Thank you to all those who helped last year regarding Air Source heat pump as my oil boiler went down and i was having trouble with my housing association about when it was going to be installed etc. That was in May last year.
Fast forward to this year we now have a heating system ....its Storage heating and I spoke to OVO regarding all this being changed in January this year apparently yes then at the last hour it was no. Ok so I tried to look for a different company that do Economy 7 tariff.
Found one but now OVO don't want to let me go due to a huge bill which I have due to it being wintertime and having to use electric heaters due to no heating system can anyone advise me what to do obviously I didn't really want to leave but ....its a case of having to but then if OVO did Economy 7 or something similar I wouldn't have to.
Best answer by BPLightlog
... will Viv1966 be able to get a duel tariff like Economy 7 with the meter setup they have ?
If you’ve been advised that we can’t switch you to Economy 7 (which is generally the case)
We can’t tell whether this meter is capable of switching an offpeak circuit on and off. Even if it did have the internal switch necessary, there would have to be an external contactor to do the actual power control.
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It seems that the magic use-excess-solar-generation-to-charge-heaters system only works if the heaters are wired to a constant circuit (i.e. not having the charging bit separate from the control bit so charging only happens during offpeak hours). Again, we can’t tell whether this is Viv’s arrangement. It involves installing some extra bits and bobs including a CT clamp, all included in the optional Solar Box.
As @Firedog suggests, a separate supply is not needed for these
So that should mean that a traditional 4 terminal smart meter should work with these heaters.
The balance would then be how much energy is needed during the day for other appliances and how the units are connected
OVO do E7 tariffs, did they give you any reason why “ …. at the last hour it was no.” ? Was it perhaps because of not being able to change the meter? You said that there was a problem with accessing it because it was in a “cupboard” but never came back to us with further details of if that is a communal meter cupboard or what it is:
Note that if there is a problem with accessing the meter to replace it with a multi-rate meter then that will be exactly the same problem if you switch to a different supplier. Switching supplier won’t magically make that problem dissapear.
As an example of an OVO E7 tariff here is just one of the E7 plans currently available at my postcode in Cumbria:
If you do want to switch suppliers then you do have to pay off any outstanding debit with your current supplier first. You can switch with up to £500 debt as long as both the old and the new company agree to allow it, you then owe the debt the the new company.
PS. You might want to talk to your landlord about the extra cost that you ran up having to use electric heaters because your previous oil-fired boiler system was broken. As your landlord is a HA (or I think you previously said the council?) then they will have a Welfare Team who may well be willing to help you out with that extra cost. That’s part of what the Welfare Teams are there for.
That’s a very good point @Nukecad - the cost of installing storage heaters must be less than a heat pump would have been so it’s only fair that the landlord stumps up that extra expense. So glad you have heating again@Viv1966 the heat pump idea didn’t seem the right way to go in your case.
I’m not sure if the current state of things but previously, OVO couldn’t switch you to a multi-rate tariff (like E7) if your account was single rate .. even if the meter is capable. Our meter is capable of all sorts of tariff options but OVO couldn’t offer me anything when I was looking, hence I’m currently with another supplier.
Obviously look at the points both Nukecad and Juliamc have made but as already mentioned above, OVO do have E7 tariffs.
Nice to hear from you all again! I have to apologise for not getting back about my electric cupboard. I think big eruptions were going on with my housing association and it went out of my mind. My electric cupboard isn't communal as we live in a very small bungalow. Ovo said it wouldn't be possible as i don't have enough "tails" on my meter. I hope i have that bit right and they won't change the meter. However i have spoken to someone there this week and they have reffered me to "Squad 70' Can you enlighten me about what they would do please?
I’ve looked back at the other threads @Viv1966 but I couldn’t find a picture of your meter. It would be helpful to see where it sits and what’s around it.
The engineer would need enough space, including length of the tails (cables that connect your meter to the rest of the system), so that they could flex to connect and position any new meter. There’s also the footprint of the new meter to consider.
Squad 70 has been working to look at unusual situations, particularly in Scotland where they’ve had to replace lots of complex meters. There’s also a specialist who has visibility on the forum who might be able to help if they can see the current situation.
No i will try to take a photo of what i can see and upload it for you to see. @BPLightlog who is it i need to speak to on the forum regarding this and thank you for your explanation. Can i email Squad 70? There is nothing around my electric meter it sits in a cupboard on the wall of my bungalow
@Viv1966 wrote: “i don't have enough "tails" on my meter.”
An ordinary meter has four tails - Line in, Neutral in, Line out and Neutral out, often in that order. They are often marked 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Economy 7 (E7) meters may have five tails, the extra one being a Line out to the dedicated circuit for storage- and immersion heaters. This dedicated circuit is then controlled by the meter, switching it on only when an offpeak period starts and off again when it ends. Some E7 meters don’t have this extra tail, but instead a much slimmer control cable connected to an external contactor which does the same thing.
In either case, the meter must have an internal switch that does the controlling, and electricity used while the switch is on should be recorded on an offpeak register. If your meter doesn’t have this internal switch (known as an ALCS), E7 may not be possible and you’d have to have a new meter installed.
This will with any luck become clearer once we see photos of your meter.
@BPLightlog thats just the cupboard that houses the meter. I will take another photo tomorrow to see if i can get a better idea of whats underneath it. Would that be helpful?
… Ovo said it wouldn't be possible as i don't have enough "tails" on my meter.
that’s why it will be interesting to see the whole situation. Perhaps there’s something else stopping the swap
Frustration afoot again because of Kaifa’s reluctance to share user manuals for their products, saying it’s the supplier’s responsibility to do so.
All that I’ve managed to find out is that the ability to control an external contactor (e.g., I assume, for storage- and water heaters) is or was ‘optional’ on the MA120 meter. Whether that means it’s an optional extra for the supplier to order or that it’s the supplier’s choice whether to use it or not just isn’t clear. It would just be so much simpler all round if the meter could be exchanged for a 5-port one to be used with an Economy 7 tariff. I would say OVO have a moral obligation to do this so that the customer can have full benefit of the equipment installed to replace a faulty boiler. Any charge should be for the property owner’s account - they were the ones to install the equipment.
Well sadly in an ideal world that would be lovely! But we have had such a fight regarding the fact that the Air Source would be no good as it is....i don't think our housing association would entertain the idea and to be honest we are weary from that already. This is probably why the person i spoke to at Ovo has reffered me to Squad 70. We have also had Solar Panels put in and new windows, which is great, however i am not sure what they can do. Do you think my meter does have enough tails is this what you are saying?
