Guidance on Smart Meter (Dual tariff Scotland, Any tariff please)

The_Scottish_Man

Background:

I’ve lived in my house in Scotland for 26 years, a new build at the time. It’s an all-electric property with two meters, likely installed under the "Economy 10" or "White Meter" setup common back then. We use storage heaters and currently have both meters on a standard variable tariff with Scottish Gas.

The Issue:

Scottish Gas recently advised upgrading to a smart meter. When an engineer came to remove the meters and install a smart meter, they couldn’t proceed because their system doesn’t support a dual-tariff smart meter. I’ve been told to find another provider.

What I Need:

• A supplier that supports dual-tariff smart meters.
• A smart meter to monitor usage and savings.
• A simple solution that works for both general electricity and heating.

I’m open to any tariff such as Economy 10 or any other setup, as long as it’s practical and reliable. Any recommendations or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

The_Scottish_Man said:

... likely installed under the "Economy 10" or "White Meter" setup common back then.

Do you know exactly what tariff you're on? Is it Economy 10, Economy 7, ECO2020 etc? There are lots of options.

The_Scottish_Man said:

When an engineer came to remove the meters and install a smart meter, they couldn’t proceed because their system doesn’t support a dual-tariff smart meter.

There's some miscommunication here. Every supplier and every smart meter will support a dual-rate tariff. Up to four separate rates, even. It seems more likely that your current metering arrangement isn't one that can be simply replaced by a single smart meter.

Knowing exactly what tariff you have will help us to help you.

QrizB

There's a table towards the bottom of this webpage with a number of Scottish Power multi-rate electric heating tariffs. You're probably on one of these:
https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-toolkit/electric-heating

Billxx

You will need the appliances on the "overnight" meter rewired so they are all supplied by the 24 hour meter, and a timer inserted. All the major players are swapping the two meter customers to a single meter.  I believe they can support multiple rates based on time of day etc.

The_Scottish_Man

QrizB said:

Welcome to the forum.

The_Scottish_Man said:

... likely installed under the "Economy 10" or "White Meter" setup common back then.

Do you know exactly what tariff you're on? Is it Economy 10, Economy 7, ECO2020 etc? There are lots of options.

The bill just say's, "Standard Tarif" - that's all. Nothing like you described, would posting an image to my post of the two meter setup help?

Let me know

The_Scottish_Man said:

When an engineer came to remove the meters and install a smart meter, they couldn’t proceed because their system doesn’t support a dual-tariff smart meter.

There's some miscommunication here. Every supplier and every smart meter will support a dual-rate tariff. Up to four separate rates, even. It seems more likely that your current metering arrangement isn't one that can be simply replaced by a single smart meter.

Knowing exactly what tariff you have will help us to help you.

The engineer is gone now, so I cant get him back to re-do the work, I am afraid, that's why I am posting here.

QrizB

The_Scottish_Man said:

The bill just say's, "Standard Tarif" - that's all. Nothing like you described,

But charged at two separate rates? Or are you currently on a single-rate tariff? Details of the rates might help.

The_Scottish_Man said:

would posting an image to my post of the two meter setup help?
Let me know

Yes, a photo would help. It would also let us answer Billxx's question about whether you're going to need an electrician.

The_Scottish_Man said:

The engineer is gone now, so I cant get him back to re-do the work, I am afraid, that's why I am posting here.

That's OK, there are some knowledgeable folk on the forum. We can help you uderstand your options, and then you can call/email/message Scottish Power to get them back.

Alternatively, if you've lost confidence in SP, you can switch away and try again.

The_Scottish_Man

After double checking the bills, again so that I can be clear, both meters are on "Standard Variable Tarriff", on both meters. No other names, indications as to what they are.

One meter varies between 21 and 27 pence (rounding down) depending on time of year.
Othe meter varies the same.

Looking to just have a single meter which can do two jobs, that is all.

Will get an image soon.

Gerry1

You're still missing the point.  The Standard Variable Tariff can be single rate or multi-rate.  On the most recent statement, how are the metered units billed, is there only one rate applied (which will be shown ex VAT) or two, or even three?

QrizB

That sounds very much as though you're currently on a single-rate Ofgem-capped tariff. The variation from 21p to 27p will be a result of the cap being adjusted every 3 months, rather thn anything SP have chosen to do.

It should be trivial to replace your current meters with a smart meter. I'm baffled why the engineer said anything else.