Hi

I wonder whether anyone can help me with this:

I lived in a flat with storage heaters until November 07, was customer of powergen/eon then on Economy 7 with Heatwise Plan (that is what it says on the bill).

I bought a new flat with an electric boiler / central heating system but have kept the same tarriff of Economy 7 with Heatwise Plan.

Unfortunately this plan does not even exist on price comparison sites so I am unsure whether I should be switching or not. My bills have definitely gone up but who´s haven´t?

Does anyone know the specifics about this price plan and on ground of which parameters I know whether it is a good tariff for me?

Cheers

Florian

Hi besenreiser,

I have heard of Heatwise with E7, Heatwise is a special tariff EON (formerly Powergen) do in their host area, i.e. your supply number (which you may have two of them) will begin with the number 11.

For Heatwise you can either have Heatwise with Domestic or Heatwise with E7, simply, Heatwise with Domestic your meter will have 4 rates, for Heatwise with E7 it will have 5. You will have a day, night, offpeak and then two for your heating.

Regrettably these tariffs are unique to the host supplier, for ScottishPower they have two heating tariffs in their host Scottish area's called Comfort Plus which you also wont find on here but they do exist. Regrettably you find that the meter is only as compatible as the heating system, i.e you cant have one without the other, so simply having the meter removed to, say, normal E7 wont work.

Nearly all the suppliers, except for BG, have these types of meters as historically they were all former electricity boards, however BG, is the exception as they came into the electricity market selling it, from clearly only selling gas. However they principally are only interested in either Domestic or E7 as the largest market share of the host suppliers tariffs.

Therefore Eon will be aware you probably wont be able to change supplier, as most suppliers, like for example BG are only expecting your meter to have one or two readings, not 4 or 5 for simply domestic heating.

Simply put you will probably have to remain with Eon, the most expensive supplier, in your host area, however, they will be aware of this and realistically should be sympathic to your needs, as realistically, its only really for electricity heating/boilers.

I would therefore dig out the best plan for you with them, there internet tariffs are the cheapest and will have to make their Heatwise (E7) tariffs available on their own web rates, so either their Price Protection 18 or their Energy Saver v5.

I would go with which ever saves you the most, reading up both these tariffs state they offer price protection till July 2010, which isnt a bad thing, as despite petrol coming down a bit, this is really competition at the pumps from the supermarkets, yes aswell as wholesale dropping, but gas and electricity take more time and there is every speculation that gas and electricity prices are set to increase in the new year, therefore capping them now seems a good idea, especially as the Price Protection one offers if their standard rates fall below yours, yours also fall, seems great too me especially if you cant transfer to take advantage of cheaper unit prices.

Best thing I would do is get a picture of your unit prices now, and contact them and ask them for prices on all the above and ask them if there are other packages you can have

Let us know how you get on

Hi, I am having problems with E-on with thi sparticular tariff. I notice you've said you may have 2 supply numbers, do you know why this is?

I live in a ground floor flat with only 1 above and have received and extremley high bill for my normal usage. Could I be being charged for the 2 flats?

Any information would be gratefully received!

Good Morning Mrs Lawrenson

Firstly Apologies for not replying sooner, most companies that have multi-rate meters have more than one mpan. For traditional single rate or E7 you usually only get one Mpan. But for any domestic meters with 3 or more rates, which factors in both variants of Heatwise (HW) that being HW with domestic, or HW with E7, you will have 2 supply numbers(MPAN's) This is usually because of the way historically the information for that meter is stored. For example the first supply number will bring in readings, for the some of the meter's displays, and the second supply number for the remaining rates.

Therefore I dont find it strange that you will have two Mpans for your HW with E7 system, or indeed, HW with Domestic, and wouldnt necessarily get concerned that you are being charged for the flat above aswell. This tariff, especially as you are with the host electricity supplier EON, is notoriously expensive, and as most other suppliers are unable to "support" this tariff, you maybe stuck with EON (see my previous post).

But as mentioned EON will be more than used to dealing with this tariff and moving to one of their other tariffs, particulary, their internet tariffs, will more than likely save you money.

Hope this helps

Hi Mrs Lawrenson

Mr Spock has posted some really good advice about our Heatwise tariff. Just thought I would clarify a couple of points.

Customers with Heatwise meters are not eligible for our Online or Price Protection tariffs.

Heatwise is an off peak tariff designed for all electric properties with storage heaters. They give 10 hours of storage and water heating per day at a cheaper rate. This is split into three blocks at the following times.

3 hours in the afternoon between 1pm and 4.30pm.

2 hours in the evening between 5.30pm and 10pm

5 hours at night between 12am and 7am.

Units used during the above times are charged at a lower rate. This is shown on your bill as afternoon and night/evening.

You can have Heatwise with either a single rate or Economy 7 tariff.

The Heatwise part sits alongside the standard tariff. Electricity used outside of the above times is charged at standard prices. These prices are the same as our standard tariff.

Discounts are available for prompt payment and paying with a fixed monthly Direct Debit.

It is possible to remove the Heatwise part of the meter so you are on a standard system and eligible for other tariffs. However, I would be careful about this as the Heatwise part will be wired into your heating/water system and removing it may not be beneficial. I would ask an independent electrician for advice before doing this.

Hope this helps.

Malc

Thank you very much for the information, it as been helpful. I tried getting this info from e-on but got nowhere! I am moving on friday so the bill I have received is the last from them!

I must say it is a complex tariff to understand and can see why it is not offered anymore!

Thank you

Carol

What I'd like to know is how to remove the heatwise part, so I can switch from E-on as the rates border on extortion due to the lack of support form the rest of the industry. For 14 years we have always been in credit every single quarter until this year, and what do they want, an extra 60 quid a month, meaning we spend 1600 quicd a year bearing in mind that they have found that our comsumption have hardly ever varied in 14 years

I am very happy to fit my 3 storage heaters and water heater with a plug and timer, and switch supplier to a vastly cheaper rate.

I have one in mind, but they cant seem to comprehend the 2 MPAN numbers

so i'd like to know how to get rid of it. lekky at a 3rd of the price will suit me to the groud

Chaaskul:

What I'd like to know is how to remove the heatwise part,

Contact your supplier and request a meter change to E7. You will probably have to pay and may require an electrician to perform some wiring mods. (refer to malc - eon's earlier post in this thread)

A few threads ago I looked at the comparative prices between E7 and E10 (generic Heatsave) using the easy to find EDF tariff prices. On the face it it didn't look like there was a massive difference so it's possible your "lekky at a 3rd of the price" is way off mark and you could be dissappointed with the savings when you switch to E7 in spite of the E7 tariff being subject to comparison website competition.

I'm not actually trying to switch to E7. trying to get rid of it completely so i can make the switch.

This company is not found easily and will not appear on comparison sites. When I signed up prices quoted per unit. was less then 10p which is a 3rd of what we are paying now.

I am more than happy to put the heaters and water on timers. Who needs 7 hours heating water at night. Even the boost swicth only needs around 10 mins max to heat water up.

They obviously found a great way to keep you paying thier extortionate prices. I mean we use around 900 quid per year, yet the payments total 1600

Jalexa:

Chaaskul:

What I'd like to know is how to remove the heatwise part,

Contact your supplier and request a meter change to E7. You will probably have to pay and may require an electrician to perform some wiring mods. (refer to malc - eon's earlier post in this thread)

I answered the question you asked. Removing the Heatwise part leaves E7. If what you want to do is remove E7 and revert to a single rate tariff the advice is almost the same.....

"Contact your supplier and request a meter change to a single rate tariff. You will probably have to pay and may require an electrician to perform some wiring mods."

However I would also advise that it is unlikely that every Heatwise unit is £0.30 If your payments are £1600 for £900 of usage, that is something to sort out.

I think you have not understood something about either your billing or the tariff you are on.

HI Chaaskul

You can have your Heatwise meter replaced any time you wish. Either with a single rate or Economy 7 meter. Just give us a call.

There will be a charge of £50 for the replacement.

As Jalexa has already pointed out, I would refer you to my previous post. It is important you have an independent electrician check out your set up as there may be work required to make sure your heating/water continues to function as it should.

Hope this helps.

Malc

Firstly Heatwise was never meant to be a comparatively cheap tarriff. It was designed for one thing alone -- Comfort. Meaning regardless of cost the occupier had heating and hot water the entire time through. More often seen in properties without a gas supply and using some form of under-floor heating. So understandably comparing a "comfort" tarriff with an "economical" one will produce quite a big price differential.

To access these cheaper prices Jalexa is right you will need to request and where applicable make payment for the metering amendment. Once completed this will allow other suppliers to be able to take you on, and more importantly bill you correctly.

hi there

I had economy 7 with heatwise plan with Eon

I changed it recently to Standard rate for eletricity but still with heatwise plan. The reason why i preffer standard rate is that we dont use eletricity during the economy 7 times in the night at all when we dont heat.

Altough my concern is now the heating. when i had economy 7. the eletricity from heaters was chared as a night economy 7 rate during off peak times. now as i had this rate removed, is it gonna be charged as a standard rate or it will show as an afternoon and night- evening tarrif on the bill?

Thanks in advance

Simona

Hi Simona

The Heatwise part of your metering sits alongside the standard meter, regardless of whether this is single rate or Economy 7.

Your water and heating will be wired into the Heatwise part of the meter. This will continue to give you 10 hours of off peak electricity at the following times.

3 hours in the afternoon between 1pm and 4.30pm.

2 hours in the evening between 5.30pm and 10pm

5 hours at night between 12am and 7am.

Units used during these times by your storage heaters/water immersion will continue to be charged at the lower rates shown on your bill as afternoon and evening.

Now you have had the Economy 7 removed, all other units used at night for things like lighting, TV or any other domestic appliance will be charged at standard daily rates.

Hope this answers your question Simona. Give me a shout if I can advise further as always happy to help.

Malc

In short you'll still have cheaper electricity for your heating and hot water requirements, while your remaining electrcity will be charged at the new standard rates, which are obviously cheaper than the E7 day charges - so you'll be saving money.