Help Required - Economy 7 Switch

BlueMeany

Father in law currently with Economy Energy on a really good tariff, but this runs out beginning of November.
It would appear that although in their email to him they said he can switch to a specific tariff, that this isn't available anymore! The only option available see's quite a big jump in unit costs.


I'm searching around for him, but I'm after advice about meter changing. Currently he has an Economy 7 meter, but he doesn't have storage heaters etc anymore so want to get him onto a standard meter and a standard tariff if possible.


I know he could wait and eventually they would have to change his meter to a smart meter, but he's not getting any younger and he has his hands tied by having an E7 meter (they want £100 to change it)


Does anyone know of electricity companies (he doesn't have gas) that may change his meter as part of a switch, and the best way to go about this?


Thanks in advance!

[Deleted User]

he doesn t have to change the meter, just switch to Yorkshire Energy. They have a very low Eco 7 tariff which is as low as any in the UK , aimed at Eco 7 users who do not now have night storage or occupiers who have eco 7 and gas central heating. Many towns have Eco 7 meters fitted as standard even on new builds with GCH..
Last time I looked a couple of weeks ago the day rate was 12.55 p /kwh , night rate was was 12.21 p/kwh , standing charge was 18 p a day.
Tariff is called the Green Hedgehog fix October 2019
That is around the best rates I can find on a single rate meter other than Enstroga Energy .That is in the South Yorks area.
It would nt matter at all what your night/day percentage was with this tariff because they are both similar and low and are currently amongst the cheapest electricity suppliers in the UK. If I had an Eco 7 meter instead of a single rate meter I would do a yearly fix with Yorkshire Energy with their published kwh rates.
Absolutely no need to hunt out suppliers who can total the two, just use the comp sites and pick suppliers who offer lowest Eco 7. There were over 70 different eco 7 tariffs available from different suppliers.

wavelets

BlueMeany wrote: »

Father in law currently with Economy Energy on a really good tariff, but this runs out beginning of November.
It would appear that although in their email to him they said he can switch to a specific tariff, that this isn't available anymore! The only option available see's quite a big jump in unit costs.


I'm searching around for him, but I'm after advice about meter changing. Currently he has an Economy 7 meter, but he doesn't have storage heaters etc anymore so want to get him onto a standard meter and a standard tariff if possible.


I know he could wait and eventually they would have to change his meter to a smart meter, but he's not getting any younger and he has his hands tied by having an E7 meter (they want £100 to change it)


Does anyone know of electricity companies (he doesn't have gas) that may change his meter as part of a switch, and the best way to go about this?


Thanks in advance!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=74780609&postcount=279

You can probably source a used NSH for less than £100

Not that he needs one for E7, but if it keeps your mind at rest and prevents you forcing your father in law to a single rate tariff and so miss out on 7 hours cheap electricity every day. :money:

spiro

You don't need to change the meter to go onto a standard 24/7 tariff, the supplier just has to add the two lots of consumption together.

pws52

I am in a similar position and although it sounds straight forward for suppliers to add the two readings together some won’t for whatever reason. e.g. Scottish Power.
When I was looking to switch last time there were quite a few of the smaller suppliers who would’t.

wavelets

spiro wrote: »

You don't need to change the meter to go onto a standard 24/7 tariff, the supplier just has to add the two lots of consumption together.

Only a very small number of suppliers do this.

And the number seems to be dwindling, as I understand Bulb Energy recently announced it no longer does this.

Actually, I don't think any suppliers actually add the consumption figures togetheer. What they usually do is charge both registries at the same, high, single rate, rather than one at normal rate and one at low rate.
You can even find some suppliers who have E7 tariffs structured this way, and they can be found using any comparison site.

SpanishBlue

wavelets wrote: »

Only a very small number of suppliers do this.

And the number seems to be dwindling, as I understand Bulb Energy recently announced it no longer does this.

Actually, I don't think any suppliers actually add the consumption figures togetheer. What they usually do is charge both registries at the same, high, single rate, rather than one at normal rate and one at low rate.
You can even find some suppliers who have E7 tariffs structured this way, and they can be found using any comparison site.

Bulb have actually gone the other way!


They used to allow customers with E7 meters to add both readings together and get charged at their standard rate.


Anyone moving to Bulb now with an E7 meter has no option other than to sign up to their duel rate for electricity, which means unless you use a fair amount of electricity at night, it will cost you more.

wavelets

SpanishBlue wrote: »

Bulb have actually gone the other way!


They used to allow customers with E7 meters to add both readings together and get charged at their standard rate.


Anyone moving to Bulb now with an E7 meter has no option other than to sign up to their duel rate for electricity, which means unless you use a fair amount of electricity at night, it will cost you more.

Exactly.

The number of suppliers that allow you on a single rate tariff with a dual rate (E7) meter is dwindling. (there never were many)
Bulb used to offer it; now they don't.

spiro

wavelets wrote: »

Exactly.

The number of suppliers that allow you on a single rate tariff with a dual rate (E7) meter is dwindling. (there never were many)
Bulb used to offer it; now they don't.

So what happens if you have something like an E10 meter, the market reforms require suppliers to offer these customers a single rate tariff, if they don't just add the consumption together they would need to do a meter exchange FOC.

wavelets

spiro wrote: »

So what happens if you have something like an E10 meter, the market reforms require suppliers to offer these customers a single rate tariff, if they don't just add the consumption together they would need to do a meter exchange FOC.

You probably should start a new thread on this topic (or at least add it to the answers given previously in threads discussing E10 and the like)

But in short:
1. The OP has E7, not E10
2. Only the legacy supplier is obligated to support non universal metering such as E10
3. The 'Big 6' represent less than 10% of the total energy suppliers
(and not even the 'Big 6' are all legacy electricity suppliers - British Gas being the obvious exception)
4. Bulb Energy exceptionally state they will accept E10 metered customers, but will charge the same normal rate for all consumption, rather than a cheap rate for 10 hours per day
https://help.bulb.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/115003599991-Can-I-switch-to-Bulb-with-an-Economy-10-meter-
But good luck to anyone with E10 that switches from their legacy supplier. The legacy suppliers are not obligated to take on new customers ... and that includes previous customers looking to return.
5. The rules you refer to only apply to suppliers with over 50,000 domestic electricity customers (of which all the legacy suppliers have)
6. The rules you refer to relate to what they call 'Relevant Restricted Metering Infrastructure' which specificically excludes E7 metering (amongst other exclusions)
... hence why I don't think it appropriate to derail this thread by discussing this particular topic further here.