Eco 7 - completely confused!

alispalis

Hi everyone,

I'm on a pre-payment meter with Economy 7. I've been with Npower since moving to this property. I normally receive the cheaper night rate of electricity but I recently discovered that I was being charged a standard rate for both day and night.

Contacted Npower who amended this for me over the phone and I could almost immediately find the two different night rates on my meter - this was only yesterday and now, having checked the meter again just to be safe, I can see £13.85 on both the day rate and the night rate, so there's no cheaper rate being displayed yet again!

Is the cheaper night time rate only displayed on the meter once the cheaper electricity period starts at around 11:30pm? Or should I be able to see both different rates at all times?!

I'd really love to get this sorted ASAP as winter is starting to rear its ugly head and my entire flat is run on electricity - everything is set up for Economy 7. I have storage heaters, my hot water heats up over night, I have even been using my washing machine and slow cooker at night to no avail as for some unknown reason, Npower keeps on placing me back on a Standard single tariff. It's completely bizarre.

Or maybe I'm being stupid?! Lol! I just find it odd that I could see two different rates only yesterday after it was supposedly amended, only to see the same rate today. Will be checking the meter again shortly to see if the night time rate changes to the cheaper amount or not.

alispalis

Edit - I mean 13.85 p NOT pounds!

[Deleted User]

Have you been to a Paypoint to add credit. It will then be reprogrammed.
The meter should definitely show the two rates.
Pressing the blue button to display screen "i " is the normal tariff rate and screen "K " should show the low rate.
This applies to Itron, Landis Gyrs, Actaris and others who use the electric key prepayment meter

alispalis

Hi Houbara,

I topped up last week as normal. The rate did change when I was on the phone to customer service but for some reason, it's gone back to a single rate of 13.85 p for both the day rate and night rate.

So I did see the change when it was initially amended but the meter or maybe Npower seem to change it to a single rate which, perhaps during the summer was fine and the reason I didn't actually notice the difference, however now it's starting to get colder, I can't afford to heat up storage heaters overnight without Economy 7.

I'm going to give Npower another call this morning, perhaps they need to send an engineer out to have a look at the meter.

I've also noticed that the meter definitely does switch over to the cheaper Rate 2 but the price is still 13.85 p, it's switching but not charging at a cheaper rate. Very odd!

Not to mention the fact that my meter has the wrong time on it and is behind by 1 hour, not that I really care about that, I just want my Economy 7 back so I can continue being a night owl! 🦉 ☺️

wavelets

alispalis wrote: »

Hi Houbara,

I topped up last week as normal. The rate did change when I was on the phone to customer service but for some reason, it's gone back to a single rate of 13.85 p for both the day rate and night rate.

So I did see the change when it was initially amended but the meter or maybe Npower seem to change it to a single rate which, perhaps during the summer was fine and the reason I didn't actually notice the difference, however now it's starting to get colder, I can't afford to heat up storage heaters overnight without Economy 7.

I'm going to give Npower another call this morning, perhaps they need to send an engineer out to have a look at the meter.

I've also noticed that the meter definitely does switch over to the cheaper Rate 2 but the price is still 13.85 p, it's switching but not charging at a cheaper rate. Very odd!

Not to mention the fact that my meter has the wrong time on it and is behind by 1 hour, not that I really care about that, I just want my Economy 7 back so I can continue being a night owl! 🦉 ☺️

So it is showing UTC (GMT) ?

[Deleted User]

Is the meter a smart prepayment meter ? or has it a blue button on it ? If they can adjust it over the phone it must be otherwise you would have to go to a Paypoint where the key is reprogrammed.
I dont work for Npower so I m not familiar with which sort of prepays the use. They may use Elster meters, either way all these meters must show all the details of tariffs.
All prepay meters stay in GMT all year round so in BST they are an hour behind. Its marginally better in summer because the low rate is active until 8.30 am in many areas.
You will have to go on Npowers website where you should find advice on how to see all the displays on their prepayment meter

alispalis

Hmm... Interesting, thank you. Customer service never mentioned having to top up, they adjusted the rate which I could see on the meter immediately and said it was all ready... Definitely calling them back in a little bit to question this!

It's not the fancy new smart meter if that's what you mean? Lol! It's a digital meter with a blue button that I have to press and release to view the different displays.

I see no reason for the meter to revert to the single rate tarrif even after being amended, could it be a faulty meter?

Lool yes, it's clearly GMT... And I clearly have no idea about meters or any of this electricity stuff! I need to learn more to prevent any future meter mishaps! ��

alispalis

So it is showing UTC (GMT) ?

Lool, it would appear so yes... Poor thing, being accused of all sorts this meter! 😂

[Deleted User]

The blue button meters will show how many units you have used on normal rate on screen "H" and units used on low rate on screen "J " as well as the cost per unit tariff. These are the total units you have used since you took over as occupier. Check that its recording usage on the night rate. If it does nt show these screens then its not correctly programmed.
Screen "G " will show the combined total of the two rates.
These old key meters can t be programmed from someone on a phone unless it is a smart meter with a direct connection with the server.Does your meter look like this in this link ?
https://edfenergyuk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/208/~/what-do-the-different-displays-on-my-prepayment-meter-mean%3F