I want to get economy 7, how do I do that?

5abi

Can anyone offer some advice on how I can get an economy 7 meter? I have been search on google and all I get is pros and cons of economy 7. I want to cut through all of that and see if I can get one installed.

Do I need to move to a supplier that offers economy 7 before they can install a meter for me or is there a better faster way of this?

I am on the MSE cheap energy club but I am not sure it offers the best offers out there. I am not entirely sure if all options are provided and if there are any specialist deals or suppliers that may be interesting but are not offered in the comparisons on the site.

JJ_Egan

How are you going to use Economy 7 .

5abi

I plan to use the most demanding appliances during the night and the day however, the usage will be offset by my solar system in the day time.

[Deleted User]

It is something I have considered myself and possibly a very common thing to be doing in the future as all electric cars get more popular.
I think it would have to be done privately from a qualified electrician who could install the new Eco 7 meter which could then be registered with the supplier.
Suppliers would consider it a non essential service so if they could do it I expect it would nt be any cheaper than a private electrician .
I have seen tariffs for some Eco 7 fixed deals ( by Yorkshire Energy ) which are matching the best single tariffs available regardless of the night rate percentage used.
Many towns in the UK run large numbers of Eco 7 meters even though they are built from new with gas central heating

Andy_WSM

5abi wrote: »

the usage will be offset by my solar system in the day time.

That works well for me 9 months of the year. I have JUST started to use grid power now (5pm) for the first time since the economy 7 ended at 7:30am this morning.


Ring your current supplier and ask them to install an economy 7 meter. There may be a charge to do so, but see what they say, some don't charge.

thorganby

No need to pay anyone to get an E7 meter fitted, this is a money saving site!

Simply use a supplier that does not charge, most don't but confirm this first or switch to one that doesn't:



Once you have an E7 meter, you will be able to switch to any supplier to get the best deals available.

5abi

Thank you for your replies. I am with eversmart energy. They dont do economy 7 meters neither do they offer FIT payments.

They are very cheap though. I do need them to do more for me though.

I will go with your recommendations and ask the big boys for economy 7.

The plan is to get on economy 7 asap and then look at the cheapest economy 7 suppliers in the market. If you have any suggestions of suppliers, please do share.

Thanks

5abi

Thanks for this @Houbara. I just had a look at the website for yorkshire energy.
Standing charge (p/day):
15.82449
Day Unit Price per KWH (p/KWh):
15.266
Night Unit Price per KWH (p/KWh):
11.063

This is what they are showing me. I am on a standard rate of 11.76 with eversmart. This is all day long. So not sure it is the cheapest for economy 7. I would like to see if there are any suppliers out there who offer night time rates of under 7p.

Is that even possible?

matelodave

I think you'll be everso lucky to improve much on what you've got with Eversmart so it might be better to stay with them until your fix expires and then change. You'd have to be pretty confident that you can divert enough energy consumption to the off-peak rate to compensate for a big increase in the peak rate if you dont have storage heating

According to the MSE website the cheapest E7 off-peak rate on 1st May 2017 was 7.1p so it's unlikely that any supplier will be close to that nearly two years later. I reckon 9-10p will be nearer the mark although I dont know as I'm on a single rate with Eversmart at 11.45p/kwh untill August

You'll just have to trawl the comparison sites to see what tariffs are available but bear in mind the table in Thorganby's post #6 above is dated 1st May 2017 so may be out of date and you may have to have a smart meter

nwlondoner

Over the years I've noticed that a lot of Economy 7 tariffs seem to charge more for daytime use than standard tariffs so be aware of that.

There's an option on MSE Cheap Energy Club to view suppliers offering Economy 7 tariffs - just edit your details.

The cheapest that comes up for me at the moment is a variable tariff with a company called Bulb...
Electricity Day Unit Rate: 16.296p per kWh
Electricity Night Unit Rate: 7.907p per kWh
Standing charge: 20.44p per day (£74.62 per year)

The second on the list is the Yorkshire Energy tariff you mentioned, which is fixed until 30th April 2020.

The third is Shell Energy (previously called First Utility) which is fixed until 31 July 2012...
Electricity Day Unit Rate: 16.586p per kWh
Electricity Night Unit Rate: 10.418pp per kWh
Standing charge: 14.553p per day

Of course the cheapest tariff on my comparison may not be the cheapest for you due to the different ratios of day/night usage, so make sure you get a comparison with your own day/night estimates.

It's worth calling the cheapest suppliers on your comparison and asking if they charge to fit an Economy 7 meter. If they do, then I'd do as thorganby suggested - change to one that offers free installation and then change again once they've installed the new meter

[Deleted User]

5abi wrote: »

Thanks for this @Houbara. I just had a look at the website for yorkshire energy.
Standing charge (p/day):
15.82449
Day Unit Price per KWH (p/KWh):
15.266
Night Unit Price per KWH (p/KWh):
11.063

This is what they are showing me. I am on a standard rate of 11.76 with eversmart. This is all day long. So not sure it is the cheapest for economy 7. I would like to see if there are any suppliers out there who offer night time rates of under 7p.

Is that even possible?

Your Eversmart fixed deal is probably unbeatable but when the fix ends all prices have risen since your Eversmart deal. I arranged an Eversmart deal for three of my friends last Aug after the demise of Iresa Energy. The way Eversmart are going I fully expected them to go bust by now.
Best deals on Eco 7 in my area ( S. Yorks ) is Symbio energy
Day 13.08, Night 9.40 with quite a low dsc of 16p
Utilita are next cheapest on my input of usage 3000/2000 kwh night/day
Utilita operate a block tariff with the first day 365 kwhs at 50.189 p/kwh, then 18.436p
Night rate is only 4.67 p/kwh to compensate
No standing charge s.

That list provided by thorganby seems unreliable to me . BG and others will mostly simply total the day/night reads without the expense of changing meters for eco 7 to standard tariff.
. I can t believe greedy Scot Power will do anything for free unless ordered to by Ofgem. eg they used to charge £220 a meter to swap a prepay to a credit meter. so £440 for gas/electric .
As for the idea of someone with a single rate meter fancying a change to an Eco 7 and the big 6 doing it for free, then I will need some proof of this other than an internet list. .
All non essential meter change work I expect would be billed . Its also a money saving operation for the suppliers too.