Dual tariff economy 7

cam269

Hello,
My parents are looking to upgrade their economy 7 storage heaters and are currently on a dual tariff which if possible they would like to stay on. However, they want a smart meter as advised by the heating company but Octopus who is their energy supplier (they were formerly with Bulb) say they aren't able to supply a meter at the moment and do not know when they can.
So I thought maybe my folks could/should switch suppliers but I am struggling to find a supplier who do dual tariff & if they would supply the area they live in?
Any suggestions what I should do?
By having a smart meter installed prior to changing the heating system would save them £2000!
Thanks

[Deleted User]

By having a smart meter installed prior to changing the heating system would save them £2000!

How have you come to that conclusion?

lohr500

When you say they are on a dual tariff, is this the Economy 7 that you also mention their storage heaters work on?
If so, the existing meter setup should already be supporting the Economy 7 tariff.

And if they are on Economy 7, why are the heating company saying they need a smart meter?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

are the upgrading the storage heaters or going for some fancy heaters that the 'heating company' is trying to talk them into?

Scot_39

Nearly all suppliers do a variant on E7 - including Octopus.

Edit : So are you sure they are on E7 meters - their are other legacy multirate meters - and Octopus of old - werre billing those at E7 tariff rates according to some other posts here.

And although many of their tariffs do require smart meters - it is unlikely E7 would.

Smart meters - despite some remaining sceptics - are in very high demand in a few supply regions of the UK - with meters and equally as likely the experienced fitters unavailable in sufficient numbers to meet that demand.

So whereas in some regions it can be quick and people are being contacted - in others - some are waiting 6+ weeks.

But smart meters do not change the fundamental level of your energy use or timings - only they can do that. Or even significantly the cost of your energy use (a few deals e.g. fixes that rely on them are only currently a few % cheaper than SVT) - unless you go onto one of Octopus's tariffs specials like agile or tracker with one (and not convinced entering winter the best time to jump on either.)

The IHD that comes with a smart meter - if they even get one - just helps to nag you to make savings - that you might otherwise not.  That works for some - not others.

I would be highly dubious therefore of any claims as to savings in the order of £2000 - and just wonder what other interesting "facts" this "heating company" is predicting as part of it's sales effort - and more to the point what heaters they are planning on replacing your parents Night Storage Heaters with.

(My fear - given that sort of figure - would be they are offering some sort of cheap panel heaters at say £300 a pop rather than modern NSH - upto £1000 at a reasonable size for models like Quantum RF - often mentioned in posts here - and saying SR better to drive them. But Octopus will even bill E7 at flat rate from 2 meter readings if ask them nicely - if really want to do that - and I would say the do not - so no immediate meter change required.)

As a standard panel heater - would likely be cheaper to run on standard rate - than say E7's traditional premium daytime peak rate - if only ran at that day rate anyway.  But that wouldn't make it a better option - just a less expensive upfront option.

See this worked series of examples - tracked across many of the recent Ofgem price changes - of costings (for one region one supplier (note - E7 prices can still vary dramatically) - by another forumite @QrizB as the sort of costings getting the mix of tariff type and time of day (for charging / powering heaters) use timing wrong can induce

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78557202/#Comment_78557202

Gerry1

'Dual Tariff' can be misunderstood.

It can be confused with 'Dual Fuel' (having the same supplier for both gas and electricity).

Economy 7 is an example of a 'Two Rate' tariff.  E7 requires a two-rate meter, but it doesn't have to be smart.

Gerry1

Why do they want to upgrade their storage heaters?  What do they hope to achieve?

QrizB

cam269 said:

My parents are looking to upgrade their economy 7 storage heaters and are currently on a dual tariff which if possible they would like to stay on.

If they already have Economy 7, and want to stay on it, I can't see any reason for them to need a meter swap.

cam269 said:

By having a smart meter installed prior to changing the heating system would save them £2000!

Like everyone else has said, this statement makes very little sense. Exactly how will they save £2000 by having a smart meter fitted?

Spoonie_Turtle

It seems it's a very good job you posted here for advice, OP, from the limited information so far it sounds like you could well be stopping them making a very expensive mistake.

Newbie_John

You can have your old meter and ask Octopus to be moved away from E7 (different day night rates) to normal tarif (same rate through the day) - they'll do that over the phone.
We used to have E7 tariff because.. people before us had, even if we never had storage heaters - so by moving to normal tariff we saved couple hundreds £££ by having cheaper rate during the day.

Regarding smart meter with octopus - I was waiting for a year and always got message they're busy.. gave them a call and could choose multiple days in the next 30 days.. try calling?

cam269

Many thanks for the responses!!

The quotes we’ve had in are for Dimplex Quantum smart storage heaters throughout, the original storage heaters are older than the hills, they were installed when the property was built some 50/60 odd years ago. The current setup includes on and off peak (economy 7) the property is electric only, the whole estate is the same. The current storage heaters have a single supply to each of them from the consumer unit, the Dimplex quantum will require a duel supply as the work not only during off peak but also during peak demand should the need arise, this has a knock on effect that the consumer units will probably be required to be upgraded for the extra supplies needed, however we were advised that the secondary (peak) wiring would not be necessary if a smart meter was installed and the additional works for the consumer units would be negated as well.

I’ve read through a number of forums and the responses were broad regarding this topic, some saying duel supply only and others saying they can be installed using a single supply.

Again, thanks for responses/advice given.