Eon Electrical Heating Economy 18 - advice needed

Flt._Lt._Biggles

jammy_jam_jam wrote: »

The problem is (as I understand it) that if we change the meter then the storage heater and boiler will need to be re-wired and as we're renting that would be something the landlord would need to pay for which of course they'll be reluctant to do.

I'm happy to take any advice/corrections though as my knowledge of this is minimal to say the least.

I would respectfully remind you of the advice already provided by E.ON Company Representative: Malc above

E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc wrote: »

Hello jammy_jam_jam and we're phasing out meters like Economy 18 as we're no longer able to support them. ...

jammy_jam_jam

The rep said that we can keep our current meter and just change the tariff and they'll just combine the usage at their end for billing.

This is the email I received from him:

With the economy 18 set up we do strongly advise against having economy 7 or 10 as this would restrict the boiler to 7 or 10 hours which would mean the set up would not effectively heat the property. What we can do instead is just do a background change to the prices so everything would remain the same (two supplies, timers on the boiler etc). you can keep the current set up as it is with any unrestricted tariff as this tariff can be implemented on any meter set up.

thorganby

jammy_jam_jam wrote: »

The rep said that we can keep our current meter and just change the tariff and they'll just combine the usage at their end for billing.

This is the email I received from him:

With the economy 18 set up we do strongly advise against having economy 7 or 10 as this would restrict the boiler to 7 or 10 hours which would mean the set up would not effectively heat the property. What we can do instead is just do a background change to the prices so everything would remain the same (two supplies, timers on the boiler etc). you can keep the current set up as it is with any unrestricted tariff as this tariff can be implemented on any meter set up.

The only reason that eon "strongly advise" that you do not change to an industry standard E7 meter is so that they can keep your custom and rip you off big time.

Millions of properties are heated using E7 and eon are lying to you stating that it "would not effectively heat the property".

By changing to a standard E7 not E10 meter, you could then switch to far cheaper tariffs available from any other supplier.

Flt._Lt._Biggles

jammy_jam_jam wrote: »

The rep said that we can keep our current meter and just change the tariff and they'll just combine the usage at their end for billing.

This is the email I received from him:

With the economy 18 set up we do strongly advise against having economy 7 or 10 as this would restrict the boiler to 7 or 10 hours which would mean the set up would not effectively heat the property. What we can do instead is just do a background change to the prices so everything would remain the same (two supplies, timers on the boiler etc). you can keep the current set up as it is with any unrestricted tariff as this tariff can be implemented on any meter set up.

So they are telling you they have no desire to change the meter (was malc wrong then? :cool: He's not usually in regards to anything Eon related) but instead of giving you 18 hours of cheap rate electricity for your heating and hot water, they want you to pay top notch rates 24/7/365

As I said, Economy 7 would provide you with 7 hours of electricity 7 hours every day, and it doesn't matter what you use that electricity for in those 7 hours.

And as thorganby has already advised, if you have an Economy 7 meter, you will have the option to choose whatever supplier you want, unlike now.

I would urge you to take up the offer of malc in post#2 above to email him, so that you can be put in touch with someone who knows what they are doing, as I fear you are not in contact with them yet.

jammy_jam_jam

Thanks both for your replies today. The call was with the simpler metering team due to Malc's assistance.

I'm not sure if either of you know but if we did swap to Economy 7 what we would need to to to keep our storage heater and hot water working.

thorganby

jammy_jam_jam wrote: »

I've seem some similar threads but nothing that matches our situation so I thought I'd make a new thread to ask for some advice. Apologies in advance for a bit of a rambling post but I want to put in all of the details.

We live in a rented flat in Suffolk and currently we're on Eon's Electrical Heating Economy 18 tariff. We received a letter in June saying that the tariff was ending and we'll need to move to a new tariff. At the time we contacted Eon's Simpler Metering Team several times and after being bounced around a lot we were told that the only thing they can offer is the standard tariff which would add around £450 per year to our electricity bill.

We contacted the company who looks after the flat on behalf of our landlord and they said at the time that Eon were just scaremongering and we didn't need to do anything but now we've had another letter from Eon to say that the tariff is ending on 5 November and they'll be moving us onto the standard tariff. The management company has now said that because we pay for the electricity that it's our responsibility.

To give some more details on how things are set up in the flat - we have a single meter with two MPANs, it has three rates: day, night and stored heat. We have one storage heather in the living room and standard electric radiators in every room (including the living room). For hot water we have a Redring LWC210 boiler/cylinder with two immersion heaters attached.

I divided down 13 months of usage and on average we use 169 day units, 43 night units and 358 stored heat units. We both work full time during the day and since we're in a flat it's not really possible to run appliances overnight.

One thing that one of the Simpler Metering Team reps said is that because of the boiler we have they can't move us to either Economy 7 or 10 because they don't support it.

One thing that I'm particularly concerned about, apart from the possible increase in our bill, is that if we are switched to a standard tariff that we'll lose our hot water. There's no timer or any controls on the boiler besides two fused switches on the wall.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation or can anyone offer some advice?

jammy_jam_jam wrote: »

Thanks both for your replies today. The call was with the simpler metering team due to Malc's assistance.

I'm not sure if either of you know but if we did swap to Economy 7 what we would need to to to keep our storage heater and hot water working.

Your single multi rate E18 meter can simply be replaced with an E7 meter which will control your heating as it will have day rate and night rate registers with a contactor to enable the heating circuit during the E7 hours.

The new meter will only have one MPAN.

Shocking service from eon's simpler metering team, who are not being at all helpful and are putting their interests before their customers!

Simple fix for them meaning their customers have to pay much more and are tied to eon!

amcg100

Hi
I have just been through this entire fracas with a different energy company with 3 rate meter and 2 mpans. When I moved into my flat I asked them to change it for Economy 7.

They tried every trick and excuse to avoid making a simple metering change. As has previously been suggested, this is because complex metering arrangements cannot be supplied by the competitive market and the incumbent company retains the business.( at premium rates )

There is no way that they can deny you a two rate meter whether it is called economy 7 or something else ( white meter No 1 in my area ).


You may need to pay a fee to have the meter changed ( I paid £54 ).


After a long argument and a case through the ombudsman service, the energy company was ordered to change the meter and pay me various compensations including reducing my bill to the rates I could have achieved had they changed my meter in the beginning.


It took over 7 months to get the meter changed, and I still expect problems when I try to switch because of the two mpans.


To fight the energy companies on this type of thing is not easy and requires some commitment, but as they are so obviously in the wrong I always felt confident that I would win the case.

Important to communicate only in writing or by e - mail and refuse to discuss anything on the phone where possible. Keep evidence of every contact. Gradually they will dig a hole big enough to bury themselves in. Also, the support of your landlord is crucial, a letter from them saying that they support you with the meter change is helpful and they may have their own electricians advise on the technical side of things.
I was told by the energy company that my heating and hot water would not work as well, but in the end the tails just need to be wired correctly so as the are switched on and off by the time clock which controls the circuit. They even ( believe it or not) appealed against the ombudsman's decision on the grounds they were unable to source an economy seven meter to facilitate the change.

I think they were laughed off the park at that point

Ive been aware of this problem being a major rip off for some years now, but first time affected by it myself.

Good luck with your situation and I can give more detail if you want it,
Alex

jammy_jam_jam

Thanks thorganby and Alex for your replies. I had no idea that an Economy 7 meter could control the heating/hot water circuit like that so that's really valuable information. My other half is going to have a word with the landlord and see if they're open to the idea of sending out an electrician to give us some advice.

One quick question Alex - did the engineer who swapped your meter do all the necessary wiring to keep your heating/hot water working or is a separate electrician needed to do that side of things?

amcg100

Yes, The meter Engineer did all the necessary connections when he changed the meter. I had told him prior to him starting the job that my housing association's electricians had advised me that there should be no problem and that they were on hand to fix anything that went wrong. He was a contractor, not a direct employee of the energy company, and done a very good job in the end. Everything is working fine.

jammy_jam_jam

Awesome, thanks Alex. We had an electrician come out today (who I've been told is on the forum here) and he's going to go back to the letting agent so hopefully we'll be able to agree something with them and get swapped over to an Economy 7 meter.