Suppliers installing smart meters for new customers
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Moved into a new property which has a strange setup. Oil central heating, so only an electric meter, in a very awkward place. An economy 7 meter, coming on Spark Energy's default tariff of about 23p/kWh daytime rate. Given the oil heating, we use very minimal electricity during the night.
To sort out this mess, it would make sense to switch to a smart meter and then to a normal tariff. It seems all the suppliers are advertising smart meters for their existing customers. Are there any suppliers which will fit smart meters for new customers, rather than waiting months?
I saw Bulb has a 'smart tariff', but that seems to be targeted at electric cars, with a peak evening rate of about 44p/kWh is scarily worse than economy 7, especially given our main load is the electric oven. (For the record, the old place was on a single-rate tariff of about 10.8p/kWh from iSupplyEnergy). I've also found Agile Octopus, which looks slightly better (more variability, max 35p/kWh in the peak). I'm unclear if there are minimum contract terms for these (or whether we can get a smart meter fitted and then switch away - happy to pay a £30 severance fee if needed).
Are there any other suppliers who will fit smart meters for new customers, rather than just putting them on a waiting list?
To sort out this mess, it would make sense to switch to a smart meter and then to a normal tariff. It seems all the suppliers are advertising smart meters for their existing customers. Are there any suppliers which will fit smart meters for new customers, rather than waiting months?
I saw Bulb has a 'smart tariff', but that seems to be targeted at electric cars, with a peak evening rate of about 44p/kWh is scarily worse than economy 7, especially given our main load is the electric oven. (For the record, the old place was on a single-rate tariff of about 10.8p/kWh from iSupplyEnergy). I've also found Agile Octopus, which looks slightly better (more variability, max 35p/kWh in the peak). I'm unclear if there are minimum contract terms for these (or whether we can get a smart meter fitted and then switch away - happy to pay a £30 severance fee if needed).
Are there any other suppliers who will fit smart meters for new customers, rather than just putting them on a waiting list?
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Comments
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Why not just switch to a sensible non-E7 tariff and start saving immediately? Just because you have an E7 meter doesn't mean you have to be on E7. You just give the new supplier night and day readings and they do the sums.
Of course if your new supplier is keen to fit one then you'll get one, but having one is not a prerequisite for getting off a ludicrous tariff.
I've just moved to SSE for gas and apparently they'll want to fit smart meters....no calls about it yet though.0 -
That's an option, however reading the meter would still require a stepladder and risk of lacerations. The in-home display would make it a lot easier to keep track of what energy is being used.
(Spark have also decided that the previous occupant used 14000kWh per year and thus set the monthly direct debit to £200. A smart meter might mean they get the message that the usage is nowhere near that without having to wait until winter)0 -
You don t have to mess around switching meters.All smart Eco 7 meters will be accepted by every other supplier who offers Eco 7, as a normal dumb meter.
I checked Eco 7 tariffs a couple of days ago and there were a few suppliers where they would be the cheapest in the UK against single tariff billing even with an Eco 7 tariff using less than 20% night rate..eg Symbio, Bulb ( with the referral fee of £50 and Yorkshire Energy stood out as the best deals.
Symbio rates for South Yorks were Day /13.35 kwh..Night 11p kwh and only 10.50 p daily charge..Yorkshire Energy prices were similar.
Personally I use an extending mirror to reach awkward placed meters, smart or dumb and rarely failed to get a reading as a meter reader for 20 years0 -
Unfortunately the meter is cunningly concealed behind a hatch, which is only accessible via a complicated sliding motion, when standing on a stepladder and leaning over a ledge at a dangerous angle. It's really not safe to do this on a regular basis.
That Symbio tariff isn't bad - I'm happy to look at E7 tariffs, but need to fix the meter issue first.
(the property is rented, hence I can't rip up the installation and start again).0 -
Why not just switch to a sensible non-E7 tariff and start saving immediately? Just because you have an E7 meter doesn't mean you have to be on E7. You just give the new supplier night and day readings and they do the sums....
That is, on the face of it, a misrepresentation of the general situation, which appears to be based on your very limited experience of a small, select number of suppliers.
Only a handful of suppliers actually support that possibility; the vast majority do not.0 -
That is, on the face of it, a misrepresentation of the general situation, which appears to be based on your very limited experience of a small, select number of suppliers.
Only a handful of suppliers actually support that possibility; the vast majority do not.
Welcome to the forum.
I have an E7 meter and a non-E7 tariff. and I personally have had accounts with British Gas, E-on and OVO(my present supplier) who all use the method described by 'Tall Dave' i.e. If I use, say, 1,000kWh on the day register(peak) and 200kWh on the off-peak, I am billed for 1,200kWh at the single non-7 rate.
Others on this forum have reported that many other companies adopt the above method. see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5608072
While I also might have only a 'very limited experience of a small, select number of suppliers.';) the only company I have used that does not allow adding of the two registers is Scottish Power.0 -
You might not get a smart meter. I have a relative with an awkwardly placed high level meter at the top of their stair. They accepted their utility company’s offer of a smart meter and when the installer arrived he refused to fit it as he said it wouldn’t be safe for him to do so.0
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That is, on the face of it, a misrepresentation of the general situation, which appears to be based on your very limited experience of a small, select number of suppliers.
Only a handful of suppliers actually support that possibility; the vast majority do not.
Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us with the facts that back up your potentially sweeping statement (or is it a misrepresentation?).
To reiterate, I've been buying energy for over 30 years, have never used an E7 tariff and every property I've lived in has had an E7 meter. I've never encountered a supplier who was unable to handle the non-E7 use of an E7 meter. I've used big suppliers (npower, Eon,EDF, British Gas) and not so big (Ovo, Zog, So, Affect, Pure Planet that I can remember).
I'm keen learn how come my very limited experience has left me with such an erroneous view of the market. It's a shame you've only joined MSE in the last few hours because you've obviously got so much more knowledge than I've managed to acquire from almost 13 years reading & contributing.
So for the benefit of everyone, perhaps you could quantify your figures?
What is "a handful"?
What is "the vast majority"?
I'm sure with that information myself and others will be able to see where our years of misunderstanding and misrepresentation have come from.0 -
Welcome to the forum.
I have an E7 meter and a non-E7 tariff. and I personally have had accounts with British Gas, E-on and OVO(my present supplier) who all use the method described by 'Tall Dave' i.e. If I use, say, 1,000kWh on the day register(peak) and 200kWh on the off-peak, I am billed for 1,200kWh at the single non-7 rate.
Others on this forum have reported that many other companies adopt the above method. see [link removed]
While I also might have only a 'very limited experience of a small, select number of suppliers.';) the only company I have used that does not allow adding of the two registers is Scottish Power.
May I first thank you for your welcoming me to this forum.
So to clarify, based on your admitted "very limited experience of a small, select number of suppliers", you have already uncovered at least one supplier from the four suppliers you are any experience with (4 suppliers represents only about 5% of the total number of electricity suppliers) that does not support the assertion of "Talldave".
I thank you for that confirmation, as limited as it is.
I have taken the opportunity to check out the thread you have also referred me to.
Perhaps I can summarise that thread as follows:
1. The OP there only has information on the following suppliers:
a) Npower - says 'yes' as stated by one MSEer, but I'm not sure I agree with that. There are posts on this site to the contrary, but I am not allowed to post links
b) Scottish Power - Says unsure, but probably No. You also confirm No.
c) Iresa - Says Yes. But they are no longer trading. When that post was made, I will tell you that in the majority, if not all, of supply regions, any customer of that supplier would always be better off on E7 than the equivilent single rate tariff irrespective of usage. So perhaps the supplier would agree, but it would not be in customers interest in the vast majority of cases. (See also post#5 of thread)
d) Avro - says yes, but that is incorrect.
The confusion possibly arose as the Avro E7 tariff has the same unit rate for both high & low usage, which also coincides with that unit rate that applies to their single rate tariff. Same applies for their daily standing charge. (So, effectively the same outcome, but if you have an E7 meter, you will be placed on their E7 tariff)
e) Eon - says Yes. I agree
f) British Gas - says Yes. I agree
g) Sainsburys - Says Yes. But at the time of the post, Sainsburys was a white label of BG, so I would not seek to disagree with the answer at that time. However, today Sainsburys is a white label of PS Energy UK Limited, (who yopu may know better as Powershop), a wholly owned subsidiary of Npower. See (a) above.
h) Affect Energy - Says yes. I have no experience of this small supplier, so cannot comment. Assume correct.
The responses within that thread go on to include these further suppliers:
i) Flow Energy - indicated as Yes. I have no experience of this small supplier, so cannot comment. Assume correct.
j) RHE & Ebico - indicated as Yes. I believe this to be correct
k) EDF - indicated as Yes, but I'm not sure I agree with that. There are posts on this site to the contrary, but I am not allowed to post links
l) UW - indicated as believed to be yes. I have no experience of this supplier, so cannot comment. (I'm not sure we can discuss this supplier here anyway)
m) Everwarm - indicated as Yes, although question over it was intentional. I've never even heard of this electricity supplier.
Maybe they meant Eversmart? In which case they operate a similar tariff structure to Avro.
n) Usio - indicated as Yes. Another supplier that has since ceased to trade.
o) Utility Point - Indicates as yes. But UP does not even seem to offer any E7 tariffs any more (as least in the supply regions I've checked). So probably you have to have a single rate tariff with them.
p) Peoples Energy - says Yes. I have no experience of this supplier, so cannot comment. Assume correct.
q) Bulb Energy - says No (although they may have done in the past). I agree
r) Yorkshire Energy - says Yes. Another supplier who, in at laest a number of regions, customers will always be better off on their E7 tariff than their equivilent single rate tariff. (see post#22 as an example)
s) First Utility - says Yes. I believe this to be correct
t) Octopus - says Yes. I believe this to be correct
So that is 20 suppliers listed in a thread specifically asking "Which Suppliers Allow Single Rate Elec Tariffs on Dual Reading (Economy 7) Meter", of which
9 - yes without challenge (includes those suppliers I have no experience of)
4 - yes, but disputed
2 - Yes , but it is actually an E7 tariff, only charges the same for high & low rates
1 - yes, but why you you?
2 - no, without challenge
2 - no longer trading
So there is only agreement on less than half of the 20 suppliers mentioned as supporting the billing method. And there are another approx. 50 suppliers that thread does not mention at all. (SSE being a notable exception of the Big 6 who do not support the method of billing)0 -
Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us with the facts that back up your potentially sweeping statement (or is it a misrepresentation?).
To reiterate, I've been buying energy for over 30 years, have never used an E7 tariff and every property I've lived in has had an E7 meter. I've never encountered a supplier who was unable to handle the non-E7 use of an E7 meter. I've used big suppliers (npower, Eon,EDF, British Gas) and not so big (Ovo, Zog, So, Affect, Pure Planet that I can remember).
I'm keen learn how come my very limited experience has left me with such an erroneous view of the market. It's a shame you've only joined MSE in the last few hours because you've obviously got so much more knowledge than I've managed to acquire from almost 13 years reading & contributing.
So for the benefit of everyone, perhaps you could quantify your figures?
What is "a handful"?
What is "the vast majority"?
I'm sure with that information myself and others will be able to see where our years of misunderstanding and misrepresentation have come from.
I trust my previous post answers all the questions you have posed
You may have 13 years of reading this site, but from your posting record, you appear to have had an almost 7 year break (save for 2 posts) in contributing (posting) from the period Dec 2012 and April 2019 using this particular user account. :cool:
And the user account you are currently using indicates it was only created in September 2009, less than 10 years ago.
Zog energy has never even supplied electricity
I wish you all a very good day 0
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