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Rank 5
April 17, 2026
Solved

New heating system but struggling to get the right tariff

  • April 17, 2026
  • 131 replies
  • 1024 views

Hi Everyone,

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.

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 

 

131 replies

Viv1966Author
Rank 5
April 22, 2026

@juliamc i will check wattages and let you know. ​@Ben_OVO ok thanks Ben will wait to hear from you just let me know if you need any more info and thank you very much 

Ben_OVO
Community Manager
Community Manager
April 23, 2026

@Viv1966 good morning.

 

I’ve been speaking to colleagues about this one and, to confirm, we won’t be able to accommodate you switching to Economy 7. I’m sorry - I know this isn’t what you were hoping I’d come back and say.

 

Regarding your next steps, the best option would be to speak to other suppliers to see which one would be able to get you set up properly. If there’s a large debt balance on the account that’s preventing you from switching, you could contact your complaints handler and request that they allow you to switch away, whilst setting up a payment plan for the remainder of the arrears. As stated previously, I can’t guarantee they’ll allow this, it’s definitely worth an ask. At the end of the day, heaters have been installed, through no fault of your own, that are incompatible with your current setup with OVO. We can’t help make things compatible, so it seems only fair that we’d let you switch.

 

If you run up against any issues when speaking to Complaints, let me know. By all means reference this Forum thread when you get back in touch with them. If they’ve been in touch with you via email, the best bet is to reply to their last email, and this will re-open the complaint.

 

I hope this helps somewhat, and sorry again that we can’t keep you on as Economy 7.

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BPLightlog
Super User
Super User
April 23, 2026

A less than ideal outcome as you mention Ben.

I think most heating designers/installers assume that most tariff options are available to consumers and the inability to move customers from a single tariff has been a problem for OVO for many years. It’s one of the reasons that I moved my supply a few years ago (with no need in my case for a meter change!)

I do think in this case it worth OVO making sure that this customer can get the best solution quickly given energy costs these days.

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
Viv1966Author
Rank 5
April 23, 2026

Good Morning ​@Ben_OVO …

Thank you so much for trying to sort this out for me i know you very busy with 101 other problems to sort out on top of mine, so i really do appreciate your time and effort.  The only problem i have is that my complaint was closed about a month ago, so who do i raise this issue with now? Do i still contact the Complaints Team?

Viv1966Author
Rank 5
April 23, 2026

Good Morning ​@juliamc  would you still need to know wattages and further equipment? If so will forward everything on to you. A heated towel rail was put in the bathroom to replace the radiator and there is a convector heater on the wall in our conservatory. Solar inverter info and wattages i will forward later on today if thats ok?

Viv1966Author
Rank 5
April 23, 2026

@juliamc  i think my inverter must be the large square box on my bedroom wall by the side of my electricity fuse box. It has an LCD display of figures inside.  Do i need an app to see how much solar is being used or exported? I don't have a battery with this.

juliamc
Rank 20
Rank 20
April 23, 2026

Hi ​@Viv1966 Thanks, I was wondering if someone could advise the best tariff for you to be on bearing in mind that you also have these other electric devices. No need to find all the sizes !!

You do have a few things that you would run during the daytime. The normal setup with economy 7 is to have a hot water tank that heats up at night and all storage heaters. As you have 2 instant water heaters you don’t want an expensive daytime rate !!

juliamc
Rank 20
Rank 20
April 23, 2026

@Viv1966 can you post a photo of what you think is the inverter? 

juliamc
Rank 20
Rank 20
April 23, 2026

Sorry ​@Viv1966 ,  me again ! Do you know why the Solar Box hasn’t been supplied for your solar/storage heaters ? It would seem to be an important item as you have solar panels?

Viv1966Author
Rank 5
April 23, 2026

@juliamc  yes precisely…!

I have never used Storage Heaters before so i could use all the advice i can get to be honest. Equally with the Solar panels too! I will upload a photo of what i mean about the thing i am talking about on my bedroom wall ...i have a feeling its not an inverter