Economy 7, Economy 10 and Restricted Meter Billing

Economy 7 is a time-of-use electricity tariff that charges two different prices depending on when you use power: a cheap rate for seven hours overnight, and a more expensive rate for the other 17 hours of the day¹. The cheap window usually runs from midnight to 7am, though the exact hours vary by supplier and region⁴. Around 3.9 million of the UK's 26 million electricity consumers were on an Economy 7 or variant tariff when Ofgem last counted, making it by far the most common restricted meter arrangement in the country⁵.

The trade at the heart of the tariff is simple. Night electricity is cheaper, day electricity costs more than it would on a single-rate tariff, and the household wins only if enough of its consumption lands in the cheap hours. Independent guidance puts the break-even point somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of annual usage at night, a wide range that reflects how much day rates vary between suppliers¹. For a home with storage heaters, an electric vehicle, or a battery that charges overnight, that split is achievable. For a household that uses most of its electricity in the evening, Economy 7 can cost more than a single-rate tariff.

A dual-rate tariff with seven cheap hours overnight

Economy 7 charges two set prices for electricity: an on-peak rate and an off-peak rate, with the cheaper off-peak rate applying for 7 hours out of every 24, usually at night¹². Ofgem describes this as a multi-rate tariff, "where you pay one rate during a specified off-peak period and another, more expensive rate during peak hours"¹³. The name comes from those seven cheap hours, and the meter that supports the tariff records usage in two separate registers so the supplier can bill each block at its own rate.

The tariff was designed around electric heating. People with Economy 7 typically use the cheap hours to charge their storage heaters with heat, which is then released through the day¹⁰, and the tariff is mainly intended for homes that run on an electric heating system and use storage heaters⁹. But it is not restricted to them: Economy 7 tariffs are typically used with electric storage heaters but they are available to anyone¹⁴. In Scotland the arrangement is often called a "white meter" tariff, because the meters supplied by energy companies there are white³.

Two boundaries matter. First, Economy 7 is an electricity product: it is not possible to get an Economy 7 meter for a gas supply¹. Second, independent guidance states that Economy 7 is only available for electricity-heated homes and not those with a gas supply⁶, so a household with a gas boiler will generally find the tariff closed to it. Some variations on the standard seven hours exist, offering 8.5 or 10 hours instead¹⁰, which is where Economy 10, covered below, fits in.

For energy independence, Economy 7 rewards a household that can shift its own consumption in time. Nothing about the tariff generates or stores energy: it simply prices the grid's overnight surplus cheaper and passes that pricing to the home. The household remains fully dependent on its supplier's rates and on the meter the supplier installs.

When the cheap window actually runs

The off-peak period usually runs between midnight and 7am, but this varies across suppliers⁶, and the more precise description is a seven-hour window falling at some point between 11.00pm and 8.00am⁴. The window is not chosen by the supplier alone: your regional network operator, the company responsible for physically supplying electricity to your property, defines the off-peak window, and the length can be between 7 and 9 hours depending on the region⁴.

Because the hours are set locally, two neighbours on different networks, or even on the same network with different meters, can have different cheap windows. The practical consequences are worth checking before relying on the tariff:

• The exact hours are fixed into the meter, so a washing machine started at the wrong time is billed at the day rate regardless of intent.
• Some energy companies also offer extra hours during winter⁶, which can extend the cheap period when storage heater charging matters most.
• Some suppliers change their off-peak hours when the clocks go forward and back, a practice documented on the related Economy 10 tariffs¹⁵, so the window in British Summer Time may not match the winter window.

The only reliable way to confirm your own window is to ask your supplier, since no published schedule covers every region. Households that guess, and run dishwashers or charge cars at 11.30pm on the assumption that "night" means "late evening", can find the load lands on the day rate. The meter's clock, not the wall clock, decides.

What the night rate costs, and what the day rate costs

The night rate is genuinely cheap relative to the day rate, but the day rate carries the penalty. Your daytime rate will usually be higher than on a normal tariff¹, and some Economy 7 tariffs charge almost double the night rate during the day¹. Ofgem noted the same structure when the tariff was already long established: Economy 7 tariffs "offer cheaper electricity at night but slightly more expensive rates" during the day¹⁶.

The figures used for typical comparisons come from the Centre for Sustainable Energy, which assumes Economy 7 tariffs at 34.38p for on-peak and 15.43p for off-peak, with a 58:42 split between day and night consumption⁷. The 15.43p off-peak figure is also cited as the average cost of an Economy 7 tariff off-peak rate in January 2026¹⁷. Against a single-rate benchmark, most suppliers charge around 26.3p per kWh on their single-rate standard variable tariffs in the South Wales (SWALEC) region⁴, so on those assumptions the night rate is a little over half the single-rate price, while the day rate is roughly a third higher.

The price cap applies to Economy 7 default tariffs, with a cap level calculated separately for customers on Economy 7 meters¹¹. For electricity-only customers on Economy 7 meters, the standard credit cap level was set at £1,275 for April to June 2025, a £55 (5%) increase on the previous quarter¹⁹, and Ofgem notes that standard credit customers on Economy 7 meters pay an additional £84 compared with those paying by Direct Debit²⁰. The cap's assumed consumption split for Economy 7 tariffs has itself been the subject of official direction, with a specific Assumed Consumption Split used for prepayment price cap purposes²¹.

The night-usage threshold for savings

Whether Economy 7 pays is a question of arithmetic, and the independent guidance gives a range of thresholds rather than one number. At the stricter end, more than 40% of electricity needs to be used during the night for switching to be worthwhile¹, and National Energy Action states the same test: for Economy 7 to be economical, at least 40% of electricity needs to be used at night⁸. Uswitch puts the rule of thumb lower, at more than 35%⁴. Which? gives the most permissive threshold, that at least 30% of electricity needs to be used during the cheaper night-time hours⁶, and also states the corollary: using less than 30% of electricity during the cheaper night-time hours could mean a single-rate tariff costs less²².

The spread is not a contradiction so much as a reflection of how different suppliers price the two rates. Where the day rate is close to a single-rate price, a modest night share is enough to win; where the day rate approaches double the night rate, only a heavy overnight user comes out ahead. The thresholds also assume the household can actually move consumption: Economy 7 tariffs are suited to homes that only use electricity, or use a very large amount of electricity¹².

In practice the households that clear the threshold are those with storage heaters, which charge automatically overnight¹⁰, homes that charge a car or a battery in the cheap window, and households that time their wet appliances deliberately. Everyone else should treat the 30% figure as the floor and the 40% figure as the safe margin, and check their own split using two meter readings taken a few weeks apart in winter, when the answer matters most.

Reading an Economy 7 meter and recognising one

An Economy 7 meter includes 2 different readings, one for the on-peak hours and one for the off-peak hours²³. One is for on-peak hours, which could be marked as 'normal' or 'day', and one is for off-peak hours, marked 'low' or 'night', possibly shown as Rate 1 and Rate 2, or R1 and R2²⁴. The meter has two sets of numbers, one marked "low", which means night, and "normal", which refers to the day¹. Your meter may also have a number marked "day rate" alongside a red button that you push to get your night rate¹.

The identification signs are consistent across the guidance: two meter readings, a low or off-peak rate, a normal, high or on-peak rate, or a button to press to see each rate on an electronic meter⁸. On digital and prepayment meters you can usually access each reading by pressing a button on the meter, sometimes marked Rate 1 and Rate 2²³. The daytime or on-peak reading should either be the top one, marked as 'normal' or 'day', or the default display; the night-time or off-peak reading is the bottom one, marked 'low' or 'night'²³.

In Northern Ireland, where import and export meters are common in homes with generation, the button sequence is specific: press the blue button repeatedly until a small '1' appears in the corner of the display for the normal day rate, and until a small '2' appears for the low night rate; a small '5' followed by five numbers is the export reading²⁵.

Because Economy 7 has a cheap and a more expensive rate, it is important to make sure the on-peak and off-peak hours on your meter match what your supplier has recorded, and to submit both readings, since an estimate that guesses the day-night split wrongly can distort a bill for months²⁴. More on that in meter readings and estimated bills.

The Economy 10 tariff: cheap hours spread across the day

Economy 10 works in the same way as Economy 7 but offers 10 hours of low-cost electricity, and the defining difference is that the cheap hours are not one overnight block. The tariff provides 10 set hours of cheaper off-peak electricity: three hours in the afternoon, two hours in the evening and five hours through the night⁸. Other descriptions of the split agree on the total but differ on the arrangement: seven hours during the night and three hours during the day, most likely in the afternoon or evening¹⁵, or three of the hours in the afternoon with seven overnight⁴. Citizens Advice states the general rule: if you are on Economy 10 you will usually get 10 hours of the off-peak rate per 24 hours, possibly split into chunks throughout the day²⁶.

The afternoon and evening windows are the point of the product. Storage heaters charged only overnight run out of heat by the evening, whereas Economy 10 tariffs typically offer five hours of heat at night, complemented with three in the afternoon and two in the evening²⁷, which lets heaters top up when the house is actually occupied. You will need a time-of-use tariff, such as Economy 7 or Economy 10, to access cheaper electricity prices if you rely on storage heaters¹⁷.

The pricing carries two cautions. While Economy 10 offers unit rates of up to half the price of peak rates, the standing charges are often higher²⁷, and standing charges can be higher on an Economy 10 tariff than on Economy 7⁹. As with Economy 7, the tariff only works with electricity-heated homes and not those with a gas supply⁶.

Economy 10 availability, meters and the cost of switching

Economy 10 is a niche product, and the practical frictions are real. To get an Economy 10 tariff you must have an Economy 10 meter⁸, which your energy supplier might be able to install, but may charge a fee to do so as they are fairly uncommon²⁷. It is not as widely used as Economy 7, and not all suppliers offer tariffs that support it⁸; one of the main problems with Economy 10 is that there simply are not many Economy 10 suppliers available²⁷.

Switching is harder than on the open market. Many price comparison sites, including Uswitch, cannot support comparisons for Economy 10 meters, due to the complexity of the three different rates⁴, and Uswitch does not support Economy 10 switching, so households should go directly to suppliers to see which tariffs are available²⁸. The off-peak times vary from supplier to supplier and region to region²⁷, and not all Economy 10 tariffs operate on the same off-peak hours, with some suppliers changing their hours when the clocks change¹⁵. Moving from one Economy 10 plan to another may require the meter to be reprogrammed by an engineer²⁷.

Getting out also costs. If you are switching away from Economy 10 to a standard tariff, you may need to pay a fee to have a standard meter installed²⁷, and if you want to switch back to a fixed tariff you will need to pay to replace the meter with a regular one¹⁵.

How Economy 7 compares with single-rate and smart tariffs

Against a single-rate tariff, the comparison is decided by the usage split discussed above: below roughly 30% night usage, single-rate is generally cheaper²²; above 35 to 40%, Economy 7 generally wins⁴. Against newer smart tariffs, the difference is structural. Economy 7 and Economy 10 use fixed cheaper periods, while newer EV and tracker tariffs can be more dynamic and usually work best with a smart meter¹². Smart meters are compatible with Economy 7 tariffs and fixed rate tariffs, and they can also enable you to join other newer time-of-use tariffs, allowing you to switch tariffs without changing the meter⁹. Getting a smart meter does not itself force a tariff change: you do not have to change tariff if you get a smart meter².

For homes with technology, the guidance points in specific directions. A home with a battery is best off with either a dynamic tariff or Economy 7¹⁴, because the battery can charge at the cheap rate and discharge through the day, converting a fixed overnight window into round-the-clock cheap electricity. Storage heater homes need a time-of-use tariff of one kind or another to access cheaper prices at all¹⁷.

On the question of whether the tariff is disappearing: no, Economy 7 remains on offer as a tariff from most energy suppliers⁴, and the price cap continues to carry a specific level for Economy 7 default tariff customers¹¹. But time-of-use tariffs of the legacy kind are becoming less common as the meters that support them are phased out³¹, and households no longer on an Economy 7 or Economy 10 tariff need not rush: the meter will continue to function normally and, providing all electricity is on one circuit, there should be no difference, though a smart meter is recommended as the eventual replacement³⁰. The longer-term direction is set out in tracker and time-of-use tariffs compared with the price cap.

Northern Ireland: Economy 7 prices and the Consumer Council tables

Northern Ireland is a separate electricity market, and Economy 7 pricing there is tracked by the Consumer Council rather than by Ofgem's cap. The Consumer Council publishes a regular Economy 7 Price Comparison Table, with the edition dated 28 August 2026 comparing tariffs available in Northern Ireland, correct on the day of comparison³². The tables are updated on the date when a new increase or decrease comes into effect, not when it is announced³², so a table is a snapshot of live prices rather than a forecast.

The detail behind the tables carries conditions a householder should check. Prices are quoted including VAT of 5%, as of 18 September 2026³³, and some tariffs may be available to new customers only³³. At least one supplier's Economy 7 tariff, Click Energy', is offered with no fixed term contract³³. The Consumer Council also offers an energy price comparison tool covering electricity and gas tariffs for all suppliers in Northern Ireland, and nidirect points households struggling with bills towards that tool and the related support available there³⁴.

For a Northern Ireland household on electric heating, the table is the working tool: it shows the day rate, the night rate and the standing charge side by side, which is exactly the arithmetic that decides whether the restricted meter is worth keeping. The wider context of the market, including how Power NI bills differ from Great Britain suppliers, is covered in energy bills in Northern Ireland and Power NI tariffs.