Economy 7 worry
Hi I moved into our house a few days before lockdown. The house was on economy 7 with a 2 reading meter. The radiators are just normal and not storage heater. I have a combi boiler for heat,hot water. My electric usage is mainly in the day time hours in kitchen, lights ,TV and audio equipment, chargers etc. I hate the fire risk of using a wahing machine,drier or dishwasher overnight but do end up using the washer to cut costs . The other devices I have stopped using since the New year die to cost. I know the Economy 7 cost have not be given the same price protection as a the single rates. I feel stuck with no help and rising bills since januray.
I read that the big companies can create a single payment option by combining figures which would be protected as single rates are.
E.on tell me my 2 rate readings are not flexible and I have to continue with paying more in the day than at night. They can only help if I change my meter but warn that would mean me paying for a new meter.
I exist on just my minimum wage so feel stressed as I can't afford the rising bills and can't pay for a new meter to lessen my bills.
I read that the big companies can create a single payment option by combining figures which would be protected as single rates are.
E.on tell me my 2 rate readings are not flexible and I have to continue with paying more in the day than at night. They can only help if I change my meter but warn that would mean me paying for a new meter.
I exist on just my minimum wage so feel stressed as I can't afford the rising bills and can't pay for a new meter to lessen my bills.
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Some suppliers will do that, others will not, it depends on the supplier and the meter in place. What kind of meter do you have, do you have one or two meters? If you have a single meter with two registers (day/night) then ask for a smart meter to be installed, once installed it is easy to switch over to single rate.
Switching suppliers with E7 is still possible. And can make a big difference. So suppliers have gone extremely cheap off peak and expensive peak whilst others have less of a difference. You can potentially make big savings if you know what your ratio of offpeak and peak use is and switch to a provider that prices well for that ratio.
Why Eon are making you jump through hoops, or suggesting that you have to pay for a new meter to do this, I have no idea.
The other route, as suggested is to move to a smartmeter first
Although E7 customers benefit from the same effective EPG discounts, they have not been protected in exactly the same way as SR users during the last Ofgem cap review.
As per this article
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64332617
And an average 7.6% increase.
And whilst some on aggressive splits and high usage in some regions with some suppliers, have seen a price drop. Many have not. And anyone with a cost saving has lowered that analysis average.
Like with EOn who have increased both day and night rates - by over 2p in some regions.
As in examples at
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/12/economy-7-price-rises-form-january/
The third example is EOn, on E7 and 2.44p rise, thats 17.5% on their off peak rate - the users heating rate - going into normally coldest months of winter.
No SR customer has seen anything as large a change.
And the cause of the shift - is that the balance between Ofgem multirate cap table and single rate cap table has shifted.And the discount is based on the SR table.
Now you might then argue the rates were then set too low in Oct.
But doesn't change the simple fact that for many, despite the EPG remaining fixed, they have seen a very significant price rise.
And the changes are so significant - some posters here- even with moderate off peak use - have now switched E7 to SR - as it now works out cheaper.
So the OP should check if E7now right for their own situation.
But using panel heaters on SR rather than nsh on e7 - could still make a big difference to bills.
And the EPG discount issue - is likely to clear in Q3 (Jul23) if forecasts for Ofgem cap dropping below April EPG £3000 actually occurs.
Some suppliers have increase one rate, some both, some increased one and lowered another. E7 is not for everyone, who it works for depends on their day/night split in usage and rate, for some it was marginal at best before, others can save considerably by switching supplier due to differences in day and night prices. Again, the percentage increase is irrelevant, they were below the EPG before, they now align with it.
SVR customers had those higher rates before, the E7 rates took three more months to catch up. No one is arguing that some on E7 have not seen a price rise, however the fact remains they that they are still protected by the EPG to the same extent as everyone else.
When I looked at Ofgem cap tables - and forecast those sort of rises - I was told I was being silly, or worse still alarmist.
That the "EPG" wasn't changing so our bills shouldn't.
Many others would have assumed the same.
Clearly the fuel and poverty charities commenting on the BBC article don't believe it is working well.
And the OP - who is struggling with costs - isn't worried about the why - only that his price may have gone up again - when already struggling.
And the analysis of over 2.5 m homes - says there will be millions so impacted who don't believe the EPG is working for them.
The price of heating for electric on E7 (or E10 etc) has for many not. That 7.6% was total bill - not the individual rates.
With the above example reported my MSE a whopping 17.5%.
If anything like that sort of rise - even the average 7.6% annually - had happened to c78%, around 22m,of uk homes with GCH - it would have been daily headline news.