How to switch from Smart Economy 7 to Smart Economy 9

That generic meter type isn’t quite close enough, I’m afraid. This picture shows a model SGM 1412-B (with the model designation just under the word Aclara):
 

Yes.

That’s not easy to say without knowing precisely what model you have. We have learnt that it’s not straightforward in any circumstances, so it might involve an engineer visit which would not necessarily be free of charge.

You would have to contact Support and be prepared to have to be persistent. The chances are the first reaction would be to say ‘can’t be done’. You may find it better to use the webchat option so you can retain written documentation of who said what.

The offpeak unit rate for Economy 9 is quite a bit more expensive than for Economy 7 (perhaps 22.61p compared with 20.23p), so I hope you’ve done your sums.   

​@Firedog 

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Meter..

Thanks - that’s the little sister to my own.

The Aclara SGM 1416-B is quite capable of managing an Economy 9 set-up, but as I remarked earlier, it may not be quite as straightforward as it ought to be to change from Economy 7 to Economy 9. Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks ​@Firedog  

I’ll take your advice and do some sums first and perhaps consider delaying any change untll Spring as reading some of the “horror” stories from other folk it may not be as simple and straightforward as it should be. I would not want to be in the position I was in when I first switched from RTS and lost heating over the Christmas period  

Morning ​@grumpy235, I hope you had a nice weekend.

Thanks for your post, and many thanks ​@Firedog for sharing your knowledge as always. ​@grumpy235 I’ve asked behind the scenes whether a remote switch to Economy 9 is something that we can actually offer, and I’ll get back to you when I hear back. If so I could try and help you with the calculations as well.

Hopefully I should hear back soon.

Cheers!

Hi again ​@grumpy235,

To confirm, we can remotely reconfigure your smart meter to be Economy 9 and change your tariff accordingly. I can also get a colleague to do this for you, to avoid you having to call up and explain things.

If you’d like me to help with a ballpark calculation based upon your average usage reach out to me by direct message.

I hope this helps!

I remembered going through this exercise for someone else a few months ago, so here are the results with updated prices:
  

I wonder whether ​@grumpy235 finds this helpful, confusing, baffling, depressing or frightening ...

​@Firedog Thanks for the tables, gives me some pointers. Not sure how Ofgem do their typical household calculations but my usage for 2024 was 8700kwh ! My usage on E7 in 2024 was heavily skewed probably 85% to the midnight to 05:00 period.  

I guess on old bungalow with ancient storage heaters - 30+ years old may not be helping. Fortunately cost is not a major concern but an afternoon boost like I had with SSE Flexiheat is what I’m looking for so it is a matter of deciding if E9 or E10 would be of benefit.

​@Ben_OVO 

Thanks for confirming E9 can be set remotely, I assume this would also apply to E10?

Any idea how long billing would take to catch up with the change of tariff ?

I’ll be in touch by direct message if I decide to go ahead.

Many thanks

It’s a struggle for Ofgem as for everybody else. This is what they do: Decision on revised Typical Domestic Consumption Values for gas and electricity and Economy 7 consumption split. There has to be some basis for calculation in the absence of relevant data, so almost anything is better than nothing. They suggest “we recommend consumers use their own consumption figures for the purposes of comparing suppliers or estimating their bills.” 

I’ll see what happens if I put an approximation of your actual figures into the table. Watch this space!

I hope I’ve managed to check every number here, but forgive me if there’s something I’ve missed:

​@Firedog Thanks for the latest table. If I am reading it right that suggests an increase of £179 for E7 to E9 and of £164 for E7 to E10. This can be reduced by the fact that some of my current peak usage will move to offpeak - eating lunch, watching TV in the evening. I can live with that as my main aim is to boost the heating later in the day.

After much digging I found https://plans.ovoenergy.com/

This has a tariff named ‘Simpler Energy Smart Economy 9 - 01/10/2025’, but the E10 tariff is called ‘Simpler Energy Economy 10 - 01/10/2025’. Any idea if this would require a meter change as this is missing the ‘Smart’ ?

Hi ​@grumpy235,

As far as I know, you wouldn’t need a meter change, and that Economy 10 plan would work fine with the current meter. We would also be able to switch you remotely to Economy 10 if that’s what you’d prefer. In terms of how it would work with billing, we could put a new contract (eco9 / 10 etc) in place to start the day after the agreement. Then, from the start of the tariff, your billing would be altered accordingly.

Keep us updated as to what you decide.

After mulling things over, I think I’ll delay any change until the Spring as meter readings are working fine at the present so why risk a change when moving into my high usage period.

Thanks all for your advice.

Morning ​@grumpy235,

Thanks for letting us know - sounds like a sensible decision, and also gives you more time to do your own research about this.