Three Fuels?

vhemingway

Hello all,
My mother has been on Warm Assist Fixed for her gas, but E.On are now removing this tariff due to simplification. Having done some comparison checking, I wondered about moving to their Collective 1 Year Fixed rate (they've said she'll have to move to their Energy Plan). When I rang to ask E.On about this, they said she couldn't because in effect she doesn't have a standard electricity supply. My mother doesn't have central heating at all. She has a gas fire in the main room, a storage heater in the hall, and oil filled radiators in the bedrooms - all of which run from off-peak electricity. So she has two electricity tariffs (Energy Plan for normal electricity and Electrical Heating RHT for the off peak electricity).
So my questions are:
1) Are E.On correct in saying that she can't move to their Collective plan?
2) If she can't, and I do a switch through whichever site for a dual fuel deal will I come up with the same problem? i.e. that whoever provider I go to will say the same thing?
I thought I might do separate quotes for gas and electricity to see what happens there, but it's all a bit confusing!

molerat

These hybrid tariffs are often only available from the old regional supplier in their own area and you are pretty much stuck with what they offer you. The switch / comparison sites do not support them. Inputting her total annual kWh use into one of the comparison sites would give you a good idea of how much it would cost on a standard tariff but to use a standard tariff would require some wiring changes which will cost.

footyguy

vhemingway wrote: »

Hello all,
My mother has been on Warm Assist Fixed for her gas, but E.On are now removing this tariff due to simplification. Having done some comparison checking, I wondered about moving to their Collective 1 Year Fixed rate (they've said she'll have to move to their Energy Plan). When I rang to ask E.On about this, they said she couldn't because in effect she doesn't have a standard electricity supply. My mother doesn't have central heating at all. She has a gas fire in the main room, a storage heater in the hall, and oil filled radiators in the bedrooms - all of which run from off-peak electricity. So she has two electricity tariffs (Energy Plan for normal electricity and Electrical Heating RHT for the off peak electricity).
So my questions are:
1) Are E.On correct in saying that she can't move to their Collective plan?
2) If she can't, and I do a switch through whichever site for a dual fuel deal will I come up with the same problem? i.e. that whoever provider I go to will say the same thing?
I thought I might do separate quotes for gas and electricity to see what happens there, but it's all a bit confusing!

1. Yes
2. Do not attempt to switch supplier with existing setup as it invariably ends in tears

vhemingway

Thanks footyguy and molerat. Looks like we have three options then - stay as she is and never be able to change supplier, investigate wiring changes or go for installing minimal gas central heating which would possibly also require wiring changes to get rid of the off peak element?
Why are things never simple?

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

Good morning vhemingway,

Already some excellent advice here.

It's correct in that your mother can't just change tariff, the comparison sites don't compare complex meters.

You could ring suppliers and ask if they can quote you for an RHT meter, some will support and some won't.

We only have the one tariff available for this set up.

You can always give us a ring to discuss changing the meter to a more conventional meter, however, I would think some wiring would need changing etc, this is something to speak to an electrician about.

Thanks

Helena

vhemingway

Thank you Helena.
I think it may be worth changing the meter to a more conventional one, but can I just ask what will happen when Smart Meters are installed, which I believe is going to happen in the not too distant future? Will the meters have to change then anyway?
I think I need to look at the various options, so it may be worth getting an energy assessment done to look at all the options.

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Helena

vhemingway wrote: »

Thank you Helena.
I think it may be worth changing the meter to a more conventional one, but can I just ask what will happen when Smart Meters are installed, which I believe is going to happen in the not too distant future? Will the meters have to change then anyway?
I think I need to look at the various options, so it may be worth getting an energy assessment done to look at all the options.

No worries,

We're not replacing complex meters with SMART meters at the moment.

To be completely honest with you, I think there's further work to be done around this.

I agree, have a look at what would be involved in changing the meter and the system set up, have a look at what maybe other supplier can offer you.

Thanks

Helena