Complex meter: Refused Economy 7?

Thanks ​@Firedog , interesting, can't see them offering the full £7.5k as the systems are much cheaper than air to water installs.

Hi Infiltrator

Thanks for your contributions. I have now done a lot of research (and still researching) on air to air heat pumps.

I’m in a large house and most of what I read are saying positive things but recommend them for smaller properties or flats. If they are like AC systems which I am used to (lived in Middle East for 30 years) then I would need to install 11 units or install ducting which is not a feasible retrofit in this property.

Still waiting for a response from EDF on their proposed meter upgrade. I don’t think they are in much of a rush due to getting 3 meter readings and 2 standing charges now. Hopefully before the winter arrives there will be some positive news.

You possibly don't need the heating units in every room, our system has one unit in the hallway upstairs covering 2 bedrooms and a bathroom, not a huge house, the area covered by the single upstairs 2kw unit is about 36m2.

Our system is Panasonic, worth looking at some of their solutions, they're starting to offer different options other than just the traditional Aircon type units.

I'm in a FB group for THTC homeowners, it's trying to help homeowners understand the RTS switch off given the general lack of information that was originally available, it's generally Scottish rural properties with RTS, storage heaters and 3 meter 2 mpan setups, feedback from EDF customers isn't good. They're taking a hard line with the solutions being offered and the recent move to kick customers off the standard variable tariff and add a second standing charge has resulted in a few customers using their local MPs to raise complaints directly with EDF. Apparently 3 months compensation is being offered to cover the 2nd standing charge and higher tariff costs. EDFs communication has been abysmal, erratic and inconsistent.

The FB group I mentioned isn't a technical group, it's for general advice, but it's useful for sharing experiences and information across all suppliers and areas, for the more complex technical questions I'll refer group members to the very helpful and knowledgeable volunteers on this group.

Thanks again infiltrator for the information.

I will continue looking at the air to air units but I don’t think it is feasible for me. My upstairs is 120m2 and downstairs a good deal larger.

However I am very interested in the information you passed on about others experiences with EDF.

I will definitely raise the issue with my local MPs to make them aware of what is going on with EDF.

I had a quick look for the FB group and all I could find was THTC Customers, is this the group to which you were referring?

Having managed to glean quite a lot of useful information from the OVO forum I feel more knowledgeable going forward. I am not going to throw in the towel. 

Yes that's the group. 

Personally I think raising the issue with your MP won't make any difference, EDF, albeit dragging their heels with Scottish RTS customers and maybe not delivering the best customer support experience, they do appear to be following the licence conditions and Ofgem proposed licence amendments.

Hi All

I am thinking that this RTS switch off is some sort of scam to enable energy companies to rub their hands and stop providing cheap electricity rates.

There are many thousands of complex meter customers who are stuck with their system through no fault of their own. The reason many of these systems were installed in my opinion was due to the excess power being produced during the age of coal fired power stations.

Now however they get paid for not producing electricity because the grid can’t handle it. Looks like they are on win win.

That's my little witter out of the way, now down to the real reason for posting.

I have just received a reply from EDF giving me 3 options of meter choice. I need to get my head around it all and work out how to proceed. I am posting the 3 options to see if any of the clever people out there can point me in the best direction.

“Good day! This is an update regarding your open complaint with EDF.

1. We install a 3 phase smart meter as single rate - This will give them the 24hrs they are looking for, but no offpeak prices so could be pricy.
2. 3 phase smart meter as E7, Heating and hot water will have a 7 hour offpeak, they will be able to access heating and hot water during the day if they have a boost facility
3. Twin element where they get the off-peak 00:00 to 02:00, 07:00 to 10:00, 16:00 to 17:00 and 21:00 to 23:00. If they have a boost they can also use outside of these hours”

My initial thoughts are to go for the second option and have a rewire carried out to get my 24hr feed for the heating control onto the standard feed. At least I get some off peak rate to the quantum storage heaters.

As I said above they have the electricity but want to squeeze us for as much as possible. My system is working perfectly at present but all they did was removed the MPAN heating tariff. I might be missing something here.

Don't go twin element!!!

Thank you Blastoise186.

I had ruled that one out as it is of no use to me whatsoever.

I'm wondering if I should try to find out what type of 3 phase meter they would install. Hopefully by getting a new meter installed then I might be able to try and switch to another supplier. The danger there being that whoever I approach it might still be single rate.

No worries. A key contact of mine at OVO once told me he doesn’t like the idea of Twin-Element Meters and his team refused to do any R&D into Twin-Element Smart Meters beyond basically throwing out the idea of using them at all. That is as much as I’m allowed to tell you I’m afraid.

The options presented are horrible, but based on the offers, E7 is the least evil one for your setup so I’d suggest going that way - it’d also make switching much easier later. I’ll ask ​@Firedog and ​@BPLightlog to swing by for a second opinion though.

As for switching? OVO has just launched self-service switches via the website for dual-rate tariffs in case that helps a bit.

Yes, I’d agree that an E7 setup would give a ‘white label’ system that might be more conducive to switching at some point.

If just looking for best options E9 or E10 might give more off peak hours if the hours on offer locally match the need.