Meter readings for Economy 7

lordra

Hello fellow MSEs.
I went down last night to do a meter read at around 0030hrs and I was shocked to see my 'normal' meter running at full tilt instead of the 'low' meter.
I came back at 0100hrs and then at 0130 hrs to check but it was still the Normal meter that was running. I took at picture at 0133hrs and came back to take another picture at 0225hrs but by then the 'normal' had stopped and the 'low' had kicked in.

I'm with nPower. And I am very VERY annoyed as I wait for midnight to do my washing and my cooking for the next day as I will have to pay less.

I will be monitoring this tonight and for the next 7 days to see why this is happening. nPower tells me that my 'low' rate is from 0000hrs to 0700hrs.

So that 'normal' meter was running when it shouldn't have been.

What do I do?

Is it my fault by any chance?

Please advise.

Cheers!

[Deleted User]

timers out of synch a bit,can you just adjust your useage to adapt to its 7 hours.It will be low rate now later in the morning up to past 9 am

lordra

That will be hard I'm afraid, as I aim to be in bed by 0300hrs. If I push it, then the whole thing will throw my schedule out of sync. Is there any way that i can rectify this? And what about compensation ? Because this would mean that I've been using electricity at the normal rate instead of the low rate, so I was paying excess, and its no fault of mine.

Is there any way about that? Its not too important though, I just want things in the future to be spot on.
Thanks for the help in advance!

V.Lucky

Check your tariff. MIL has economy 7, it runs from 12-1am, then 1-2am is back to normal then 2-8pm is back to Economy 7.

When I queried this with her Elec Co, I was told it depends on when it was set up to what 7 hours you actually get.

lordra

OH HANG ON!
That's probably because of the day light saving bull that happens every year. So since our clocks are turned forward, it hits midnight here BEFORE it hits midnight on my meter.
Which is just a thought. But that would be cheating because then the energy companies will happily be earning extra money on the higher rate from midnight to 1am rather than the lower rate.

Is this possible?

penrhyn

Is your low rate controlled by a Radio Teleswitch or a mechanical timer? If you don't have storage heaters its usually a waste of money being on an Economy 7 tarrif as you pay a premium for your day rate units.

Premier_2

lordra wrote: »

Hello fellow MSEs.
I went down last night to do a meter read at around 0030hrs and I was shocked to see my 'normal' meter running at full tilt instead of the 'low' meter.
I came back at 0100hrs and then at 0130 hrs to check but it was still the Normal meter that was running. I took at picture at 0133hrs and came back to take another picture at 0225hrs but by then the 'normal' had stopped and the 'low' had kicked in.

I'm with nPower. And I am very VERY annoyed as I wait for midnight to do my washing and my cooking for the next day as I will have to pay less.

I will be monitoring this tonight and for the next 7 days to see why this is happening. nPower tells me that my 'low' rate is from 0000hrs to 0700hrs.

So that 'normal' meter was running when it shouldn't have been.

What do I do?

Is it my fault by any chance?

Please advise.

Cheers!

Not sure why the phone jockey at nPower gave you inaccurate info, but probably couldn't be bothered to find out.

According to nPower website:

Your specific hours may vary depending on your region, the type of meter you have and could even change at different times of the year ...

The below list gives examples of possible time periods but times can vary depending on make and model of your meter/time switch and the local electricity distribution area that you live in.

The best way to establish your exact off-peak period is to look at your meter around the times shown;

...
(7 hours off peak during the times shown below)
MEB 11:30pm - 08:00am

https://customerservices.npower.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/179/~/what-are-the-economy-7-peak-and-off-peak-periods%3F

You're about 90 mins outside this window, but so be it.

[Deleted User]

with B.S.T. coming in at the end of the month(thank god) that makes your 7 hours will be approx 3am to 10 am.The timers are the responsibilty of your local distribution company.You have to go through your suppliers cust services to get in touch with them.they may come out to adjust it.I see these things all day,the mechanical timers are unlikely to be accurate.the digital ones usually are. you could timer your washer easily enough.As penrhyn says switch your eco 7 to a normal rate,they usually try to charge you for this, £40 to £50 I believe

lordra

penrhyn wrote: »

Is your low rate controlled by a Radio Teleswitch or a mechanical timer? If you don't have storage heaters its usually a waste of money being on an Economy 7 tarrif as you pay a premium for your day rate units.

I don't have storage heaters. But then again, I don't start using my gas until 1600hrs until 0300hrs. How can I tell how the low rate is controlled?

@V.Lucky : I have! And I've said what the customer service man told me, low starts at 0000hrs. As Premier put it, he probably just couldn't be bothered.

@Premier: I'm in the West midlands, in the Worcestershire area. I followed your link, but can't find my area listed. I'm probably missing something; can I ask you to kindly spoon-feed me please? Thank you! :rotfl:

@sacsquacco: When you say that "You have to go through your suppliers cust services to get in touch with" my local distribution company, does that mean I call nPower and tell them about all this and ask them to look into it and pass me the details of the local distribution company? I don't have a timer on my washing machine unfortunately. I was always of the belief that the eco 7 would be better for me as it fit in with my nocturnal patterns of life. Can you please tell me why you feel other wise? Thank you!

grahamc2003

lordra wrote: »

Hello fellow MSEs.
I went down last night to do a meter read at around 0030hrs and I was shocked to see my 'normal' meter running at full tilt instead of the 'low' meter.
I came back at 0100hrs and then at 0130 hrs to check but it was still the Normal meter that was running. I took at picture at 0133hrs and came back to take another picture at 0225hrs but by then the 'normal' had stopped and the 'low' had kicked in.

I'm with nPower. And I am very VERY annoyed as I wait for midnight to do my washing and my cooking for the next day as I will have to pay less.

I will be monitoring this tonight and for the next 7 days to see why this is happening. nPower tells me that my 'low' rate is from 0000hrs to 0700hrs.

So that 'normal' meter was running when it shouldn't have been.

What do I do?

Is it my fault by any chance?

Please advise.

Cheers!

I suspect your contract with your suppliers will say something like 'the 7 hours of cheap rate will be supplied between the hours of 22:30 and 08:30 gmt (similar to mine).

That range covers for all distribution company's times - and they are the people who control when you get the cheap rate, not your supplier, who probably don't know or care.

If you have an old mechanical timer your times may be way out - simply ask them to put in an rts meter (where the switching is done by radio signals) which they'll probably do for free. Atm, mine always comes on at 00:30 and goes off at 07:30, but sometimes it also comes on for several minutes (and sometimes 30 minutes) between 00:00 and 00:30. When it does, I expect I lose those minutes by getting the same number of minutes at peak rate during the 00:30 to 07:30 period, but haven't confirmed that - short of recording the meter all night I don't see how I can find out.

So the washing machine set for 02:00 and running for a couple of hours possible has some minutes at peak rate (which seems to be back to your original complaint!). According to the supply contract I signed (and I expect yours is the same or similar), they can turn your cheap rate on anf off as often as they want between 22:30 and 08:30 gmt as long as they supply 7 hours cheap rate (note however that all heaters on e7 circuits will always be on in cheap times, and never in peak times).

[Deleted User]

depends on which type of electric meter you ve got. if its an older meter with low and normal readings showing it will have a mechancall timer controling the switchover times.If its digital it will have an accurate digital clock doing the switchover.Yes, call Npowers cust services about your timers odd times.they will contact the distribuion people on your behalf.You could buy a cheap timer for about £5 to start your washer for what time you want