Comparison sites say my meter is not Economy 7 but it is

grmoor

I was persuaded by Scottish Power to fit a dual smart meter (SMETS2) that records daytime and nighttime (E7) readings. It does more than this. It activates a second power supply to a separate distribution panel for storage heaters when E7 starts and then switches it off when E7 stops. In our region this is 00:00-07:00 GMT. I was worried it was controlled by RTS but they checked and the meter is programmed to do this.
Now here’s the strange thing. When I switched to Octopus I was originally on their Variable tariff with daytime and economy 7 rates. However, after a few months I used Octopus Compare to see which was the best tariff for me and the answer, surprisingly, was Octopus Go. I say surprisingly because Go is (or rather was before they withdrew it) an EV tariff with super cheap rates between 00:30 and 05:30. I checked with customer services if I could switch to it if I didn’t have an EV as it worked out cheaper and they said “go for it” so i did. It reduced my electric bill by £60 per month - not to be sniffed at. 

However, I just tried going on USWITCH to make sure I was still getting a good deal and it says my meter is not Economy 7 and I can’t select any E7 tariffs. It is an E7 meter and still shows the two readings when I press the buttons on the front.
How do I fix this? I know technically if you have a smart meter you don’t really need E7 readings, you just need to approve half hourly readings which I did to get this Go tariff and Octopus Compare shows me my energy consumption for every half hour of the day.
However, it’s stopping me from finding the best deals and is now only offering me a single rate option.
Any ideas how I fix?

QrizB

Look at your electricity bill for your MPAN. Is the first part 01 or is it 02?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_Point_Administration_Number

There are other comparison sites to uSwitch. I think some of those will let you specify what type of meter you have, rather than reading the info from the database.

QrizB

I've just checked and Compare the Market lets you choose single-rate or E7.

... although it won't let me enter two separate annual usage values, just a single one.

grmoor

Thanks but comparethemarket not working for me. Doesn’t display the screen capture properly. Even MSE energy comparison doesn’t work! The other problem I have is my energy tariff isn’t listed because it’s no longer available to new customers.
going to have to do a manual comparison I think (I.e. add up all the kWh for daytime and nighttime from my bills over the last year and try and find someone who will show me nighttime rates!

grmoor

Got it working now. It didn’t like my VPN.
exactly the same as USWITCH. Not giving me an E7 option either. 

The calculated Monthly spend is more than twice what it really is because it’s using the total kWh and a daytime rate. It’s got the wrong tariff on it as well says I am on Octopus Flexible. 
I think Octopus must be to blame here for providing incorrect information.
Groan, no idea how to fix this. If I contact Octopus I would have to fess up that I was seeing if the tariff I am on is the best for me.

QrizB

Is you MPAN an 01 or an 02?

grmoor said:

Groan, no idea how to fix this. If I contact Octopus I would have to fess up that I was seeing if the tariff I am on is the best for me.

My honest opinion? I don't think you'll find a conventional E7 tariff that's cheaper than Octopus Go. If you can cope with the fact you only get 5 hours of cheap-rate rather than 7, you might want to stick with it through the winter.

What are your two annual use numbers, kWh for night and day rates?

Scot_39

Always wondered how adding an EV on top of a multirate tariff like E7 would work

Quick scan of the Octopus Go page and T&Cs - a few other questions to add to the Profile Class 1/2 above 

1. Does Octopus Go still use register based billing or half hourly billing ?

I assumed half hourly since you had to grant permission - but on other smart tariffs like Snug for NSH its explicitly stated.

2 If half hourly

a) does your meter / IHD still accumulate both registers - or is one now frozen ?

b) when they switched you to Go - did they also change the 7 hour window for the heating restricted feed (the ALCS timing) from the original 7 hours to the new 5 hours ?

3 Snug

Could Snug give you more ALCS time and 6 hours 0030 to 0630  for fixed EV charging ?

vienna28

grmoor said:

When I switched to Octopus I was originally on their Variable tariff with daytime and economy 7 rates. However, after a few months I used Octopus Compare to see which was the best tariff for me and the answer, surprisingly, was Octopus Go. I say surprisingly because Go is (or rather was before they withdrew it) an EV tariff with super cheap rates between 00:30 and 05:30. I checked with customer services if I could switch to it if I didn’t have an EV as it worked out cheaper and they said “go for it” so i did. It reduced my electric bill by £60 per month - not to be sniffed at. 

However, I just tried going on USWITCH to make sure I was still getting a good deal and it says my meter is not Economy 7 and I can’t select any E7 tariffs. It is an E7 meter and still shows the two readings when I press the buttons on the front.
How do I fix this?

I believe there is a simple explanation for this:  USWITCH saw that you are on "Octopus Go" and wrongly thought you had an EV.   So at present you aren't on an E7 tariff so USWITCH won't be showing you any E7 tariffs.

So use the edit button on the far top right:

Then go to the edit on the E7 and tick yes to E7:

Once you put yes to E7 you will have to give all your details again.  Because you put yes to E7 you won't get showed the "Octopus Go" tariff.  So tick something like that you are on the Octopus flexible tariff.

All you want to do is see all the other companies E7 tariffs, so it doesn't matter if you say that you are on the Octopus flexible tariff.

QrizB

I can confirm that works for me too.