Eon smart meter numbers don't make sense

We finally got a smart meter installed, having been forced off our old Heatwise tariff. We were told in the email from Eon that the times of the cheap periods would be one hour different in BST. The engineer who fitted the meter said it doesn't alter.

The portable display console has the time in BST, but the rates on it change as if it were in GMT eg the evening rate is supposed to start at 9 pm, it changed on the console at 8 pm precisely (the rate actually switched at 9:10 pm). None of the tariffs exactly match what we were quoted either. They are slightly cheaper.

If the console is getting its rates directly from the meter how can they change at different times ?
The total price of the electricity it thinks we have used is the same as it says on the meter, so it must be getting that data directly from the meter. Will that, at least, be accurate ?

It's a good job we checked as the engineer told us the times were all one hour earlier than they actually are so we were switching things on at all the wrong times. We have storage heaters wired to only come on at cheap rate so it is easy to see when the rate has actually changed. But if the times are inconsistent it's difficult to set things up to run over night during the cheap periods. We are assuming the rate changes for everything at once, storage heaters, hot water, and lights/sockets. There seems little point in having the console if most if the numbers on it are false. Our prices have risen so much that we have to be very careful, and I was hoping that the console would tell us when we were on cheap rate.
«1

Comments

  • thorganby
    thorganby Posts: 528
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    Forumite
    You have not stated which tariff you are now on and exactly which make/model of smart meter eon have fitted?

    There are regular posts about the removal of restricted hour tariffs and the resultant prices increases, so providing as much information as possible will help others facing this situation as well as yourself.

    Details of your new meter and a photo of you new meter setup would be helpful, so that posters can offer relevant advice.
  • Sandydog
    Sandydog Posts: 24
    First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    The engineer said that the new consoles do not do the 60 minute countdown to the rate change. We can see the 'current' rate on the console, except that it is wrong ! It changes on there 70 mins before it changes on the meter, and it is not the unit price we have been quoted either.

    We are on Eon EnergyPlan, which is their only Economy 10 tariff. We have storage heaters which are only on when the cheaper rate is on.

    The meter is a Toyota Landis Gyr+ E470 type 5424 SKU 1cellular. There is a second box for the storage heaters and hot water which is labelled 100A EHC1
  • thorganby
    thorganby Posts: 528
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    Forumite
    You are certainly paying quite a hefty premium to get 10 hours off peak compared to 7 hours off peak for each every one of those 10 hours and the day rates are very expensive.

    By choosing the E10 tariff you have severely limited what tariffs are available to you and eon's prices are certainly not competitive!

    https://www.eonenergy.com/content/dam/eon-energy-com/Files/about-eon/tariff-prices/eon-energyplan-credit-april-2019.pdf

    By opting for a much cheaper industry standard E7 tariff, I would have thought that topping up in the evening on day rate if necessary, would still work out cheaper than those eon rates!
  • Sandydog
    Sandydog Posts: 24
    First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    We will shop around once the new MPAN number is registered. But we are confident that nearly all our use will be during the cheap rate periods.

    Yes, economy 7 would be a little cheaper, but the quality of life would be much worse. Virtually all the heating is on in the afternoon and early evening. We switch it off at night or the house is too warm to sleep in. All cooking/ironing/vacuuming etc will be done at the cheap rate. One of us is home all day, and 82 years old. We don't want to be afraid to keep warm in the day time.

    We tried just heating water at night, and it was at best luke warm in the evenings after being diluted all day.

    But we will try to get a better deal elsewhere as soon as possible. Everyone says not to try until the MPAN is registered as we previously had two MPANs
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,586
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Forumite
    edited 19 October 2019 at 3:31PM
    I use 7200kwh a year to heat, light, cook etc and am on a single rate tariff costing .12p/kwh and .15p/day = around £930.

    If I could use a 50/50 split (which I can't) then the Eon E7 tariff would cost me £346 a year more and the E10 would be just over £400 a year more. Even your E10 off-peak rate is 1.5p more than my single rate.

    You really do need to reappraise your energy tariffs and look around for a better one
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • maxcy
    maxcy Posts: 46 Forumite
    matelodave wrote: »
    I use 7200kwh a year to heat, light, cook etc and am on a single rate tariff costing .12p/kwh and .15p/day = around £930.

    If I could use a 50/50 split (which I can't) then the Eon E7 tariff would cost me £346 a year more and the E10 would be just over £400 a year more. Even your E10 off-peak rate is 1.5p more than my single rate.

    You really do need to reappraise your energy tariffs and look around for a better one

    We are on an E7 tariff.
    12p /kWh peak
    10p/kWh low

    12.5p/day standing charge

    You really do need to reappraise your energy tariffs and look around for a better one. Even if you didn't use any electricity at low rate, this tariff would be cheaper than yours. But I'm sure you do use some electricity during the 7 hours every day that the E7 tariff would allow for, so you could save even more! :money:
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,586
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Forumite
    maxcy wrote: »
    We are on an E7 tariff.
    12p /kWh peak
    10p/kWh low

    12.5p/day standing charge

    You really do need to reappraise your energy tariffs and look around for a better one. Even if you didn't use any electricity at low rate, this tariff would be cheaper than yours. But I'm sure you do use some electricity during the 7 hours every day that the E7 tariff would allow for, so you could save even more! :money:

    thats pretty good, who are you with? although I'm not sure that I can be bothered to get a meter change to go onto an E7 tariff.
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • maxcy
    maxcy Posts: 46 Forumite
    I'm notsure the above tariff is available any more to new applicants, but I just took a look at a comparison site.

    For the Eastern region, you can get 7200kWh of electricity for £900.41 (fixed tariff)
    - so there's a £30 saving without changing the meter

    If you change your meter, and use an average of just 42% low rate (so not even 50%) then the cost of an E7 tariff would reduce to just £877.80 (fixed tariff)
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,586
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Forumite
    I cant use 40% without trying to get my wife doing the washing, ironing and vaccying between midnight and 7 am and TBH I've probably got more chance of getting myself onto the international space station.

    We mainly heat the house between 0700 and 2200 with a low level heat background during the night when it's cold. Even our hot water only uses around 1000kwh a year I doubt I could get my off peak consumption much above 25-30%.
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • Sandydog
    Sandydog Posts: 24
    First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    We will have at least 90% of our usage at the low rate. I appreciate there are cheaper tariffs but E7 would not work for us. We have got much cheaper e10 quotes or the option of a single tariff.

    But my original post was more about the console set up. It is still a hour out in its rate changes. What I would really like to know is whether the useage in £ shown on the smart meter is likely to be accurate, how to change the tariff to the actual one if not, and how to change the console to the correct times.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards