Electricity - Dual meter (OP2) - now charged as Standard Rate

NickHollis

My 86 year old father has an old OP2 meter that serves up his Storage Heaters around the home. He is with nPower. This was previously charged at below 10p but from 1st October 2020 nPower have charged him the capped standard rate on both meters at 16p, so that overnight he is paying £500 more to heat the home. We are now trying to navigate the best move both in the immediate short term through winter, and longer term next spring if we have to do any works. It seems longer term we might now be advised to move to E7 but as he is worried about switching meters due to the age of the house wiring and new regulations, we want to wait until the winter is over and do any remedial work when there is no need for heating. We also want to minimise any remedial work or preferably not do any. The Storage Heaters would need timers fitted if we move to E7 (I think) as the OP2 meter does the timing at the moment whereas E7 wouldn't.
For the immediate winter months, it seems wise to move to a supplier that can accept both meter readings. My research suggests this will need to be (like nPower) at their standard rate for both, but at least we can find a suppler in the 13p range. Is this a correct assumption, or is any part of the market still able to charge a reduced rate for the OP2 meter?
Any general guidance as we navigate would be welcomed.

Gerry1

I assume that OP2 is an example of a Restricted Hours Tariff, an off peak supply that gives you 11 hours for storage heaters, including a boost in the afternoon.  This suggests that he has some very old low capacity storage heaters that would go cold if they weren't topped up during the day.

Unfortunately these tariffs are being phased out so E7 will be the only realistic option.  That will probably mean having to add one or more NSHs or replace some existing ones so that there's enough capacity to last for 17 hours without needing supplementary heating at expensive E7 daytime rates.

However, the E7 meter will be able to switch the NSH existing circuits, it's just a matter of connecting them up.  E7 also means that you can choose any supplier you like to get a competitive tariff.

In the meantime, RHT suppliers have to offer a single rate tariff without a meter change and with only one standing charge.

Ofgem RHT to single rate

Restricted Meter Good Practice Guide.pdf

Also do an Advanced Search of the Energy forum using terms including E10, Economy 10, THTC and "Comfort Plus White Meter (and similar DTS experiences)".

Talldave

An E7 meter has an off-peak only output that would supply the storage heaters, so no timers needed.

matelodave

Unfortunately although the supplier has to offer a single rate it doesn't have to be the cheapest.

As said above, an E7 meter with an off-peak supply or with the capability of driving a contactor for the off peak heaters should work without lots of wiring changes but, as Gerry says,the heaters may not be able to store sufficient heat in a single seven hour session, unlike those which have an afternoon and evening boost so you could end up using auxiliary heaters on the peak rate if you dont upgrade the storage heaters.

Unfortunately you are not alone, there are numerous threads on this subject and very little help from the energy companies who seem to be taking a pretty cavalier attitude despite the rules.
TBH you'd be better off spending the £500 getting it sorted out before the winter rather than chucking it away by giving it to nPower

thorganby

Your best solution is to get npower to remove their old now unsupported meter setup and replace it with an E7 meter that is capable of switching the storage heaters.

There have been other threads about npowers shocking customers service e.g. 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6187083/off-peak-electricity-price-increase/p1

npower expecting customers to run storage heaters on an expensive standard rate tariff is unbelievable and they should have offered to fit E7 meters like their parent company eon did for it's customers.

eonpower get the wooden spoon award from me!

jbuchanangb

The 86 year-old customer should already be on the supplier's Priority Services Register, but if not, now would be a good time to register. It might make a slight difference in how they are treated.