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Updated on 11/07/23 by Abby_OVO

 

Moved in to a new house and getting to know a dual-rate meter for the first time? Or maybe you’ve made a change to your usage patterns (saying Hello to a new Electric Vehicle or Bye to some old storage heaters perhaps?) and want to hear more about an Economy 7 setup - We’ve got all your commonly asked dual rate questions covered!

 

Is an Economy 7 plan right for me?

 

The main advantage of an Economy 7 plan is a much cheaper unit rate for any electricity used during your off-peak times. This can often be several pence cheaper per kWh than the standard unit rate. It’s worth bearing in mind that to compensate for this cheaper off-peak rate, an Economy 7 plan charges a more expensive daytime or peak unit rate than the standard anytime rate. Therefore in order for this type of plan to be beneficial you’d need to use a certain percentage of your usage during these off-peak hours. This percentage will vary depending on the tariff prices available at the time.  

 

Can I get a smart meter with an Economy 7 plan?

 

We’re now installing Aclara SMETS 2 meters which are compatible with an Economy 7 plan. If you’ve got night storage heaters which need to be controlled via a time switch we’re also able to fit a 5-port terminal version of this meter. Previously we installed the Secure SMETS 1 meter, which were also compatible with a dual-rate plan and storage heaters. There’s more info on the Economy 7 smart meter compatibility on this topic. Need any more convincing - read more about the benefits of smart meters here.

 

Can I switch from an Economy 7 plan to a single rate plan?

 

Unfortunately, we don't currently have the functionality to change Smart Meters from Single Rate to Economy 7, or vice versa. This is something we are looking to make possible in the future and we’ll keep you posted with any further updates here on the Forum! 

 

Although we're unable to physically change the functionality of meters right now. We can offer an Economy 7 to Single Rate plan! This means you’ll be paying the same rate for each register.

 

If this is something you’re interested in, please get in touch with our Support Team.

 

Can I change from a single rate plan to an Economy 7 plan?

 

We’re not able to offer this change due to technical limitations. We’re working on introducing this in the near future though so do check back in later in the year.
 

How do I read my Economy 7 meter?

 

On a traditional meter sometimes the readings will be labelled - high and low or day and night-  which is easier to determine which reading is which. In your case the registers are labelled rate 1 and rate 2. Usually rate 1 refers to your day register but not always so it’s good to check before submitting your meter readings. You might be able to work out which reading is which by checking the current reading against your reading history on the ‘Meter Readings’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

 

If you’ve got a smart meter this will depend on which type of smart meter you’ve got installed, check the instructions for each model type OVO installs below.

 

SMETS1 ‘Secure’ 

 

There’s a slight difference between the the S1 meters we installed. To take a dual (day/night) reading for Secure Liberty 110 S1 smart meters (which are designed to work best with storage heaters), press 9 on the meter’s keypad. If you’ve got a Secure Liberty 100 S1 smart meter, press 6 to confirm the Day and Night meter readings (pressing 9 will show the reading if you’re a single rate member with this meter).
 

SMETS2 Aclara, Flonidan, Honeywell or Elster

 

  Aclara (Elec) / Flonidan (Gas) Elster (Elec) / Honeywell (Gas)
Reading the meter
  • Elec: Press A three times until TOU Rate 1 then TOU Rate 2 appears.
  • Elec: Press the top button once or twice

 

 

Landis+Gyr 

 

If you’ve got a dual rate version of this meter press and hold down the ‘B’ button for roughly 5 - 10 seconds  - then tap the ‘A’ button. This will toggle between the ‘R01’ reading and the ‘R02’ reading as demonstrated in this handy video:

 

 

 

 

How do I tell my day and night readings apart?

 

If you’re unsure which reading is which sometimes the readings will be labelled - high and low or day and night. If not you might be able to check the current reading against your reading history on the ‘Meter Readings’ page of your online account.

If you can’t work it out using these methods the next step is to carry out a Load Test​. This involves taking two sets of readings at midday and during the afternoon. Only one reading should change between these times which will be your daytime register. 

 

 

When are my peak/off peak hours?

 

If you have a Smart meter installed by OVO, the off-peak times can be worked out using your Meter Point Administration Number (MPAN). You can find your MPAN on the ‘Plan’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS)

 

MPAN is shown at the bottom of the electricity column

 

Then use this table below; the first two digits of your MPAN is the ‘Area ID’; the ‘Off peak’ times are on the column second from the right:

 

 

Please be advised that Secure, Aclara and Honeywell smart meters don't adjust for British Summertime. This means during summer your off peak times will be an hour later than advised above. 

 

If you have traditional meters or smart meters that were not installed by OVO, the off-peak hours may vary. The best way to find out in this case would be reaching out to your supplier (or our Support Team if you’re an OVO member)

 

Can I switch suppliers with an Economy 7 plan?

 

Of course! You’ll need to check that the supplier supports an Economy 7 set-up first, as not all suppliers do offer a compatible plan. If you’re not an OVO member yet - Check out our Economy 7 plans here.

 

OVO member but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!

Smart meter not communicating with OVO? Fill in this Online Form- the results will go straight to the right team!

Interested but not yet an OVO member? - Check out our plans!

 

I've got an S1 Secure Liberty 100 Smart Meter installed by OVO.

When I get time I'll post the % night rate electricity consumption from my spreadsheet and how it has changed before and after solar. 

 

Yep - so the meter times for your meter should match those given in the table above then, @EverythingNeedsAUserName - not factoring the BST hours.

 

Would be really interested to see that breakdown - particularly relevant to those who might be considering installing Solar panels in future too! :sunny:

The first chart is based on each quarterly bill, the second on annual totals.  From the first, you can see that since we had Solar Panels installed in late 2015, there has been a much higher proportion of Night Rate usage in summer, as the panels cover more of our daytime use. 40% summer, 28% winter.  Annually about 33%.

We inherited the Economy 7 from the previous owners.  Early on, our dishwasher and clothes washer didn’t have timers for overnight use. 

Several of the peaks were from estimated bills where I’d not got an actual reading to substitute in my data set.  We also swapped suppliers several times until joining OVO in April 2014. There was a lot of weirdness between getting the panels installed 2015 and getting a smart meter in 2017.

Each time I have investigated a new contract, I have checked using our actual usage to see if a standard meter would be cheaper.  It never has been.

Fantastic to see this data visualized, @EverythingNeedsAUserName. 

 

The first chart is based on each quarterly bill, the second on annual totals.  From the first, you can see that since we had Solar Panels installed in late 2015, there has been a much higher proportion of Night Rate usage in summer, as the panels cover more of our daytime use. 40% summer, 28% winter.  Annually about 33%.

 

 

Any ideas on the spike in 2017-2018 for that night time usage split? Related to estimation again?

 

Fantastic to see this data visualized, @EverythingNeedsAUserName. 

Any ideas on the spike in 2017-2018 for that night time usage split? Related to estimation again?

Idiocy or carelessness! 

I’ve found my pdfs of the bills and it is absolutely clear that I had transcribed the data into the wrong columns.  The bills had changed the order of presentation, but did so again in June 2017 which is why the data got put in the right columns again!  When I got the smart meter, I changed the way I had been entering the data, by using a separate tab. 

I should have delayed submitting that post, as I couldn’t explain the peaks, but accidentally clicked send before I went away for the weekend.  I no longer have the older bills, so the odd peaks and troughs prior to 2004 are a mystery. Back then bills were only quarterly, and life was even more complicated, because there were low, normal and normal 2 prices! The normal had a premium for the first so many units per period and was replaced by the daily standing charge in 2011. 

This is what it should look like.

 

Ahhhhh that’s a much better graph with a clear trend to off peak usage. 

 

Back then bills were only quarterly, and life was even more complicated, because there were low, normal and normal 2 prices! The normal had a premium for the first so many units per period and was replaced by the daily standing charge in 2011. 

 

This is v interesting. I was paying bills in 2011 but I don’t remember this, probably as I was a single rate, zero generation household. It does remind me of an idea posted by @Simon1D in an old AMA thread, about possible replacements of the standing charge to favour lower users. This sounds similar….

I replaced my storage heaters to normal heater and changed from economy 7 no single rate but its been 4days and my heaters are not working until 11pm at night. Ovo are basically ignoring me about the situation instead of sending someone here  or change the hours that used to be on the economy 7 that was 11pm to 6am to a normal rate hours all day around. And it's starting to be ridiculous. If this carrys on I will be switching suppliers

Hi @Cordeiro ,

Please post photos of the meters and any equipment near to them.

Here is the pic from the meter

 

I’m sorry, but it seems your photo failed to post. Please try again.

If you keep seeing this message, you can send the photo to forum@ovoenergy.com and a moderator will assist you.

Here

Thanks! Worked that time. :)

You just need to get this meter reconfigured remotely. No engineer visit needed. Give it another try with Support in the morning and stop by here again if you still get stuck.

I have been trying they said they have already changed from economy 7 to a single rate. But it still doesn't work and they are saying it takes time to update. So how long can it take, its freezing in my place and no one does even care 

It should be done within 24 hours

For now, press the 2 key then press A. It’ll activate Boost mode for one hour to get your heaters going and you can do that up to 10 times a day.

So why is not working then? It does work if I do what you said. 

The schedule feature needs to be turned off so that the heating can always run. OVO needs to do that.

So I called few times today no one resolved it yet. Last time I called today they said they was going to send someone tonight to have a look at it between 5.30pm and 9.30pm it's 20.20pm and no one appeared... 

But basically all day people from OVO been telling me that is nothing wrong with meter and that's my heater that are wrong when I press key 2+A it work so its starting getting ridiculous how OVO is dealing with this. 

Hmm… This needs to go to the Smart Support Team to resolve. Send the Support Team a link to this thread. It should tell them everything. You can do this via Live Chat so you don’t need to type much.

What do you mean?

My house it's freezing and basically no one is doing anything. I can not turn it on at 11pm because I will be in bed and that would be a waste of money as... Don’t understand why OVO are they playing up.

If you use the Live Chat at https://help.ovoenergy.com and give the agent this link:

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meters-136/how-can-i-change-the-time-on-the-meter-from-11pm-to-6am-that-was-my-old-economy-7-to-single-arte-so-my-heater-will-work-during-the-day-13606

They should know what to do

So yeah I done what you said again was a waste of time as they said someone was booked to came here between 5pm and 9pm and its 8.23pm no one has came. 

Why is my bill showing both meter readings as off peak but still being charged at different rates ?

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