3 readings storage heating help please please

Fife59

HI Everyone

I am sure this has been spoken about before, I have had a trawl through the forum but just got confused

anyhoo, mum has just moved into sheltered housing with electric storage heaters and there are three different readings . I phoned SP to organise going on a fixed tarrif but they said she has to stay on the standard one.

I have tried to move supppliers but they wont take her on due to the 3 readings



SP wont alter the meters to allow her to go onto a different tarrif or move suppliers

its a one bedroom sheltered housing and october to december - 5 week bill has just come in at £178 which is way to high for a pensioner

I have only had gas heating and this is proving very confusing and appears that SP have us totally over a barrel with the tarriff



can anyone help at all please



thanks

Benight

Fife59 wrote: »

HI Everyone

I am sure this has been spoken about before, I have had a trawl through the forum but just got confused

anyhoo, mum has just moved into sheltered housing with electric storage heaters and there are three different readings . I phoned SP to organise going on a fixed tarrif but they said she has to stay on the standard one.

I have tried to move supppliers but they wont take her on due to the 3 readings



SP wont alter the meters to allow her to go onto a different tarrif or move suppliers

its a one bedroom sheltered housing and october to december - 5 week bill has just come in at £178 which is way to high for a pensioner

I have only had gas heating and this is proving very confusing and appears that SP have us totally over a barrel with the tarriff



can anyone help at all please



thanks

Your mother should follow the supplier's complaint procedure if she has any cause for complaint against them.

But she should be careful what she wishes for.
Also, as you say this is sheltered housing, she should check with the landord (or whoever is on charge) before going down the path of having the meter changed.

If everyone is in agreement, then she should instruct an electrician to make any electrical changes necessary after the meter, and consider new heating appliances compatible with the tariff then chosen.

If she can't afford £178, she really needs to think how she will afford paying for higher rate electricity.

Fife59

hi

obviously we wouldnt be able to change meter without the landlord approving it , and to be honest I know that this is not possible

I dont understand when you get fixed rates for everything else why this type of meter appears to be only as standard.which is way more than any of the fixed deals
thanks

Gerry1

She's probably on Economy 10 for similar which is being phased out and has become very expensive with few suppliers offering it. There has been a lot of discussion recently.

Use Forum Search, select Advanced Search and search for E10 "Economy 10" and you'll find many similar stories.

Basically you'll need to switch to an Economy 7 meter. Unfortunately this means that the storage heaters may start cooling down because they won't get a boost in the afternoon. If so and there's no prospect of getting gas, consider adding another storage heater or replacing them with modern versions such as Dimplex Quantum which are more efficient because better insulation means that they don't waste so much heat overnight when it's not needed. Unfortunately this means capital expense and extra always-live wiring to operate the fans. However, it should cut the bills significantly, keep her wam and allow her to switch to a much wider choice of suppliers.

Robin9

Do talk to her landlord - as this is sheltered housing I would guess that all the other similar residents have the same problem.

As this is her first bill 1) are the meter readings shown the ones that were given on the day she moved in and 2) are the latest readings ACTUAL or ESTIMATED.

Get a letter from your mum authorising you to talk to SP on her behalf ; read the meters (I suspect that they are an old cyclometer type) and also note the serial number on the meters as its easy to get these things mixed up.

Learn how to adjust the heaters.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Fife59 wrote: »

anyhoo, mum has just moved into sheltered housing with electric storage heaters and there are three different readings .

she may be on SP's Comfort Plus/Control, which has 3 readings, day/night/control(heating).


What does the bill say?

Gerry1

Does she qualify for benefits such as Warm Home Discount and is she on the Priority Services Register?

Robin9

and don't forget she gets the Winter Fuel Payment

matelodave

this one was deleted

matelodave

ScottishPower offer restricted meter customers a choice of
standard variable and fixed rate tariffs with no exit fees

this is from this document https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/CitizensAdvice/Energy/Energy%20Consultation%20responses/Restricted%20Meter%20Good%20Practice%20Guide.pdf

You should speak with their Restricted Metering Team to see if there's a way to get a better deal.

However before hand, make sure you know what tariff she's on, the cost of the energy at each rate and what it powers in the house so you can work out what is on offer. Just having a rant about the cost wont do you any good, you need to do a bit of homework first so you can understand what might be possible.

As others have said, it might require some rewiring which your landlord or electrician might have to do but you might find that talking to the team might have a better way - it's even possible that a single rate tariff could work out cheaper that the multirate one that she's on, especially if it's cheaper per kwh than even the cheapest rate that she's paying at the moment.

Be aware though that if you try and swap supplies to something like E7 that the existing heaters may not be capable of storing sufficient heat in the 7 hours if they were sized for an E10 or even E18 tariff.

also have a look at this - the last two on page 3 https://community.scottishpower.co.uk/t5/My-Energy/Too-Many-Meters/td-p/175/page/3

It seems that is a battle to try and speak to someone who knows what is going on in SP, so you might need to chat to an electrician first

Fife59

Hi folks

Toil readings last night and this morning:-

Comfort - 28233 and 28277
Day. - 11017 and 11017
Night. - 07161 and 07162

So from reading the forum it appears can't move to another tarriff with either SP or anyone else

If I can get sheltered housing to show meter changes what does that mean, does SP do the change and we pay them. This then allows us to get access to normal storage heating tarriffs

It appears some of the neighbors have taken out the living room storage heater and replaced it with electric bar fire

Thanks so much for any help