Switching from Economy 7 to a single rate smart meter and plan - what's the process?

Hey there @andycarne !

Good question this one, I like it. :)

As far as I’m aware, you may need to have an electrician do a bit of rewiring in regards to the consumer units, but this can probably be done at your own pace. I’d definitely recommend only doing this after the storage heaters are removed though, it’ll be easier that way!

As for the meter upgrade and tariff switch… Personally I’d probably say that these can be done after you’ve replaced the heating and it’ll probably be easier this way. As long as you don’t mind having a short stint still on E7 after replacing the heaters, you can almost certainly have OVO switch you to a Single-Rate Tariff as soon as they’re gone and then book a Smart Meter upgrade from there. It’ll be possible to make sure your billing is correct in the meantime by submitting both meter readings as you do now - MyOVO will do some additional number crunching to flatten the readings and calculate from there.

You’ll probably want to make these arrangements over the phone though, as a change from E7 to Single-Rate requires verbal confirmation.

Let me also borrow the expertise of @PeterR1947 as well. I think he knows a lot more about the electrical wiring than I do.

In theory, it might be possible to have a Five-Terminal S2 Smart Meter installed and then just have it configured to leave all circuits active 24/7 once you’re on a Single-Rate setup, since that would at least allow you to easily switch to E7 in the future if needed. But it all depends on what’s considered the most appropriate setup.

No worries! I hear you there.

One of my friends has storage heaters and he finds them a bit of a nightmare to manage properly sometimes. I can definitely understand that storage heaters do have valid and legitimate use cases under certain circumstances but they’re definitely not the best choice for everyone - especially if you don’t spend much time at home. I’ll be honest and admit that I’ve never used them myself and so I struggle a bit to fully grasp the concepts (and how to use them properly).

If you spend most of the time away and don’t have a predictable schedule, then I’d probably argue that storage heaters will not work very well. There’s a huge risk of charging them up tonight and then wasting all that heat (and money for the electricity bill!) tomorrow when you’re out all day while the heaters are simply blasting all the heat out for nothing… And then being a total ice cube by the time you get home. So yeah, you’re almost certain better off using something that is more instantaneous and less wasteful.

OVO (or your current supplier) can take care of the Meter Exchange and reconfiguring the contract for Single-Rate purposes at no extra charge - you’d just have to continue paying your electricity bill as normal. I don’t think you’d need to have an electrician do much re-wiring at that particular stage, but you can always have the MEX set you up with a Five-Terminal S2 Smart Meter so that it matches your existing setup - and definitely means you won’t need to get any re-wiring done during the MEX process. Once you’ve done that, OVO could configure it for Economy 7 Mode initially, and then reconfigure it to Single-Rate Mode later so that’s probably the easiest option for now.

You’ll probably want to resolve the other suggestions eventually, but you can definitely take things one step at a time. Having a MEX done is the one thing you can’t ask your electrician to do, so that’s probably the one I’d go for first.

Feel free to stop by anytime if you need a hand again or fancy sharing any updates. We’ll be here anytime you need us!

We have now had a smart meter installed. Things didn’t go quite as we expected.

Unfortunately, the engineer who arrived to fit the new meter did not bring a 5-port meter with him, despite us indicating what we planned to do when booking the installation. I had to choose, while on my way out of the door to work, whether to have the second CU permanently on or disconnected. Since we have no plans to continue on Economy 7, I asked him to connect up the second CU, which he has done.

However, when my wife contacted OVO today to ask about switching from our Economy 7 Simpler Energy variable plan to a single rate Simpler Energy variable plan, she was initially told this would not be possible. She asked for an explanation in writing and at that point was put on hold. She was eventually offered a unit rate almost the same as our economy 7 daytime rate and higher daily fixed charge. The projected total yearly price was way below our real usage because they had just subtracted our nighttime usage without taking into account the extra daytime use we expect with electric radiators.

We are now in position where we are on an economy 7 tariff, with a meter that doesn’t cater for economy 7 and being offered a single rate tariff that is no better than our daytime rate. And we have no way back!

We appreciate that this has turned out to be a bad time to be making this change, but that is why I consulted the forum for advice.

Really sorry to hear the smart upgrade hasn’t quite been smooth sailing, @andycarne. 

It’s disappointing to hear that the requested change to your plan was initially refused, however it sounds that this may have been a case of mis-advice that has now been corrected. It’s worth bearing in mind that as your Simpler Energy plan is a variable plan, the unit rates and standing charges (both for the Economy 7 or the single-rate version of this plan) have recently increased in line with Ofgem’s price cap increase on 1st October.

I’m wondering if you’ve been able to compare the current rates on the single rate version of the plan to the recently increased Economy 7 rates, as the standard anytime rate should be slightly lower than the current daytime rate on an Economy 7 plan?

As the variable rates will depends on your area, I’m not able to confirm that here unfortunately, @andycarne.

If you haven’t yet changed your plan you should be able to check the ‘Plan’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS) to see the the Economy 7 rates:

You can then compare these to the rates you’ve been offered for the single rate Simpler plan. If you have any trouble seeing the rates here it’s worth reaching out to the Support Team (easiest way is via our Online chat which you can access here) who’ll be able to confirm both the single rate and dual rate version of this plan.

Do pop back and let us know how you get on. 

Hey @EllDuck !

Good news and bad news.

OVO is currently unable to fully and properly migrate you off of Economy 7 completely but will be able to soon. Watch this space as either myself or another forum volunteer will be able to post something to the forum once we know when that capability launches.

However, there is a workaround in your case. OVO can just set it so that you’re charged the same price for both the Day and Night rates and that price would be whatever the current flat rate is. You’d just need to submit both readings each time.

If you’re up for it, give the team a call on 0330 303 5063. They’ll help you set that up.

The consumer unit that previously supplied your storage radiators could be used assuming you want your new radiators in the same place.  It currently feeds via Economy 7 so your electrician would need to rewire the connection to be live all the time, it may need the MCB’s changing depending on the load of your new radiators.

Peter