Tomato Energy Lifestyle Tariff... Smart Meter related question

Steve139

Hi All,

I live in an electric only flat and looking to switch from EON Next to one of Tomato Energy's lifestyle tariffs.

For the TE Lifestyle tariff there are different Unit Rates applicable for different time periods during a day, see  below:

    Time Period:         Unit Rate:

    00:00 to 01:00  -   23.2628p/kWh

    01:00 to 06:00  -   05.0040p/kWh

    06:00 to 09:30  -   23.2628p/kWh

    09:30 to 11:30  -   14.0427p/kWh

    11:30 to 20:30  -   23.2628p/kWh

    20:30 to 22:30  -   14.0427p/kWh

    22:30 to 24:00  -   23.2628p/kWh

My question is, through out the day will Tomato Energy automatically update the Unit Rate (p/kWh) on my SMETS2 Smart Meter when there's been a time period switch?... ie so that the meter at all times displays the correct daily running usage cost.

I ask this question because I've noticed with EON Next when there's been a quarterly price hike or price drop, my Smart meter hasn't always been updated straight away and sometimes I've had to ring EON to get them to do whatever they need to do to update my Smart Meter to show the correct Credit Unit Rate. Hopefully, this won't be the case with Tomato Energy.

Many thanks

PS: This may not be relevant but I don't have an EV or Solar Panels, so just a bog standard  electricity user

Spoonie_Turtle

Do you mean the smart meter or the In-Home Display?  I doubt the IHD would be updated, it's best to have it on the power draw screen rather than the cost screen. 

Steve139

Oh apologies, it's the IHD I was referring to.

QrizB

In principle Tomato could make the IHD display the correct prices; the smart meter supports (at least) four different TOU tariff rates, and Lifestyle is only quoting three.

However, that would require a degree of sophistication from Tomato that, put politely, seems to be lacking based on comments in the Tomato thread. So I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Steve139

@Spoonie_Turtle... I'm in my 60's, retired and frankly not very technically minded, please explain what you mean by power draw screen and how can I keep track of the daily usage cost if the IHD is not updated with the current correct Unit Rate?

Also, I assume Bills generated by Tomato Energy will show a breakdown of usage during each time period when calculating the total bill due?

Steve139

@QrizB... thanks and apologies I didn't realise there was a separate Tomato Energy thread. Please see my prev comments, so I presume the Tomato energy Bill at least will have a breakdown else how does one know if one is being billed correctly?

QrizB

Steve139 said:

QrizB... thanks and apologies I didn't realise there was a separate Tomato Energy thread. Please see my prev comments, so I presume the Tomato energy Bill at least will have a breakdown else how does one know if one is being billed correctly?

I've not seen a Tomato bill - there might be one in that other thread - but yes, I would expect them to give you a breakdown, for exactly the reason you describe.

tlcgrantham

yes they do give you a breakdown according to each priced slot. Tomatos My Watts will show your use and cost every three hours or so. 

Steve139

@tlcgrantham... ok that's good to know, so there is a way of keeping an eye on the running usage cost. 

lohr500

In the two months I was with Tomato, they never updated the Smart Meter with the correct time of use rates.
It still showed the old EDF rates.

And because the actual meter was never updated, the in house display also failed to display correct information.

If you do switch to Tomato and have a smart phone, the best thing to do is to download the free Bright App and enrol for free.

You can then set up a custom tariff in the App for the Tomato Lifestyle times/prices and then the App will give you a good indication of your daily cost.

It isn't real time but for tracking usage it is pretty useful.

Steve139

@lohr500... I've seen this Bright App mentioned in a few other thread too, may I ask why you only stayed with them for 2months?

As I mentioned I'm currently with EON and paying 25.76p/kWh Unit Rate and 67.88p/day SC!... for an all electric property the heating costs are killing me! 

I understand from reading reviews that getting through to TE Customer Service can be difficult and some customers haven't received bills on time, but I would happily put up with this if it means I paying a lower Unit Rate and SC and reducing my bill