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Best answer by Blastoise186

Updated on 17/12/25 by Abby_OVO

 

Howdy ​@AxIan !

 

The simple answer is that this particular meter has partial support for Economy 7. It can switch between the Peak and Off-Peak rate for the purposes of Billing and Meter Readings, but cannot physically switch the circuits on/off for you. For the parts the Meter can do, it can be reconfigured remotely.

 

The simplest solution if you need that would be to use your own timers on whatever you want to run only during Off-Peak, as that’d require the least wiring/re-wiring.

 

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25 replies

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
March 7, 2025


I’ve got your account up ready. Cheers

Just how many Magic Dashboards do you have access to exactly? XD

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AxIanAuthor
Rank 2
March 7, 2025

I don’t mind that a smart meter has been installed. I just don’t understand why THIS meter was installed that is not capable of switching the storage heater circuit on/off at the correct times of day.

I just spoke to OVO. There’d be no cost to have a proper economy 7 meter installed. Just wonder why they installed the wrong one when the right one wouldn’t have cost any extra

 

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
March 7, 2025

Gotcha. Luke can help you get that fix started. Just give the word and watch the magic he can pull off. :)

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OVO Engineer
March 7, 2025

@AxIan really happy youve got this sorted. Yeah very unusual bud but I can only think it must have been a tenant request. Nowadays we are more stingent with it all, ‘if theres off peak when you arrive there will be off peak when you leave’.

Apologies for the run around but glad its sorted.

@Blastoise186 you wouldnt believe what im capable of nowadays...

OVO Operations Excellence Manager and Former Field Operations Team Leader
AxIanAuthor
Rank 2
March 7, 2025

Yeah ok a lot here, The engineer should not have disconnected the e7 if it was still in use which leads me to believe the tenant has asked for it. 

If you want I can absolutely support an appointment being made so you can have E7 Load switching again?

I’ve got your account up ready. Cheers

 

You’ve got my account up? Oh. Did you get that from the serial number?

Yeah. it’s weird. I have no idea why the tenant would have requested that the storage heaters come on/charge all day at peak rate.

 

Having said that the cost per unit of the e7 ‘day’ is higher than a non-e7 rate. Could it actually be cheaper over the year to just pay the standard non-e7 rate 24/7 on the basis that heating is switched of most of year anyway?

AxIanAuthor
Rank 2
March 7, 2025

Or get a tariff that doesn’t cost anything to leave. And have the ‘normal’ tariff for most of the year then when it starts getting cold out cancel that tariff and switch to e7 then in spring switch back again?

anyone do that?

 

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
March 7, 2025

Yep, Luke has powers that I don’t possess myself. Getting your account details from the Meter Serial Number is one of them - it only works because he’s OVO Staff (well, an OVO Smart Meter Engineer to be exact) whereas Forum Volunteers like me can’t do that because we’re customers. Luke is effectively one of our secret weapons here on the Forum. His full powers are… Classified...

We promise you we use that power for good and not evil though! Mind you, it does also prove useful in the cases where someone thinks they can get away with meter tampering… A simple MSN lookup and BLAM! Caught! :)

Or get a tariff that doesn’t cost anything to leave. And have the ‘normal’ tariff for most of the year then when it starts getting cold out cancel that tariff and switch to e7 then in spring switch back again?

anyone do that?

 

Urrf… As much as I want to suggest that… It gets messy. The industry doesn’t handle that kind of tarrif flipping very well so I can’t recommend it.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
AxIanAuthor
Rank 2
March 7, 2025

Yep, Luke has powers that I don’t possess myself. Getting your account details from the Meter Serial Number is one of them - it only works because he’s OVO Staff whereas Forum Volunteers like me can’t do that because we’re customers. Luke is effectively one of our secret weapons here on the Forum. His full powers are… Classified...

We promise you we use that power for good and not evil though! Mind you, it does also prove useful in the cases where someone thinks they can get away with meter tampering… A simple MSN lookup and BLAM! Caught! :)

Or get a tariff that doesn’t cost anything to leave. And have the ‘normal’ tariff for most of the year then when it starts getting cold out cancel that tariff and switch to e7 then in spring switch back again?

anyone do that?

 

Urrf… As much as I want to suggest that… It gets messy. The industry doesn’t handle that kind of tarrif flipping very well so I can’t recommend it.

 

I don’t live in that house - looking at the serial of ‘that’ meter you can probably use ‘your powers’ to see into my OVO account and see were I actually do live :)

But the idea of ‘tariff flipping’ occurred to me while I was trying to understand why a tenant would specifically ask for that kind of meter to be installed. On the other hand (I hope he doesn’t read this) but the tenant wasn’t the sharpest knife in drawer so I don’t think that Tariff Flipping would have occurred to him.
 

AxIanAuthor
Rank 2
March 7, 2025

When I first bought the house I seem to remember that peak rate E7 was around 16p per unit and night time rate was around 8p (or even lower) so e7 was certainly the way to go for a street with no gas.
 

But looking at current rates and although there is a difference between e7 peak and e7 off peak it’s not that cheap anymore.

I’d need to do some maths but I wonder is it really worth having E7 any more?

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
March 7, 2025

If you have storage/immersion heaters, it is likely that you will want E7/E10. They can be horribly expensive to run without it.

@Firedog ​@BPLightlog and ​@Nukecad are better at the number crunching than me. I’ll ask them to stop by.

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