Warning for Economy 7 electricity customers

Posted 4th Jan 2023 (Posted 18 h, 17 m ago)

We moved home 8 weeks back . The house is off grid for gas ( use LPG for heating) and was set up on an 'Economy 7' Tariff. From Midnight to 7am electricity was around 15p per KWh and during the day 46p. Found it very inconvenient to try and make use of the cheaper electricity, washer coming on overnight always woke us up and getting in the shower before 7am wasn't ideal either. The property had at sometime had storage heaters but they were long gone.
I never really thought about the costs until I had a price rise letter from my supplier a couple of weeks ago. From 1st January day rate was increasing to 51p but night rate was going down to 13.5p. This started me digging around and good old Martin Lewis came up trumps, saying Economy 7 tariffs were increasing around 7%. Decided we didn't need cheaper overnight price as it accounted for less than 10% of our use, enquired about going on regular Standard Variable tariff. I was surprised to find this cost just 36.44p a unit with the same standing charge. My monthly payment is reducing from £130 to £77. It's like a weight off my shoulders not feeling obliged to put the washer on overnight and being able to shower any time of day without feeling guilty.

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11 h, 51 m ago
just wait to April, you be back on 66p for your kWh when government help ends and with rise In April too.
unless government has a plan
5 h, 48 m ago
I finally changed our E7 over today . We’ve gradually used less and less electricity overnight , especially since fire safety advice is not to use your washer/dryer overnight which used to be the majority of ours . Two customer service reps from Octopus told me we could only do it with a smart meter , but when I queried it further they agreed that we could keep our very old meter and would just need to submit two readings each month , but would be all charged at the new single tariff. Saving £170 a year based on the January increased price .
15 h, 5 m ago
"just"

If you can load shift and are out during the day then economy 7 can even itself out or be cheaper (especially if you have night heaters).

I am on a modern equivalent on Octopus Intelligent which gives me 2330-0530 at 10p per kwh. I haven't used any peak electric since I went to Octopus (initially on Go) in Feb 22. I do have battery storage though.
14 h, 32 m ago
I'm on Octopus Go (haven't got an EV, but have solar/battery) but pay 15p for my night rate which I use at this time of year to charge my battery which then lasts the whole day until the next charging period (assuming zero sun).

Its horse for courses, if I didn't have a battery I would definitely not be on this tariff, I would be on the standard.
14 h, 38 m ago
Do you not though have to have the meter changed?
14 h, 37 m ago
From memory they just turn off the nighttime part of it (assuming its a digital meter). If its smart then its a backend change.
12 h, 40 m ago
I'm mystified how it goes up in price so much during the day, such a rip off!
12 h, 21 m ago
think about it as you getting a reduction at night when energy is less in demand, and partly to benefit from that, the prices are increased slightly during the day in comparison to standard rates, rather than the other way around
7 h, 8 m ago
Same here. Hardly use anything at night, so went on a normal tarrif (SVR) with an Eco 7 meter. Still have to give both meter readings a month at one unit price 0.34p. It's what works best for you.
5 h, 16 m ago

R1 is Cheap rate
3 m ago
Economy 7 all the way for us. Using it approx 45 night / 55 day. You do have to make it work for you .