E.ON E7 to flat rate - tariff change

MultiFuelBurner

bereavementfather said:

Yes, I use about 35% of my energy at night. Loaded shifted as much as I can. Have a HP.

You use 65% of energy at the day rate then.

If you have a smart meter (all cheaper tariffs need them) I would move to tracker/Agile and then if prices increase on those then Cosy.

We have an ASHP and run a spreadsheet and compare all three of those against Flexible so we know what are options are.

Try the android Octopus Compare app when you are a customer and see what you can save choosing the latest tariffs against yours.

Swipe

The problem is that the E.On Next staff are very poorly trained. You get a different answer from whoever you speak to there.

bereavementfather

MattMattMattUK said:

bereavementfather said:

Netexporter said:

You might be better off on Octopus Cosy, as you have a heat pump.

Octopus cosy doesn't work for us as we don't have batteries - I think it's really bad that they advertise it as a HP when they have such an expensive rate. I've done the figures here and we'd have paid more on cosy.

You do not need batteries to make Cosy work, you just need to not heat your water or run the heating in the peak window, but that is easy with a heat pump, you have the heat pump warm the house up in the Cosy window which runs right up until the start of the peak rate and you heat your water tank up in the Cosy windows as well. It might not work if you do nothing to change your usage pattern, but that is not the point, you modify your usage pattern and you end up with considerable savings. 

I'm not sure that's the case, as I still have to cook during that period. We don't have gas at our property.

That sounds like an inefficient way to run a HP pump warm the house. We run full weather compensation when the ambient temperate is below 3 for a sustained period of time. 

I'm not convinced by Cosy.

bereavementfather

Netexporter said:

I'm not a massive fan of smart meters & the inheret complexity they will bring the energy market.

They bring choice, rather than complexity.

Can you show me the comparison site which takes your smart meter reads and tells you which is the best deal to be on for a given period?

How many smart tariffs do Octopus currently have, vs normal tariffs?

With the advent of smart tariffs and meters it will become impossible as a consumer to know whether you are on the cheapest deal. If you have a PhD in maths you might be able to...

dealyboy

bereavementfather said:

My real issue, is that 2 customer service agents have said that I can switch tariff but they've now said that isn't possible. I've raised a complaint with them. They've offered to switch me to a flat rate, but that's more expensive than what I'm on currently. 

Tbh, this experience reaffirms my view that the energy market is completely broken. 

I'm tempted to switch over to Octopus and one of their smart tariffs.

I'm not a massive fan of smart meters & the inheret complexity they will bring the energy market.

Hi OP ... just to go back to this for clarity.

I think it is likely that our contracts state that switching supplier or product incurs the exit fee (apart from the last 6 weeks). It states that in the 'new tariff' e-mail in my case. I've had that confirmed by two Energy Specialists today for my tariff 'Next fixed 12M v6'.

I agree with @Swipe that changing from E7 to single rate is not a change of product or tariff and therefore no exit fee applies.

Of course I'm not implying you do this, wiser and more experienced heads are looking into the Octopus options.

victor2

I have switched tariffs from Eon Next to Eon Next without penalty. When I took out a new fix, it had an exit penalty, but the rep said that wouldn't apply if I switched to another Eon Next tariff before hitting the penalty-free window. When I said there's nothing in the T&Cs that say that, he said they have the recording of that call to prove it.

When I later went to switch to another of their tariffs they said there would be an exit penalty. I told the rep what I'd been told and she put me on hold (for a very short while) to "go and listen to the call". She returned saying there would be no penalty, but as it had already been applied, she would credit my account the same amount, which she did. She told me the tariff I'm now on has an exit penalty, but the same applies.

The T&Cs say:

You can arrange to switch to another of
our tariffs or to another supplier at any
time without giving notice, but if you switch
supplier before we send you your renewal
notice we may charge you an exit fee. See
your confirmation letter for details.

So, not entirely clear, but worth checking your T&Cs OP, and seeing what they say. Does in theory mean you could switch to their standard tariff, with no exit penalty, then switch away to another supplier, without penalty, which people have reportedly done in the past.

QrizB

bereavementfather said:

That sounds like an inefficient way to run a HP pump warm the house.

It might deliver a lower COP and use more electricity, but given the lower price it's not simple to conclude that it would be more expensive.

To take an extreme example, a COP of 2 at 10p/kWh is half as expensive as a COP of 3 at 30p/kWh.

Nevertheless I would tend to agree that, as prices currently stand, Agile or Tracker are likely to prove cheaper than Cosy.