Electricity Meter Readings - 5 numbers - Economy 7 Heatwise?

Judder01

Hi,

I have recently switched from nPower to Eon and am anticipating my final bill (and only bill!) from nPower. I moved into a 2 bed flat at the start of September and the property only has electricity (no gas) and uses storage heaters on I believe economy 7 and "heatwise" (not really sure what this is...

Anyway, the meter has 5 numbers and are charged at different rates. I had a bill from npower however as it was an estimated automatic bill I was told to ignore and wait for my final accurate bill.

The following is (roughly) how much the meter reads have changed from start of September to the start of April (when the switch went ahead), so a total of 7 months however the property was unoccupied for around 6 weeks:

1) 2000 (18.8p)
2) 270 (6.1p)
3) 0 (7.3p)
4) 2200 (7.3p)
5) 3300 (18.8p)

The prices per kwh (on the estimated bill form nPower) are given next to each read. I believe 1 is day, 2 is night and the remaining three are "heat". On the nPower bill, 3 and 4 are titled "heat" and number 5 is titled "other".

The storage heaters have been on around 3-4 input (out of 6) and output around 4 (out of 6). The dials say 3 for evening boost and 6 for afternoon boost. I was under the impression this is just when to release the stored heat, has this been using prime time electricity to boost in the evening? There is just the 2 dials on the heaters.

I have calculated the final bill will come to around £1200 for 2 people. Disregarding the fact the property was unoccupied for 6 weeks, this is still £20 per week each. We are quite careful too and are out a lot of the time.

The main cost is clearly number 5. Does anyone know what this is and why it is being charged at the full prime rate?

Thank you in advance,

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Good morning Judder01

I can't comment on the NPower part of things or the bills, but I can certainly explain a few things for you.

These meters were designed mainly for all electric properties with storage heaters and electric water immersion heaters. They’re designed to give 10 hours of cheaper off peak electricity for heating and water heating purposes. This is spilt into 3 time slots during the afternoon, in the evening and at night. Heatwise comes with a conventional single rate or Economy 7 meter and this records all other usage.

To work, the meter will be wired directly into the heating/water heating circuits at the property. Unless manually overridden, this lets the meter automatically turn the heating on during the off peak period and off again afterwards. During the off peak times, all electricity used for heating/water heating that goes through these dedicated circuits is recorded on separate meter registers and charged at off peak rates.

If the hot water runs out, there’s a 1 hour boost of additional hot water available by hitting the ‘Boost’ button on the front of the meter. This usage is recorded on a separate register. If the ‘Boost’ is used outside the off peak times, the electricity will be charged at a higher rate.

Due to the specialist nature of this type of metering we only have the one tariff available.

Heatwise is nearing the end of its life and we’re gradually replacing them. In the near future, Heatwise customers will be offered a choice of a two rate Economy 10 or the more conventional Economy 7 or single rate meters.

I think rate 5 is your boost, this is charged at a higher rate.

If you do need any help with the E.ON side of things do let me know, I'm always happy to help.

Helena

Judder01

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Good morning Judder01

I can't comment on the NPower part of things or the bills, but I can certainly explain a few things for you.

These meters were designed mainly for all electric properties with storage heaters and electric water immersion heaters. They’re designed to give 10 hours of cheaper off peak electricity for heating and water heating purposes. This is spilt into 3 time slots during the afternoon, in the evening and at night. Heatwise comes with a conventional single rate or Economy 7 meter and this records all other usage.

To work, the meter will be wired directly into the heating/water heating circuits at the property. Unless manually overridden, this lets the meter automatically turn the heating on during the off peak period and off again afterwards. During the off peak times, all electricity used for heating/water heating that goes through these dedicated circuits is recorded on separate meter registers and charged at off peak rates.

If the hot water runs out, there’s a 1 hour boost of additional hot water available by hitting the ‘Boost’ button on the front of the meter. This usage is recorded on a separate register. If the ‘Boost’ is used outside the off peak times, the electricity will be charged at a higher rate.

Due to the specialist nature of this type of metering we only have the one tariff available.

Heatwise is nearing the end of its life and we’re gradually replacing them. In the near future, Heatwise customers will be offered a choice of a two rate Economy 10 or the more conventional Economy 7 or single rate meters.

I think rate 5 is your boost, this is charged at a higher rate.

If you do need any help with the E.ON side of things do let me know, I'm always happy to help.

Helena

Thanks very much for the detailed reply Helena. Would you be able to give me a bit more information about the storage heaters boost (Rate 5?) please? We do not have access to the meters so no boost button is being pressed there. The storage heaters controls look like this...



(Not my picture. The text says 6- afternoon boost, 3- evening boost and 1- no boost under output. Under input it just says set to 4 initially and adjust to required comfort level)

Model is unidare WMS724N, I have read the info sheet and it sounds like output is boost however everywhere I have read says output is just releasing stored energy (I guess this is also called 'boost').

There is also one blank switch on the wall which I presume is the on/off switch.

I was under the impression that the input is how much electricity comes in to the storage heaters during off peak hours and output is when to release this stored energy. Have I been mistaken and output is actually boosting and charging me peak rate electricity during the evening?

That mistake has doubled my bill and cost me £600 if so!

Thanks,

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Thanks,

The boost is not always rate 5, just sometimes. Often it's rate 3 this is something we'd need to check specifically.

I'm no expert in storage heaters specifically, I'm afraid I'd say to refer to the manual for how they work, this is because I don't want to tell you the wrong thing as there's so many types.

Helena

Judder01

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena wrote: »

Thanks,

The boost is not always rate 5, just sometimes. Often it's rate 3 this is something we'd need to check specifically.

I'm no expert in storage heaters specifically, I'm afraid I'd say to refer to the manual for how they work, this is because I don't want to tell you the wrong thing as there's so many types.

Helena

Thanks again for the quick reply.

How would I go about checking which number relates to what? Would it say on the meter? (As I said, I am a tenant and I have to get the landlord to get me meter reads as I don't have keys to the room they are in)

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Judder01 wrote: »

Thanks again for the quick reply.

How would I go about checking which number relates to what? Would it say on the meter? (As I said, I am a tenant and I have to get the landlord to get me meter reads as I don't have keys to the room they are in)

Hiya,

Yes you would really need to be looking at the meter, however, I can always have a look for you.

If you'd like to email your account number, name and full address to me at WebForumAdvisors@eonenergy.com I'll have a look at your meter details.

Helena