Economy 7 without storage heaters

dealyboy

OP ... you don't need night storage heaters to have an E7 tariff. I have been on E7 contracts with several suppliers in recent years and do not have NSHs or an extra circuit for off-peak devices. I think perhaps there has been a misunderstanding.

If you have two registers on your meter (off-peak, peak) then it is your choice to have a single rate tariff (two readings one rate) or economy 7, noting that you may need to phone to get the tariff as some suppliers' online systems cannot cope if the database has the meter down as a single rate meter.

I you have a single register smart meter your supplier should be able to arrange for it to be changed to E7 through their smart meter team.

Flynnyyy

Cheers for all the responses, I’ll get back onto the many suppliers on Monday! Looks like I don’t need NSHs after all then. As long as I can get something that is wifi controlled too for when we are (rarely!) off work at the same time for a few days and are in bed at normal times! 

To answer a few of the questions though:

Currently with Scottish Power on their standard online tariff. My DD over the last couple of years has gone from £70 a month all the way to £350 and is now back at £160. This is for around 8000kwh a year - a lot for a 1 bed flat but one of us is up and using electricity around 20 hours of the day most of the time. 

The heaters I had prior to the flood were convection heaters, one in the living room/kitchen and one in the bedroom and were ample sufficient. As mentioned, with doors open, the larger one in the living room could heat the whole place, however with working and sleeping arrangements we’d need the doors closed quite often so as not to disturb each other when one of us is sleeping/working. Looking on my app there is a noticeable large spike in energy used when they were on, along with the hot water storage. Ill
also be looking to get appliances with timers/delays on so they can be used overnight too. 

Spoke to Scottish Power earlier and they told me they’re not even offering an E7 tariff currently, although they were when I first enquired a few weeks ago before the flood! 

I’ve noticed from the EV Tariffs that I’ve looked at I would need a dedicated EV charger to qualify, which I don’t have or need, and cannot get where I live for logistical reasons. Also my car doesn’t qualify through Octopus either. Although I did see a tariff earlier with E.on that didn’t seem to mention the requirement for an EV charger - but from memory that was only 5 hours of cheap electric overnight rather than 7. 

Reed_Richards

The house I bought in 1987 was on an Economy 7 tariff although it had never had or never did have storage heaters.  Smart meters did not exist back then and there was nothing I could do about it.  I sold it in 2019 by which time it had a first generation smart meter but I never sought to change to a single rate tariff; I don't think I even knew that I could.  Any restrictions being imposed now must only apply to new customers; there must be lots of others on a legacy Economy 7 tariff.    

Swipe

Reed_Richards said:

Any restrictions being imposed now must only apply to new customers; there must be lots of others on a legacy Economy 7 tariff.    

Flynnyyy said:

Spoke to Scottish Power earlier and they told me they’re not even offering an E7 tariff currently, although they were when I first enquired a few weeks ago before the flood!

If this is the case, it could sadly signify the beginning of the end for economy 7. I'll definitely be watching this space. I think I'll now be holding off splashing out thousands on replacement modern HHR storage heaters as long as my old ones are still functional.

Flynnyyy

Swipe said:

Reed_Richards said:

Any restrictions being imposed now must only apply to new customers; there must be lots of others on a legacy Economy 7 tariff.    

Flynnyyy said:

Spoke to Scottish Power earlier and they told me they’re not even offering an E7 tariff currently, although they were when I first enquired a few weeks ago before the flood!

If this is the case, it could sadly signify the beginning of the end for economy 7. I'll definitely be watching this space. I think I'll now be holding off splashing out thousands on replacement modern HHR storage heaters as long as my old ones are still functional.

To be honest, I was on the online chat as their phone lines are only Mon-Fri and I wasn’t really convinced by what they they said. When I first asked for the tariff rates they just sent me a link showing the E7 times per area. When I pointed out there were no prices on said link, they then decided there was no E7 tariff in my area. Given the duff info I’ve had from their online chat in the past, I’m inclined not to believe a word they say and I’ll be ringing them tomorrow anyway, just in case. 

Scot_39

There were literally still millions on e7 in last Ofgem breakdown i read - 3.5m of the estimated 4m on mulirate metering as of 2020.

Bit old now - those figures from 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2020/08/statutory_consultation_extending_protections_for_non-e7_restricted_meter_customers_slc_22g.pdf


Scottish Power probably have one of if not the the biggest range of legacy all electric heating - including vanilla fixed tou e7 - and a raft complex / restricted metering systems - like whitemeter, comfort plus, weathercall etc.

https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-toolkit/electric-heating


They are iirc the supplier with the highest number of RTS controlled systems (share and even possibly absolute) and suspect are currently struggling to support those customers.

And their online tool just quoted me a 2 rate peak off peak standard variable and fix.  Have you asked for a price quote at your address ?

Flynnyyy

That Scottish Power link is the exact one they sent me on the online chat yesterday when I asked for prices. They even told me I was region number 23 after I gave them my postcode and account info. When I pointed out there was no prices on that link, they said E7 wasn’t available in my area. 

Your reply is exactly why I don’t believe a word they say on that online chat. 

Could you send me the link you used for the 2 rate quote please? Every time I try it only returns single rate tariffs, unless I’m doing something wrong - which is entirely feasible!

Swipe

Flynnyyy said:

Every time I try it only returns single rate tariffs, unless I’m doing something wrong - which is entirely feasible!

That's probably because the national database recognises your meter as a single rate meter currently. Some suppliers give you the option of choosing between E7 and Single Rate as part of their online tool but those that don't just deliver results based on the registered meter type.

Spoonie_Turtle

Just for info, if you can find the tariff rate cards for a supplier it will show you single rate and Economy 7 tariffs.  Unlikely to show you any fixes though, the rate cards are usually for the SVT.

For Octopus* you go to https://octopus.energy/tariffs/ put your postcode in, DON'T click 'get a quote' just scroll down (and click 'domestic' filter to make it easier).

*Full disclosure, I am an Octopus customer but if I knew how to see any of the other suppliers' full range of tariffs I'd be telling you how as well.

Ooh, actually: https://www.eonnext.com/tariff-search

https://www.so.energy/our-tariffs/

https://plans.ovoenergy.com/

^none of those are a recommendation, just what I could find available

lohr500

Links to the 1st July rate cards for EDF can be found about half way down this page : 

https://www.edfenergy.com/gas-and-electricity/price-change