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Is economy 7 capped

13

Comments

  • sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    If economy 7 at the typical usage and ratio is more expensive than the cap, yes you do.

    Yes, I was on the May fixed, and they reduced the rates slightly from Day 38.38 to 37.49 and Night 21.72 to 20.83.
    No notification of the reduction.

    I switched to the EPG rate last night after using the chat function. I did feel on there they would have been happy for me to stay on the more expensive rate with them saying  "However, having checked the day rates are way higher than yours on the variable tariff."

    I did point out that I was a 72% night rate user...

  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 25,717 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 29 December 2022 at 5:45PM
    sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    And this is why quoting (and in fact reading) an isolated statement without also quoting - or reading - the context can be a problem... 
    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
    Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
    Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
    £100k barrier broken 1/4/25
    Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
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  • sebtomato
    sebtomato Posts: 1,120 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 29 December 2022 at 5:45PM
    sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    And this is why quoting (and in fact reading) an isolated statement without also quoting - or reading - the context can be a problem... 
    Back at you, since you do the very same...
  • sebtomato
    sebtomato Posts: 1,120 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 29 December 2022 at 5:45PM
    sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    If economy 7 at the typical usage and ratio is more expensive than the cap, yes you do.
    Sorry, still have no idea what this means. What would a typical Economy 7 ratio be, in term of percentage? What would a typical usage be? How would an electricity company know my typical usage/household size and refund me automatically?
  • MWT
    MWT Posts: 10,735 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Sixth Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 6 October 2022 at 4:56PM
    sebtomato said:
    sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    If economy 7 at the typical usage and ratio is more expensive than the cap, yes you do.
    Sorry, still have no idea what this means. What would a typical Economy 7 ratio be, in term of percentage? What would a typical usage be? How would an electricity company know my typical usage/household size and refund me automatically?
    'Typical' as in the figures used to calculate the cap...
    Ofgem use 4,200kWh split 58/42% day/night as the basis for the cap, it is not based on your actual usage.



  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 6 October 2022 at 6:22PM
    sebtomato said:
    sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    If economy 7 at the typical usage and ratio is more expensive than the cap, yes you do.
    Sorry, still have no idea what this means. What would a typical Economy 7 ratio be, in term of percentage? What would a typical usage be? How would an electricity company know my typical usage/household size and refund me automatically?
    Not  your typical, the typical.  It’s what they mean whenever they say “average household” in the news, and it’s the numbers used to calculate all the caps, discounts and whether things are cheaper and more expensive.

    MWT has kindly posted exactly what ‘the typical’ is for E7.
  • sebtomato
    sebtomato Posts: 1,120 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    MWT said:
    sebtomato said:
    sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    If economy 7 at the typical usage and ratio is more expensive than the cap, yes you do.
    Sorry, still have no idea what this means. What would a typical Economy 7 ratio be, in term of percentage? What would a typical usage be? How would an electricity company know my typical usage/household size and refund me automatically?
    'Typical' as in the figures used to calculate the cap...
    Ofgem use 4,200kWh split 58/42% day/night as the basis for the cap, it is not based on your actual usage.



    If it's not my typical figure, how an energy company is going to proactively contact me to advise that MY economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rates?

    That was my point... Someone above said that energy company would automatically refund users if economy 7 was more expensive for them, and I don't think that's the case. I think it's up to the consumer to check.
  • sebtomato
    sebtomato Posts: 1,120 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 29 December 2022 at 5:45PM
    sebtomato said:
    sebtomato said:
    If it is more expensive, you will get an automatic discount.
    If economy 7 is more expensive than the standard rate, you automatically get a discount?? I don't think so...
    If economy 7 at the typical usage and ratio is more expensive than the cap, yes you do.
    Sorry, still have no idea what this means. What would a typical Economy 7 ratio be, in term of percentage? What would a typical usage be? How would an electricity company know my typical usage/household size and refund me automatically?
    Not  your typical, the typical.  It’s what they mean whenever they say “average household” in the news, and it’s the numbers used to calculate all the caps, discounts and whether things are cheaper and more expensive.

    MWT has kindly posted exactly what ‘the typical’ is for E7.
    Yes, I understand typical is referred to "average household" in the news, but that was not my point. I can't use the "average household" numbers to determine whether my own electricity bill is more or less expensive using economy 7, can I?
  • You’ve misunderstood.

    If a fixed tariff is more expensive than the price cap for a typical user, then the tariff gets a discount for all users.  If it isn’t, then it doesn’t.  That’s what we are talking about with a discount.

    Of course you should use your own numbers to compare different tariffs for your own use.


  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 25,717 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Suppliers are altering prices to fit within the new capped rates - and in most cases, if the tariff you were on previously was good value for you then it's likely to still be good value now. The exception is in the case of some fixes where the percentages have been adjusted slightly when the supplier has altered the pricing. I've just gone through precisely this situation - as heavy night users (75%+) the day rate is *almost* immaterial - a low night rate is always going to be better for us. If we were closer to the mythical "typical" user then something more balanced would be better, and clearly, if we were among the percentage of users who have E7 but only just get any benefit from it, then chances are the day time rate would be the critical one. 

    As Sparky says :smile:


    Of course you should use your own numbers to compare different tariffs for your own use.


    And that is as easy as working out your annual usage for both rates from your meter reading records, from that ascertaining your percentage day/night split to give you a better "at a glance" view of where it is worth you looking, and then working through the figures from your existing supplier, and then from any others you might be looking at. Don't forget to include the standing charges in your overall sums, although it's fairly rare that those will make enough difference on their own to inform whether you should switch, or not. 

    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
    Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
    Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
    £100k barrier broken 1/4/25
    Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
    SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculator
    she/her
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