Are Economy 10 tariffs available yet?

Like many the THTC system, that has worked so well for so many years, is being turned off. I’ve been offered Economy 10 as an alternative. With THTC my hot water and storage heaters are heated automatically during off peak periods. As far as I can see only the storage heaters will work in off peak Economy 10? Can’t see why as currently both hot water and storage heaters are on the same circuit.

You’d think that it would be that difficult to replicate the THTC system in a single smart meter. You’d also think that having provided us with a number to call the people might have all the answers to these questions!

Why do you think that your water heater wouldn’t work at the same times as the space heaters? There are some THTC systems that have different arrangements for space heating and hot water, but then they wouldn’t be on the same circuit.

If heating (space and water) are on the same circuit separate from the one that’s always live, then the separate circuit will be fed from the meter’s auxiliary load tail. The timings will be set by the ALCS* calendar in the meter, and the meter registers (peak and offpeak) will be set to switch at the same times. What those times are varies a lot, and I’m not quite sure how that is determined. The installation engineer may know ... 

It is quite common for both the space heaters and the water heater also to be wired up to the 24-hour circuit; the space heaters so they have power to any controls and internal fans, and the water heater to allow for a boost if somebody uses all the hot water and it’s a long time until the next regular offpeak session. 

Once you know when the installation is due to take place, you might help to make it as painless as possible if you contacted Support via webchat so you could send them photos of the current set-up, along with any information that you think the engineer might need, like what sort of heaters you have. Where the meter is located will affect how well it will be able to communicate, so say whether it’s in an enclosure on an external wall or in a cramped cupboard under the stairs, say. Again, photos help.

The engineer will appreciate it greatly if you’ve taken a feather duster, a brush and dustpan and/or a hoover to the meter’s lair beforehand to deal with any accumulation of cobwebs, dust and debris. 

*   ALCS - the Auxiliary Load Control Switch inside the meter that turns power on at the start of an offpeak period and off at the end of it.

Booked in for today. Engineer called, cannot install due to our unusual setup, requires a change to 3 phase system by the grid people, and then a reschedule with OVO. Suggested several times to OVO that they sent an engineer first to ascertain our system or receive a photograph but both suggestions were rejected. Result - wasted journey for engineer, wasted day waiting in & wasted time arranging the meter ‘room’! 

Why is that? Are you running a cannabis farm?

We are on Superdeal & have been for over 25 years. OVO engineer came a couple of days ago to fit an E10 smart meter but could not do the job as we have 2 ‘fuses’ & requires attention from the grid people. All beyond me & totally confused. I have a long standing billing problem with OVO, unable to get my meter readings accepted by them & being pushed to have a smart meter fitted when my system will not accept it! A complete shambles.

Thanks. Three-phase supplies are normally only needed where the power draw could exceed the ‘normal’ 15-25 kW. The old Superdeal may have required two separate supplies (and thus two main fuses), one of them controlled by the DNO for load-balancing purposes. Try asking National Grid ED why you have this arrangement and whether they can change it for you. Ideally, you would want a single-phase supply with an 80A main fuse so long as you don’t have (and don’t plan to get) any really power-hungry gear like an industrial-strength EV charger.

I've just moved to Octopus, I was dreading it but it took two days! My complaint with OVO is still with the ombudsman, they still haven't done any of things that he demanded apart from paying £200 compensation. I don't know whether to let it go, or continue the fight!
 

My OVO engineer is supposed to be contacting them in regard to our situation & I assume that we shall have to rebook a smart meter fitting after the DNO have visited. He did indicate that the meter might have to be one that cannot send readings, which seems a backward step to me!

You should probably just drop it and move on. Leaving OVO automatically closes almost all types of complaints and Ombudsman cases immediately, since it’s no longer possible to do anything with them.

The only types you can still do relate purely to the offboarding and getting your final bill sorted out.

Blastoise186, I think you are wrong. According to the Ombudsman, you are able to pursue a complaint despite leaving a company.

Not necessarily. As I said, most complaints are automatically terminated upon leaving the current supplier and/or closing your account for any reason, which can in turn terminate Ombudsman cases on the basis that a remedy may no longer be possible. It is definitely the case that the Ombudsman will abandon ALL complaints related to a supplier that goes bust or quits the market, regardless of status and regardless of circumstances. The rationale behind that is because said supplier would no longer be capable of implementing any remedies at all because it’d no longer be a licensed supplier (the license gets revoked by Ofgem as part of the Supplier of Last Resort Process because it has to be revoked by Ofgem in order to initiate SoLR).

Responsibility for complaint handling shifts to the gaining supplier once you switch away and they cannot access your historical complaints from elsewhere under any circumstances. Likewise, if you simply close your account and aren’t switching to a new supplier at the same property, then whoever is going to be the next customer can’t see nor touch your old complaints either, so there’s not much more than can be done with them unless it’s related to offboarding.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to know when to call it quits and move on.

Hey @pegem & @Blastoise186, 

I wanted to give some further context regarding how complaints work. We would still seek to resolve a complaint either directly with a customer or through the Ombudsman Service, depending on the complaint's path. If a customer chooses to switch away to another supplier with an open complaint, they can do so, and we'll still communicate with them. When a customer complains, they're given a complaint reference number that is unique to that complaint. 
 
If the Ombudsman issues remedies for a complaint, we may be limited to actioning some of these depending on the complaint's open/closed status. In @pegem's case, you referenced a financial offer that's been presented, and if that's accepted, it'd be sent via cheque as there's no open account to pay this into. 
 
I hope this helps you understand how the complaints process works.

Final got my credit balance back from OVO, took two days to transfer and 6 weeks to get refund! Octopus are a dream to work with! Took two  Glad all the problems cause by OVO are over! 

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

HHGTTG, 

Hi @pegem,

I’m sorry to hear this but I’m glad this has been resolved for you.

I live in Fife, Scotland - does OVO Energy do Economy 10 meters ? I am with Eon Next with an Economy 7 meter. 

Yes.

I take it you don’t have an RTS. OVO are concentrating on RTS customers in Scotland at the moment, because the RTS signal is being switched off permanently next summer. This means that others with non-RTS systems may have to wait a bit to get a new smart meter. The ones they’re fitting can be configured for all manner of complex tariffs, including Economy 10.
  

Hi @Dangerousdonald,

I can see our forum volunteer has already answered your question here. 

These links may also be useful:

https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/economy-10

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/electric-heating/economy-10

Can I go on an economy 10 tariff as a new customer??

I have a smets2 smart meter , Edf have withdrawn my E10 so I’m looking for a new supplier 

I have old style storage heaters , they are controlled by the ALCS 

any help  please 

Hi ​@Joanne10001 ,

You can indeed - but you’ll need to phone OVO for this. Please check out the contact details below:

That may not be straightforward. There are a number of factors to be taken into consideration:

• Where you live (the first part of your postcode is usually enough). Available tariffs vary with the DNO.
• The precise type of meter you have, e.g. Kaifa MA120 B, Aclara SGM 1416-B.
• Whether the meter is consistently connecting to the smart meter network. 
• How the meter is currently configured. We have seen cases where the supplier’s misguided attempts to configure a meter have left it unworkable. Is the tariff changing from peak to offpeak at the right times? Are the storage heaters starting to charge automatically at exactly the same times? What are the offpeak hours?

If the stars align in your favour, it may be possible for you to be accepted as an E10 customer, but you’d have to be very persuasive with the customer support staff ...

My meter is currently changing at the correct times for E10 and is communicating with EDF with no issues 

its only because they have removed E10 tariffs I need to change as E7 won’t give me a boost later in the day which I need to keep my home warmer in the winter 

i live in north east of the uk NE33

my meter is ES -12B EDMI STANDARD 420 

That's outdated 

Thanks … even E9 would work for me 

i will ring customer services today .. is the call centre UK based ??

EDF have recently moved their core customer service abroad , and is, sorry to say , the poor staff have not been trained well , hopefully this will improve for the staff and customers benefit