E.ON EnergyPlan Confusion

Matt197

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help. I have been in our first home now for 5 months and electricity is supplied by E.on on the E.ON EnergyPlan. Our house is heated by storage heaters, and despite using 85% of our electricity at night for the last 3 months our bill is (what I consider) pretty high.
Our bill shows the E.ON EnergyPlan and also E.ON Heatwise EnergyPlan 6.
On the energy plan 6, the boost, afternoon & night/evening are all showing £0.00
The only thing we seem to be paying for is the day and night rates. If we are using only these would it be better to switch onto a standard economy 7 tariff? If so does it cost to get the meter changed?
Or can someone tell me the afternoon/evening times, hoping this may help lower our bills.
Any help much appreciated

controversy

It doesn't cost to change the meter with EON. You just need to pass a credit check.

Your heaters have probably been active outside the time period. Its best to check your electricity meter. Keep an eye on that. Send EON a reading and do not let them estimate it.

I'm not educated well on leaving economy 10 for 7. I've had economy 7 in the past but I only heated one room.

What type of home do you live in? Flat? Rural? Standard House?

I think its best to get away from electric as soon as possible. It is 3-4 times the price of other fuels.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Matt197 and welcome to the Forums.

Sounds like you've a Heatwise meter working alongside an Economy 7. This is a bit of a specialised arrangement so thought I'd pop on and let you know about these set ups and what's happening with them in the near future. There's quite a lot of information so hope you don't mind if I go on a bit.

This type of metering was designed mainly for all electric properties with storage heaters/water immersion heaters. They give 10 hours of cheaper electricity in each 24 hour period for heating/water heating purposes. This is at night, during the afternoon and in the evening.

Unless overridden, Heatwise automatically switches the storage heaters/water heater on and off at set times. To do this, it will be wired directly into the heating/water heating circuits at the property.

As you've Economy 7, you'll also have 7 continuous hours at night where all electricity is at a cheaper off peak rate.

The actual times the off peak rates are active will depend on the meter at the property. We can soon tell you these times if you contact us. Alternatively, drop an email to the address in my Profile if you prefer. I'll be happy to let you know what they are.

Additionally, there's a boost button (usually orange). Pressing this gives you an extra 1 hour of hot water, should you need it, at any time. If used outside the off peak times, this usage will be recorded on a separate register and charged at a higher rate.

As Heatwise is a specialised metering set up, we've only the one tariff available and this is the one you're on.

Heatwise is coming to the end of its life and we're gradually replacing them. Within the next few months, we'll be offering our Heatwise customers a choice of Economy 10 or a more conventional Economy 7 or single rate meter.

Like Heatwise, we've only the one tariff for Economy 10 meters. With conventional meters, there's the option of a number of different tariffs both with us and with the other suppliers.

Economy 10 meters will be fitted in the same way as your existing Heatwise. Like now, you'll have 10 off peak hours split into three periods at night, during the afternoon and in the evening. Instead of 7 hours for all usage, though, all 10 off peak hours with the new Economy 10 meters will be at the cheaper rates.

As the wiring will be the same, you'll still be able to use any storage heaters/electric water immersion heaters as now. As well as charging up at night, you'll also have two top ups during the day to help keep things warm. There's no boost option with Economy 10.

With Economy 7, you'll have 7 continuous hours at night where all usage will be at off peak rates. You'll still be able to charge up any storage heaters at night but you won't have cheaper top ups during the day. A common complaint with storage heaters is a tendency to leak heat and cool down too quickly. The top ups are meant to make up for this. Any electricity used outside of the night period will be charged at the higher rate.

A single rate meter will charge all electricity at the same price regardless of when it's used or what it's used for.

Another thing to be aware of is Economy 7 tariffs have higher day rates than single rate tariffs and then lower off peak prices. To be cost effective, a certain proportion of usage needs to be used during the off peak times.

Changing to single rate/Economy 7 might also have implications for your heating/water heating. As a result, I always recommend customers ask a qualified electrician to check their set up first as some remedial work may be necessary.

There's no charge to change a Heatwise meter to any of the above. The cost of the electrician, though, is down to the customer.

Multi rate meters, like Economy 10 and Economy 7, are only cost effective if a good proportion of electricity is used during the off peak times. Wherever possible, it's best to use as much as possible during these times. Totally understand, not all these hours are at particularly sociable times. One way round this might be to use timers on high load appliances like washing machines, tumble dryers etc. There's more information on our website about ways to save money by saving energy. When you've a minute, check out the Saving Energy Toolkit. Some great tips to help you cut back.

Sorry to ramble on Matt but hope this is of interest.

Malc

Matt197

Thank you for the replies. I live in a semi detached house, we only heat 2 heaters most of the time, sometimes 3.
I think we would be better off moving to an economy 7 tariff sometime in the future then. Looking at our bill we've only been using day/night rates. Never needed the boost and never used any of the off peak times during the day.
Malc, I will email you regarding the off peak times just in case we decide to use them
Thanks Matt

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Thanks Matt. I've received your email and have just replied.

Malc