the clock is internal so the mechanical clock may no longer be used and the engineer just didn't bother to use it. Your supplier should be able to confirm this.

macman

avocetgirl wrote: »

Hi thanks everyone! It's a new meter well within the last 5years. Really don't know how come the clock is out! Rates on edf are more for eco 7 thats what made me think something was wrong so i clicked through settings and saw clock was way out! We don't have storage heaters and have combi boiler and gas oven so we aren't really gaining alot! Should i just keep quiet then and take advantage? Don't want to be faced with a big bill as surely it's not my fault and i should'nt have noticed!

On the contrary, you may be losing a lot. Unless you are using at least 33% of your units on E7 cheap night rate, then it's unlikely to be saving you anything, and you are of course paying a premium rate for all your daytime usage outside the 7 cheap rate hours.
Without electric night storage heaters, most people will see no benefit from E7 unless they have a very nocturnal lifestyle.

Cardew

macman wrote: »

On the contrary, you may be losing a lot. Unless you are using at least 33% of your units on E7 cheap night rate, then it's unlikely to be saving you anything, and you are of course paying a premium rate for all your daytime usage outside the 7 cheap rate hours.
Without electric night storage heaters, most people will see no benefit from E7 unless they have a very nocturnal lifestyle.

I posted this earlier in the thread:

I think you will find that these days the percentage used on cheap rate to benefit is well below 40% on many tariffs. I have just done a check for my area(Midlands) and the break even percentage is 15% on the cheapest internet tariffs (NPower, OVO, SPower)

Whilst 30% was the accepted 'ballpark' figure, it has come down a lot on many tariffs.

Richie-from-the-Boro

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,



I think avocetgirl may still have her E7 controlled by a mechanical time switch, such as this.



Edit: avocetgirl, as your timer is 3 hours late it is to your advantage, as you will be on the cheap rate until mid morning allowing you to use washing machine, dryer, oven on cheap rate.

As your supplier gives you so many cheap rate hours in a 24 hour period, you're not really doing any wrong.

Have a look at the clock and you will see the on/off triggers.

HiYa Frugal, thanks for that !

- are these still being fitted ? or are they legacy clocks, no longer installed / renewed ?