Meter Change

JameelU

Hi,

Hope someone can help. I was on a Economy 10 meter and looked at getting a smart meter installed. I contacted my supplier (OVO) to confirm if their smart meters are compatible with Economy 10 and was told yes they are. I now have had the new smart meter installed recently and noticed that my off-peak appliances do not come on during the Economy 10 times (5 hours at night, 3 during the day, 2 in the evening) as previously. Upon investigating this, I noticed that my meter/off-peak appliances only come on during the night (7 hours) and realised that my new meter is an Economy 7 meter and not Economy 10. I raised a complaint with the my supplier and they have effectively said 'sorry  but we do not support Economy 10 meters and we can't change the meter back to the old one and you will need to change supplier'. My complaint is still being handled and I need to wait before I can go to the Ombudsman.   

My concern is that as this is now a Economy 7 meter other suppliers will not change it to a Economy 10 meter. Will I be able to get my supplier to change the meter back as it has only been a couple of days since installation.

Thank you. 

Robin9

It may not be a bad deal.

How old are your storage rads?  They may keep their heat ok.

Is there anything special that yoi need the afyetnpon for?

SAC2334

JameelU said:

Hi,

Hope someone can help. I was on a Economy 10 meter and looked at getting a smart meter installed. I contacted my supplier (OVO) to confirm if their smart meters are compatible with Economy 10 and was told yes they are. I now have had the new smart meter installed recently and noticed that my off-peak appliances do not come on during the Economy 10 times (5 hours at night, 3 during the day, 2 in the evening) as previously. Upon investigating this, I noticed that my meter/off-peak appliances only come on during the night (7 hours) and realised that my new meter is an Economy 7 meter and not Economy 10. I raised a complaint with the my supplier and they have effectively said 'sorry  but we do not support Economy 10 meters and we can't change the meter back to the old one and you will need to change supplier'. My complaint is still being handled and I need to wait before I can go to the Ombudsman.   

My concern is that as this is now a Economy 7 meter other suppliers will not change it to a Economy 10 meter. Will I be able to get my supplier to change the meter back as it has only been a couple of days since installation.

Thank you. 

I think CS are right .Not many suppliers support Eco 10 but Ovo , who now deal with SSE s billing , are one of the suppliers who supported complex meters like Eco 10 usually up in Scotland where they need the extra 3 hours boost in the afternnon, so very odd that they can t do Eco 10 
. My friend up in Aberdeenshire was on a similar complex meter known as THTC controlled by Radioteleswitch was with Ovo ( SSE ) and recently switched to EDF on a very low tariff compared to Ovo .
You have to phone EDF complex meter team who started the switch there and then . The smart meter can be controlled by the supplier to switch to Eco 7 with a 3 hour afternoon boost 

Scot_39

This is a scenario I have sadly read before on this forum.

AFAIK There is nothing inherently different between an E10 and an E7 smart meter.  I would have epected it to just need programming / configuring to match the tariff.

Your customer services rep is right in one respect - they probably don't have an E10 option available for new customers.

I am a legacy E10 customer with EOn - and they don't AFAIK offer it to new.

But the fact is you were on E10 - you had an E10 tariff with them - and you may have been disadvanted - by the meter switch - which you righly expected to just be a meter switch - not a tariff switch.

And make sure you make that point clear in not only complaint - but in any subsequent Ombudsman complaint.

E10 is not a cheap option - you normally pay a big premium for the 5 hrs afternoon and evening - in off-peak rates cf many an E7 deal.  About 5p here with EOn.

EDF complex meter tariff rates are published at -

https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/dm1904_pl2_rate_card_builed_aw4_v3.pdf

Let us know as if @SAC2334 - they can support more complex tariffs for new customers.

I am coming to the conclusion - that either a supplier switch (I gave up trying a couple of years ago - after a few hours on the phone - only SP quoted me - didn't try EDF - in my region and they were more expensive than EOn) - or an E7 style switch and I expect the expense of modern HHR panels - is on the cards here in next decade. At least then with E7 - easier to swtich/

In theory E10 timing - as it should be as set by the regional network operator - should then match old E10 timings - if it was standard E10.

Scot_39

Robin9 said:

It may not be a bad deal.

How old are your storage rads?  They may keep their heat ok.

Is there anything special that yoi need the afyetnpon for?

E10 timings - like E7 - are set regionally by network operators - not by electricity suppliers themselves.

My E10 gives 5 hrs overnight, 3 hrs in afternoon (1-4pm GMT / winter) and 2 hrs in evening (8-10pm GMT).

Not only does that work really well with old lossier NSH - but it also works well with any other plug in / boost style heating needs.And allows things like Washing machines, ovens / hobs etc - to be run at sensible / semi-sensible times off peak.

Yes E7 is often a cheaper off peak tariff - but it is no good if need to pay peak rates for other use - particularly heating in evenings in winter. 

And the savings - won't pay the literally £3000+ as of 2018/9  - I was quoted for an upgrade of 3 old NSH heaters - even over decades.  And the next stage of intelligence - for variable time charging - in case E7 does slowly disappear - still appears unclear.

Gerry1

Scot_39 said:

I expect the expense of modern HHR panels - is on the cards here in next decade. At least then with E7 - easier to switch

I trust you meant HHR storage heaters !  Using panel heaters on daytime E7 rates would soon cause bankruptcy...

JameelU

Thanks all for your comments and feedback. I have made it clear that they said they had a E10 smart meter to replace otherwise I would not have upgraded to the smart meter. E10 is better for me as I have two young children who shower after school so the afternoon off-peak hours come in to keep the water hot in our boiler. Our storage heaters are quite old (20 years), so I don't think they will keep the heat retention especially come the winter period. They are also expensive to replace.

Unfortunately, I need to wait for the central database to be updated with the correct meter information, as I contacted EDF and was told that this can take 1-2 weeks. 

[Deleted User]

Hi,

think the afternoon hours is just a heater boost, not a whole of house cheaper rate usage.

Scot_39

Gerry1 said:

Scot_39 said:

I expect the expense of modern HHR panels - is on the cards here in next decade. At least then with E7 - easier to switch

I trust you meant HHR storage heaters !  Using panel heaters on daytime E7 rates would soon cause bankruptcy...

Yes - HHR NSH panels - sorry.

Thought the one implied the other - do you get HHR certified non-storage heaters ?

Gerry1

Scot_39 said:

Gerry1 said:

Scot_39 said:

I expect the expense of modern HHR panels - is on the cards here in next decade. At least then with E7 - easier to switch

I trust you meant HHR storage heaters !  Using panel heaters on daytime E7 rates would soon cause bankruptcy...

Thought the one implied the other - do you get HHR certified non-storage heaters ?

Yup, if it's High Heat Retention it's a storage heater and a reasonable option if you don't have gas or a heatpump.  Wasn't trying to trip you up,  just didn't want anyone to think panel heaters would be the way to go.

Jonboy_1984

Most older storage heaters only have a type of brick to store the heat so the heat they can store doesn’t change with age.

They will likely have two or three elements in between the bricks and it’s possible some of these have failed over time. They cost about a tenner each and, once the power is off, can normally be replaced with a screwdriver by anyone reasonably handy.

If the heaters are over 25 years old it is worth searching the model number online to see if the bricks contain asbestos which is ok if left in the heater but not something I would mess with DIY.

Where the more modern ones do win is they have a fan that runs on peak supply to extract more heat when you want it, this does need an extra supply cable added at point of install.