Can smart meters be used on economy 7 tariffs?

GS..

I have a new house and trying to switch providers. I want to switch to economy 7 but the questionnaire just asks you whether you have an economy seven meter and assumes you want to keep the same status. I'm pretty sure we have smart meters but we have no higher that tells you what's going on.
Will we have smart meters in a new house?
Can smart meters be used on economy 7 tariffs?

WhoIsThat

GS.. said:

I have a new house and trying to switch providers. I want to switch to economy 7 but the questionnaire just asks you whether you have an economy seven meter and assumes you want to keep the same status. I'm pretty sure we have smart meters but we have no higher that tells you what's going on.
Will we have smart meters in a new house?
Can smart meters be used on economy 7 tariffs?

You might have smart meters in a new build. You might not. Why not take a look? They are in your house!

Smart meters may work with S7. But I'm not surew if all suppliers are capable of that yet.

But if you don't have E7 metering, smart or otherwise at present, then you will need to contact your supplier to get the meter changed (which may be done remotely if smart)

macman

Yes, smart meters can be used in E7 mode. But, unless you've changed the heating system, why would you want to switch from single rate?
By 'new house', do you mean 'new build'?

Gerry1

macman said:

Yes, smart meters can be used in E7 mode. But, unless you've changed the heating system, why would you want to switch from single rate?

You don't necessarily have to have electric heating for E7 to be cheaper.  Some tariffs are cost effective with E7 night use of 20% or less. Having an E7 meter gives the most flexibility.

MWT

The catch to be careful about is that although E7 generally isn't a problem for smart meters, if you require the meter to actually switch on/off appliances like storage heaters etc. then you need a 5-port meter, and unless the house required that at the point when the meter was fitted it is very unlikely that a 5-port meter will have been installed.

So switching to an E7 tariff shouldn't be a problem, but if you intend to install night storage heaters do check if you have a 5-port meter or not...

GS..

E7 night units are 33% cheaper (and lot less than most people realise), we have 3 freezers (supposably the biggest consumer of electricity in the household) washing machine at night. Average E7 night consumption is about 40%. In not sure most people investigate the savings and assumeiassume it's just for night storage heaters

GS..

I will check if it's easy to switch our new smart meter to E7

MWT

GS.. said:

...we have 3 freezers (supposably the biggest consumer of electricity in the household) ...

I don't know where this belief comes from, if they are faulty, then yes they can run up the bill, but if they are working correctly, not so much.

We have two fridge/freezers in the house and they each consume less than 1kWh per day.

If you want to look for the biggest consumers of power it is always going to be heating, either the water (water tank or electric shower) or the rooms, with cooking running in third place.

Stu8044

I switched to British Gas Lite (BGL) for the farm, before the switch we had economy 7 meter, BGL arranged with Western Power Distribution to install a smart meter as part of the 3 year contract. I discovered I could not see 2 ratings on the meter, I contacted BGL and they said it was an industry wide problem and could not be rectified. I have to believe BGL are charging myself correct, I cannot see the Rate 2. I’m at the stage where BGL has 2 months to fix the problem or I report them to the energy ombudsman as I believe they have not supplied a like for like meter. Th hassle I’m going though is not worth the annual saving of £200.00.

MWT

Stu8044 said:

I cannot see the Rate 2. I’m at the stage where BGL has 2 months to fix the problem or I report them to the energy ombudsman as I believe they have not supplied a like for like meter. Th hassle I’m going though is not worth the annual saving of £200.00.

Which make & model of meter have they fitted?

Some of them can be difficult to navigate and many offer a variety of ways to express what you have consumed, not all of which are the kWh figure you are looking for but even if you cannot easily navigate to both of the rates, you should be able to see at least the total consumed and rate one, the difference between those two will be the rate 2 consumption.

Stu8044

The meter is a Landis Gyr E470. I found the user instructions on the internet and you have to be a scientist to understand the details. Thank you for the tip above, the industry needs to get a grip and make things simple.