Economy 7 hours

Chalkywalker

We were switched to Shell Energy recently and I had a problem finding out what the E7 hours are. Previously they were 22.30 to 00.30 and 02.30 to 07.30.
The first reply from Shell said I needed to find out myself as it depended which area I lived in!

Second reply said 00.15 to 07.15 but didn't sound too convincing so I recontacted and...

Third reply confirmed 00.15 to 07.15 but said the hours are on a national database that the public don't have access to!

How on earth can folk check for themselves to ensure they use their appliances at the cheaper rate?

I would have thought, in the interests of saving energy, that the hours should be stated on our bills.

Any comments?

MWT

Until smart meters came along the energy supplier did not have the ability to control when and how you were switched between the two rates as it was done via a clock or a teleswitch, neither of which they could check or control remotely.

So stating something on the bill would not really help.

These days the supplier can control that if you have a smart meter which uses the ALCS option to control the change.

Not all suppliers are making good use of that option though, and some like British Gas do not even support smart meters for E7 customers.

molerat

There is only one surefire way to check your switching hours and that is to stay up and check the meter. 

EssexHebridean

If the 0715 bit is right (and it could be - we're in East Anglia and our current (pun intended) "off time" is a few minutes awry from that) then you should be able to hear/see if click off and switch over - might save you having to stay up late to see what happens at that end of the day.