How to Get off Economy 7

plh56

Hi,
I moved house a couple of years ago and switched my gas/electricity via Cheap Energy Club to an Ovo 2 Year Fixed Energy deal. This is now soon to end and I'm reviewing my options on cheap energy club.

One complication I have though is that unknown to me when I moved in, I had an Economy 7 meter (even though we had no Economy 7 heating!) and so even though I didn't select an Economy 7 tariff when I moved to Ovo, they put me on Ovo 2 Year Fixed (Economy 7) instead of the tariff I selected. I queried this with them but it took me a few months to notice so they said I was too late to change it by then so best they could do was move me to a more expensive fixed deal (as prices had gone up by then) which I obviously declined.
Ovo have since installed a smart meter but I'm still on the Economy 7 tariff until the deal ends.

So when I renew how can I get off Economy 7 when it seems that even if I don't pick an Economy 7 tariff they would put me on that again like Ovo did?
Also how can I review the cheapest non-Economy 7 tariff in the website as it assumes I will be using Economy 7 still as I am now - is there a way to tell it I don't want Economy 7 tariff results as I don't have that even though I'm on an Economy 7 tariff today?

Thanks,
Paul

Gerry1

You don't need to change a conventional E7 meter to have single rate billing: most suppliers will just add the two readings together if you ask them, and all but the smallers are obliged to offer this. But as you have a smart meter (most unwise IMHO because it will allow rip-off Time of Use pricing and cut you off when demand exceeds supply) it can be set to standard or E7.

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/meter-exchanges-and-installations-73/how-do-i-exchange-my-economy-7-meter-to-a-single-rate-meter-153

The E7 day rate is usually higher than the single rate, so E7 probably won't be worthwhile unless you use most electricity at night, e.g. for storage heaters and hot water.

If anyone really wants to get rid of an E7 meter, British Gas, EDF, E.on, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE will do this free of charge.

When shopping around on comparison sites you'll have to get one quotation for single rate and another for E7, and ideally do the same again for separate fuels.

plh56

Agreed, E7 is probably not cheaper for us as we don't use much electricity at night. OK, so sounds like what happened with Ovo changing my tariff to the one I selected to the Economy 7 version shouldn't happen again then? So all I need to do is select my new (standard) supplier/tariff and they will change the existing smart meter from E7 to standard mode for me as part of the switch?

Thanks

Gerry1

You'd need to check with them because smart meters are a fiasco when it comes to compatibility, but most companies will just add up the day and night readings and charge them at a single rate.

Competitive companies such as Avro will offer single rate billing with the older Dynamically Teleswitched E7 meters controlled by Radio 4 longwave, so presumably smart meters will allow this functionality to be retained.

[Deleted User]

Don t be so quick in assuming that single rate metering will be cheaper than Eco 7, even if you do not use storage heating.. Do a proper comparison using various combinations of night time percentage from 15% to 25 %.. You may be surprised to see them fairly close together. Some suppliers understand that not all Eco 7 s are storage heating and provide the day/night rates very similar..Yorkshire Energy for instance .
Use a decent comp site such as Uswitch/Uk power and feed it with different ratios. Most users will do at least 10% of total in the cheap 7 hours

Talldave

I found Yorkshire Energy's E7 tariff had a break even night time use of 15%, so switched to it as we use 21% night time. But prior to that I've had decades of E7 meter running on non E7 tariffs, lots of suppliers are ok with it. Just deselect E7 on comparison sites. Phone a potential supplier first to check they're ok. I found Ovo were fine with non E7 use of an E7 meter

D_M_E

Think Shell Energy will let you swap to single rate from E7 once you are with them.

Haarlem

With the increase in Green energy there are some E7 bargains to get you to use off peak electricity.

Some E7 day rates are the same as single rate tariffs.

Always have a good look round before ditching E7

[Deleted User]

Haarlem wrote: »

With the increase in Green energy there are some E7 bargains to get you to use off peak electricity.

Some E7 day rates are the same as single rate tariffs.

Always have a good look round before ditching E7

Yes, no need to get off Eco 7, get switching.eg. Symbio Energy rates are 13.25 p /day 8.8 p /night
15p dsc ,12 months fixed but no exit fees. This is for South Yorks area..Beat that on single rate if you can