Economy 10?

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My parents have night storage heaters and currently get a boost of electricity through the night which heats up the night storage heaters through the day. My dad says their energy company (Npower) controls their meter and switches the electric on and off. It is not an economy 7 meter they have, its called a telefoto meter. I’m just wondering if there are any other companies which do this boost or if you can suggest anything else as their electricity is due to go up from £128 a month to £225 a month. They live in a 2 bedroomed bungalow and are retired, they can’t afford to pay this.

I should probably also say that there is no gas on their street, so that is not an option.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Comments

  • nPower
    nPower Posts: 1,319 Organisation Representative
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    katwylam wrote: »
    My parents have night storage heaters and currently get a boost of electricity through the night which heats up the night storage heaters through the day. My dad says their energy company (Npower) controls their meter and switches the electric on and off. It is not an economy 7 meter they have, its called a telefoto meter. I’m just wondering if there are any other companies which do this boost or if you can suggest anything else as their electricity is due to go up from £128 a month to £225 a month. They live in a 2 bedroomed bungalow and are retired, they can’t afford to pay this.

    I should probably also say that there is no gas on their street, so that is not an option.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks



    Hi katwylam

    Thank you for posting, I'm sorry to hear your parents Direct Debit amount has increased. I will be happy to take a look into the payments if the account holder would like to send me an email (using the address from my profile) with your account details.

    Thanks

    Vicky :)
    Official Company Representative"
    I am the official company representative of nPower. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE.
    If we ask you to contact us, please do so using helpandsupport@npower.com - MSE Forum has temporarily allowed the display of our contact details in our signature due to a technical issue with our profile
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,098 Forumite
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    edited 5 September 2018 at 12:16PM
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    A DD increase of that scale is nothing to do with price increases. It is almost certainly because they have not been submitting regular reads, their bills have been estimated, and now following an actual read, they have received a big catch up bill, with a consequent hike in the DD.
    First thing to do is check the last bill against the meters. if it's not based on actual reads, submit them at once and get an accurate rebilling. Then submit reads at least every quarter.
    AFAIK, there is no such thing as a telefoto meter. Do you mean a teleswitched meter? These switch between night and day rate by picking up a radio signal, hence the name. The older E7 meters are switched by means of a built in clockwork mechanism, which is often innaccurate.
    They are not on E10 unless they also receive a 3 hour cheap rate period during the day. Check their bill, it should be obvious if it's E7 or E10 by the name.
    Every provider offers E7, and a switch is easily done via a comparison site: you just need their postcode and the annual kWh usage figures on each register. Only a few providers offer E10, and any attempt to switch away from the legacy provider without new metering is likely to end in tears. Because of their limited availability, they do no tappear on the comp sites either.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • katwylam
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    Yes, I believe they do receive 3 hours cheap electric in an afternoon.

    I also believe they do submit meter readings, my Dad is quite conscious about the electricity bills given their age and income. It must be a teleswitched meter, I was only going off the information my Dad told me.

    Can you suggest what the best type of alternative fuel may be, as presumably they may have to go down that route?

    Thanks
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 31,855 Forumite
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    With no gas there will not really be any other cheaper options for heating. Firstly make sure that the registers are being billed the right way round, it is surprising how many are not resulting in large bills. You need to find their annual kWh consumption on each register and look at switching. Not all suppliers support E10, some will support it completely, some will take it on as E7 and some not at all. None of the comparison sites will show it so you will have to do some work calculating the cost. It may also be worth switching to an E7 meter which will completely open up the market to them but they will lose that afternoon boost. Start your research here https://economy10.com/overview/list-of-suppliers/
  • katwylam
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    That's great, thank you for your help
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,098 Forumite
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    molerat's advice is spot on. Forget about switching fuels: you have already said that gas is not an option. Get hold of the recent bills and reads and do as suggested. Such an increase in DD can only be due to a catch up bill, a misread, or (very rarely) a faulty meter.
    E10 does give you fewer switching options, but it can be good for a property occupied all day.
    Are they perhaps using other forms of electric heating as well as NSH's during day-rate hours? If so, this usage will be at peak rate.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • ecclebrick
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    I just swapped my E10 to them, they are a new renewables company, small, but reasonably low prices
  • ecclebrick
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    The company is Economy7 energy, they take on E10 also.
  • FullForce
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    ecclebrick wrote: »
    Try swapping to Economy7energy .

    Please don't, not to that supplier or any other whilst you have E10 metering in place.

    Only the legacy supplier is obligated to support the E10 meter you have.
    (One suppliers E10 is not the same as anothers, unlike E7)
  • Richie-from-the-Boro
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    Look switching E10 suppliers for a better deal is never a success. Tiny and wholly uncompetitive market support means they all charge fractionally the same.

    E10=10 hours of cheaper - E7=7 hours of cheaper.
    Most suppliers will swap to the much cheaper E7 without the need for a meter change, they simply total both day/night counters and average them for billing.

    99% of all UK meters are tele-meters. The 3 daytime hours is the 'boost' not the other way round. £2400pa is three times my consumption and double the average, I too am NSCH and all electric.

    Online account will give the O/P stats including the 'tariff' discounts meter reads seasonal use and the critical kWh per annum. kWh is the tool to understanding the A/P's actual real-time use.

    Knowing how to even use night store heating effectively is something many many people have not one clue about. So tariff, online best deal, regular meter reads per month, stop or reduce day use or install and extra NStoreH in the living area and go to E7. The more storage of cheaper [30%] night heat the less less use of the expensive day and a much safer and "comfortable" the AP's will be.
    Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ
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