British Gas Night Time Tariffs

gandalftheking

Hi all,

After having been onto BG 'support' three times now, I am getting different start/stop times for summer & winter day/night tariffs. The website says different to what I am told on the chat, and i want to set up an accurate schedule of charging overnight for my Electric Car.

Can anyone help with definitive (E7) start/stop times for cheaper overnight rates for summer & winter, and what dates those two seasons begin?

Thanks all

QrizB

Sadly, there are no definitive E7 start/stop times.

The nominal times vary by region:

• North of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• South of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• North East England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Yorkshire – 00.30 to 07.30
• North West England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Merseyside & North Wales – 7 hours between 00.00 and 08.00
• East Midlands – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• West Midlands – 7 hours between 23.30 and 08.00
• Eastern England – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South Wales – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• Southern England – 23.30 to 06.30
• London – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South East England – Either between 22.30 and 05.30 or 00.30 and 07.30
• South Western England – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30

(copied from here).

Those times are only nominal, and a newly-installed meter may vary by up to 15 mins either side. This is intentional as it stops everyone's storage heaters switching on and off simultaneously.

Many meters don't have any adjustment for GMT/BST and so can appear to move an hour forward and backward when the clocks change.

However, many non-smart meters don't get their clocks resynchronised once installed. The clock can therefore drift and you can find your E7 hours run on well into the morning, or start in the early evening.

The only way to know, for 100% certain, is for you to watch your meter change between rates and note the time that it happens.

gandalftheking

QrizB said:

Sadly, there are no definitive E7 start/stop times.

The nominal times vary by region:

• North of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• South of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• North East England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Yorkshire – 00.30 to 07.30
• North West England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Merseyside & North Wales – 7 hours between 00.00 and 08.00
• East Midlands – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• West Midlands – 7 hours between 23.30 and 08.00
• Eastern England – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South Wales – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• Southern England – 23.30 to 06.30
• London – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South East England – Either between 22.30 and 05.30 or 00.30 and 07.30
• South Western England – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30

(copied from here).

Those times are only nominal, and a newly-installed meter may vary by up to 15 mins either side. This is intentional as it stops everyone's storage heaters switching on and off simultaneously.

Many meters don't have any adjustment for GMT/BST and so can appear to move an hour forward and backward when the clocks change.

However, many non-smart meters don't get their clocks resynchronised once installed. The clock can therefore drift and you can find your E7 hours run on well into the morning, or start in the early evening.

The only way to know, for 100% certain, is for you to watch your meter change between rates and note the time that it happens.

I'm in the Redruth, Cornwall area (SW) so many thanks for linking to the information

Gerry1

QrizB said:

Sadly, there are no definitive E7 start/stop times.

The nominal times vary by region:

• North of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• South of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• North East England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Yorkshire – 00.30 to 07.30
• North West England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Merseyside & North Wales – 7 hours between 00.00 and 08.00
• East Midlands – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• West Midlands – 7 hours between 23.30 and 08.00
• Eastern England – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South Wales – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• Southern England – 23.30 to 06.30
• London – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South East England – Either between 22.30 and 05.30 or 00.30 and 07.30
• South Western England – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30

(copied from here).

@QrizB Unfortunately that site is hopelessly inaccurate, at least for South East England.
They fail to mention the 'split shift' times 2230 - 0030 and 0230 - 0730 used by the region, and they also fail to mention that BST times are usually +1 hour because most E7 meters stay on GMT. Scottish Power's info seems better.

gandalftheking

So it's revealing that it's a mess then! LOL. A bit of a guessing game involved it seems nationwide, but am focussing on the SW Region and British Gas ATM.

Gerry1

The only way to be certain is to see the meter change over; chances are it will stay with GMT throughout the year.

Smart meters may be cleverer, but it seems the mighty BG are unable or unwilling to support E7 smart meters.

Some posters have even reported that their E7 heating circuits have been de-energised after an SoLR transfer to BG.

gandalftheking

OP here >> Coincidence? Have had an email from Britihs Gas saying that the eletric and gas meters need changing/updating... Not a smart meter, but the actual main meters...

Gerry1

Best to Just Say NO to BG smart meters.

Based on the experience of other forumites, you may find that you're charged for all use at single rate and that any switched circuits supplied by the fifth port on the meter will no longer be activated, hence any immersion / storage heaters won't charge.

gandalftheking

Gerry1 said:

Best to Just Say NO to BG smart meters.

Based on the experience of other forumites, you may find that you're charged for all use at single rate and that any switched circuits supplied by the fifth port on the meter will no longer be activated, hence any immersion / storage heaters won't charge.

The reason I ask is that in the email it JUST says meters (not smart meters), so wondering if it is a crafty ploy - - when I click on the link it's for smart meter installation, and yet in their email:

Like anything mechanical that's getting old, an electricity meter can stop working properly. Occasionally, old electricity meters can cause serious problems – they can overheat, causing a risk of fire. We don't want this to happen, so please get in touch with us to book an appointment.

Are they trying to con people here?

MWT

gandalftheking said:

The reason I ask is that in the email it JUST says meters (not smart meters), so wondering if it is a crafty ploy - - when I click on the link it's for smart meter installation, and yet in their email:

Like anything mechanical that's getting old, an electricity meter can stop working properly. Occasionally, old electricity meters can cause serious problems – they can overheat, causing a risk of fire. We don't want this to happen, so please get in touch with us to book an appointment.

Are they trying to con people here?

Any old meter replacements are supposed to be with smart meters unless there is a valid reason not to do so, so it is not a 'con', if your meters are old enough to need replacing then the default replacement will be 'smart', but there is a difference between needing replacement and just being old, so to the extent that they are encouraging people to have the meter replaced even if it isn't old enough to require replacement, it is certainly misleading...