Economy 10 how do I switch

mgrowe

I am currently on Economy 10 with Southern Electric and I have in the last year put in Solar panels and a year or so earlier a new electric heating system. (The heater people said Economy 10 was best but that was before I got the PV panels)

I wish to check if I am on the best rate now but all of the uswitch type sites do not list Economy 10 in current plan.

I have 2.5 Kwh PV system and it appears to be meeting what they said it would generation wise.

Also my supply is 3 phase for some reason so would that make it even more complicated.

Any advice anyone please?

HappyMJ

There is no competition with Economy 10 so you will already be on the best tariff....but it's also the worst tariff. They all charge pretty much the same rate. If you can can you post your usage figures in kWh and we'll see if it is better to be on a standard tariff or a E7 tariff.

3 phase shouldn't make much difference.

mgrowe

Date Standard Off Peak

23/2/12 9768 9052

17/8/11 6608 6358

23/2/11 5257 4855

18/10/10 2532 (E) 2336 (E)

12/8/10 1110 1004

Solar went in in Sept 2011. New heating mid 2010.

Thanks for your help

HappyMJ

mgrowe wrote: »

Date Standard Off Peak

23/2/12 9768 9052

17/8/11 6608 6358

23/2/11 5257 4855

18/10/10 2532 (E) 2336 (E)

12/8/10 1110 1004

Solar went in in Sept 2011. New heating mid 2010.

Thanks for your help

hmmm what annual usage figures to use....
02/11->02/12 4511 Standard 4197 Off Peak
08/10->08/11 5498 Standard 5354 Off Peak

Well winter 10/11 was very cold and 11/12 was rather mild so I'd take an average of both let's say 10,000kWh and 50% used off peak.

You would be better off switching to a standard tariff at 10p for all units plus a (£50) standing charge...Total bill £1050...You could then use the heating whenever you want.

Or you could switch to an E7 tariff at around 12p per unit during the day and 5p during the night plus a (£50) standing charge. Total bill around £900...depending on region. How does that compare to your current charges? An E7 tariff means you get 3 less hours of heating so the figure might not be accurate.

The solar doesn't look like it will make a huge difference as you don't use much in the summer anyway. You could use annual figures of 9,000kWh but it won't make much difference.

Terrylw1

Are you sure you have only got 2 readings? If you only have 2 readings, you will only have 1 MPAN. In this case you can switch between this and E7 very easily and no rewiring is necessary.

Usually when contractors/builders etc are saying you need E10, they mean 3 rate with MPAN's and Day, Evening and Heat rates. The Heat is a seperate MPAN and you wire the heating to this.

If you have a 2 rate E10, you may be able to switch as these meters are found in every region and always have. Its just a less common product like E7, E9, etc.

3 rate E10 is where its a problem since these meters are only available in certain regions, hence some suppliers don't like them as the have to build systems and price tariffs they have less understanding of.

mgrowe

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Are you sure you have only got 2 readings? If you only have 2 readings, you will only have 1 MPAN. In this case you can switch between this and E7 very easily and no rewiring is necessary.

Usually when contractors/builders etc are saying you need E10, they mean 3 rate with MPAN's and Day, Evening and Heat rates. The Heat is a seperate MPAN and you wire the heating to this.

If you have a 2 rate E10, you may be able to switch as these meters are found in every region and always have. Its just a less common product like E7, E9, etc.

3 rate E10 is where its a problem since these meters are only available in certain regions, hence some suppliers don't like them as the have to build systems and price tariffs they have less understanding of.

OK the incoming feed is three phase but only two phases are connected. (No idea why they did that). The meter only gives 2 readings. The heating seems to be connected to one phase and the rest to the other. Thanks to everone for their help on this. I think E7 might be the way to go as it looks like it could be cheaper.

HappyMJ

mgrowe wrote: »

OK the incoming feed is three phase but only two phases are connected. (No idea why they did that). The meter only gives 2 readings. The heating seems to be connected to one phase and the rest to the other. Thanks to everone for their help on this. I think E7 might be the way to go as it looks like it could be cheaper.

What heating system do you have? Would it suit an E7 supply such as night storage heaters? If your heating is a heat pump then it may not suit E7 and standard would be better. It will cost around £50 to change the meter and if it's a simple change then you won't need to get an electrician it to rewire as it'll all just work properly anyway just with different hours.

mgrowe

My heating is an Intelliheat system (Not storage but all centrally controled and low power usage). They are on during the day at times but programmed to drop the temp when we are not there. They seem to use a lot less than the storage heater we had when we bought the place in 2009
I appreciate all of the help

HappyMJ

mgrowe wrote: »

My heating is an Intelliheat system (Not storage but all centrally controled and low power usage). They are on during the day at times but programmed to drop the temp when we are not there. They seem to use a lot less than the storage heater we had when we bought the place in 2009
I appreciate all of the help

They aren't storage heaters so they would be better run whenever you want heat on a standard electricity tariff. E7 will cost more. So compared to your current tariff does a standard rate at 10p for all units plus a standing charge cost less? It should do...

utility_csa

mgrowe wrote: »

OK the incoming feed is three phase but only two phases are connected. (No idea why they did that). The meter only gives 2 readings. The heating seems to be connected to one phase and the rest to the other. Thanks to everone for their help on this. I think E7 might be the way to go as it looks like it could be cheaper.

I saw this today on an e10 meter, 3ph supply. only 2phases connected.

L1 In, L1 Out, L2 In, L2 Out, Neutral.

I dont know why they wire some e10 meters like this.

Also, having a 3phase supply is no issue for a meter exchange.

Terrylw1

Just check your MPANs on the bill. As long as you have 1, you can easily switch to E7.

The thing is though, 1 MPAN E10 is available in every region so all ex regional suppliers are well aware of it and can easily bill it. From a pricing and billing perspective, its no different to a supplier...it just means they have to charge a higher day to balance the extra 3 hours you get at off peak rates.

From your description, its just working as Day and Night, like E7.

Just be aware of your switching times, some E10's like these have off peak times in the day as well as the night. Before you switch to E7, you need to get your times on each rate and consider where your usage falls.

Don't be told E10 means no one wants me, that relates to 3 rate E10 and the reason suppliers have bern pushing people away is because these meters are not in every region so their old billing systems can't handle them. As they upgrade to new systems like SAP, this problem goes away.

Of course, ofgem do nothing as usual despite this issue sailing close to the wind on the licence conditions. To be complaint to another licence they hold, they have to he compliant to register everything in elec, they just choose to push you away despite this.