EON heatwise

west_end_dave

i have just bought a flat with 1 night storage heater and also have a gas condensing boiler with hot water rads in all rooms. Eon tell me that to get out of their 'heatwise' metering (in my view something of a rip off) i will have to have this night storage 'system' rewired. can any one tell me me why? i understand that i will need need a new 'standard meter but why cannot the the existing separate wiring to the meter from the heater be used??
please can anyone advise me- EON were unhelpful.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Hi west end dave,

I'm really sorry that our agent was unhelpful, that's really not good enough at all

Just thought I'd give you a bit of info about the Heatwise meter at your property.

Heatwise is specifically designed for all electric properties with storage heaters and is only available in the East Midlands region. They work with either a single rate or Economy 7 meter.

They give 10 hours of storage and water heating per day at a cheaper off peak rate.

The Heatwise unit sits alongside a standard Economy 7 meter/single rate meter.

To take advantage of the cheaper, off peak rates, the Heatwise unit will be wired directly into the water/heating circuits at your property.

Heatwise automatically switches on and off your storage heaters/immersion water heater during set times at night, during the afternoon and in the evening.

This is done via radio waves sent out by masts across the East Midlands region. It's not possible to change the times and they will turn on and off at the same times each day.

If you give us a call, we'll be happy to tell you the actual times your Heatwise is active. Alternatively, drop an email to the address in my Profile and I'll find out for you.

All the heating/immersion heating used during the set off peak times is recorded through Heatwise. This is shown on your bills as Heatwise afternoon (Rate 4) and Heatwise evening (Rate 5).

All other usage for general household appliances, lighting etc, goes through the standard Economy 7/single rate meter. This is shown as Day (Rate 1) and Night (Rate 2) in the case of Economy 7.

Heatwise also has a boost function. This gives you a one hour boost should you require extra hot water outside of the set Heatwise times. This is recorded separately (Rate 3).

As Heatwise is wired into the heating/water circuits to take advantage of these off peak rates, we only have the one tariff available.

It's possible to change the meter to a more conventional single rate/Economy 7 type. This will give access to a range of other tariffs both with us and other suppliers.

However, changing the meter may have implications for the heating/water heating at the property. It may also involve having a certain amount of remedial electrical work done.

Therefore, I always recommend customers arrange for an independent approved electrician to check out the set up first.


Helena

west_end_dave

i appreciate your reply Helena but i am still confused, as with a gas condensing boiler which provides instant hot water and works off direct mains water supply and therefore no hot water storage system and therefore no electrical heating of water why is any rewiring of my sole storage heater which has simple 3 core wiring to the meter neccessary. surely all 8i need is a new meter with an ecomomy seven facility. Am i wrong ? if so why?
My thanks

jalexa

west_end_dave wrote: »

surely all 8i need is a new meter with an ecomomy seven facility. Am i wrong ? if so why?

You're confused? Not half as much as I'm confused that with a combi boiler and hot water rads in all rooms you want Economy 7 to retain a single storage heater.

Anyway the point that I think Helena was making "I always recommend customers arrange for an independent approved electrician to check out the set up first" is because the supplier is only responsible for the metering, it is the householder who is responsible for the electrical installation. You asked the adviser an impossible question. I guess the "unhelpful" adviser didn't manage to get that point across, or maybe you were "deaf" to the response (I can say that, Helena can't:)).

As well as being the householder, you are the owner. It is a small cost in the overall scheme of things to instruct a change to a single rate meter, having taken advice from an approved electrician regarding any required changes to your installation.

BTW, did you *literally* mean that your storage heater "has simple 3 core wiring to the meter"? If so get that sorted pronto, its potentially dangerous.

macman

As above-why on earth would you want E7 if you have gas CH? You can't possibly use enough off peak power with one single storage heater to make E7 economic. The typical break even is around 30%-you won't gt near that.
Don't use the storage heater, and switch to a single rate tariff.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

I agree with jalexa and macman,

It could be that the heatwise was installed when the property was built, then the boiler was installed at a later date, but the metering set up was never changed.

To be honest it sounds like you just need a one rate electricity meter, as you wouldn't use enough to benefit from the economy 7.

But my advice would still stand, as to asking an independent electrician to check the wiring in to the meter.

We can then just arrange a meter exchange.

Helena

west_end_dave

it may be that i dont need economy 7 for 1 heater but neither do i need the heatwise tariff. it would be preferable to have a dual fuel tarrif which i seemingly cant get with my current metering and no-one has yet explained why i need an electrician to check wiring which is allowing the heater to work perfectly well. and yes it does have 3 core wiring i know this because i have looked-ie blue -brown and earth.
why is it such a difficult question.

Richie-from-the-Boro

west_end_dave wrote: »

it may be that i dont need economy 7 for 1 heater but neither do i need the heatwise tariff. it would be preferable to have a dual fuel tarrif which i seemingly cant get with my current metering and no-one has yet explained why i need an electrician to check wiring which is allowing the heater to work perfectly well. and yes it does have 3 core wiring i know this because i have looked-ie blue -brown and earth.
why is it such a difficult question.

It will come down to a 'what heats my water' question !

If you are correct and both your hot water and wet radiator heating is all gas powered, you don't need the Heatwise tariff or the physical storage radiator tying up wall space. Satisfy yourself that this is the case then speak to Helena reference a different tariff / meter.

macman

The point is that you are paying a premium price for all your peak rate electrcity, and getitng the benefit of cheap rate to heat only 1 storage heater.

jalexa

west_end_dave wrote: »

no-one has yet explained why i need an electrician to check wiring which is allowing the heater to work perfectly well. and yes it does have 3 core wiring i know this because i have looked-ie blue -brown and earth.

What is the rating of the cable and the rating of the fuse protecting the cable? Are you satisfied the storage heater connection complies with Wiring Regulations?

why is it such a difficult question.

Partly to do with the ambiguity of your questions and also your level of technical expertise is not clear. "Eon tell me that to get out of their 'heatwise' metering (in my view something of a rip off) implies a degree of understanding not evident in your "3 core to the meter" explanation. Who installed and connected the storage heater? Did the flat come with a recent Periodic Inspection Report?

Is the problem a concern about cost (meter and electrician)? If not that what? Have you asked E.On to quote for a single rate meter?

Terrylw1

Not considering the impact of cost and the use of gas which is all covered by previous posts, Helena is saying that in order to remove the Heatwise meter this leaving your standard rate single register meter, you need to remove the load to the Heatwise meter first.

So, if you had storage heating wired to an off peak circuit in your consumer unit, you would have to remove the storage heating thus removing the load or rewire the storage heating to the 24hr day circuit first. At this point, Helena can safely remove the Heatwise meter as its doing nothing. Until this is achieved, the engineer should abort.

If you had E7 + Heatwise, its the same except that you could rewire off peak heating to a Night circuit in the consumer unit.

If you have no load to the Heatwise, you won't need an in dependant electrician, since one has already been out and done the work.