How much does it cost to get an Economy 10 meter?

Economy 10 is a restricted meter tariff giving ten hours of cheaper electricity a day, usually in three blocks, against Economy 7's seven hours mostly overnight³. It is not as widely used as Economy 7, and not all suppliers offer tariffs that support it⁵. That scarcity, not the price of the box on the wall, is what makes an Economy 10 switch awkward: most price comparison sites, including Uswitch, do not compare Economy 10 deals, so the switch has to be arranged directly with a supplier¹.

What an Economy 10 meter is, and how it differs from Economy 7

Economy 10 and Economy 7 are both older types of time-of-use tariff that offer cheaper rates, typically used with electric storage heaters⁸. The difference is the shape of the cheap window. Economy 7 gives seven hours of cheaper electricity, mostly overnight⁹. Economy 10 gives ten hours of cheaper electricity, usually in three blocks across the day⁴. The National Energy Action leaflet sets out the common pattern: three hours in the afternoon, two hours in the evening and five hours through the night⁵.

The meter follows the tariff. A specific Economy 7 meter is only compatible with Economy 7 tariffs, and records peak and off-peak usage separately, which is why an Economy 7 meter shows two different readings². Economy 10 needs a meter that switches between three rate periods, which is why the meter, not just the tariff name, is the thing that has to change.

Standing charges on Economy 10 can be higher than on Economy 7². That matters because the cheap unit rate is only half the story: Economy 10 offers unit rates of up to half the price of peak rates, but the standing charges are often higher, and outside the cheap hours the rate is typically much higher than the average¹. A household weighing up Economy 10 is therefore weighing a bigger cheap window against a higher fixed cost and a sharper peak.

What the meter itself costs: usually supplied and fitted by your supplier

The meter is not a retail purchase. A household can request an Economy 10 meter from its energy supplier, but the supplier may charge for doing so, and a smart meter can be requested at no additional cost². The same guidance notes that the supplier might be able to arrange the fitting but may charge a fee because the meter is fairly uncommon¹.

Where a meter is suspected of being faulty, the accuracy test itself is free, but the supplier may charge for removing and replacing the meter, and that charge can be around £200 if the test shows the meter is working properly⁷. That figure is a useful benchmark for what a supplier visit can cost, though it is a fault-testing charge rather than an Economy 10 installation price.

Smart meters are free to the customer through the supplier¹³. That is the cheapest route to a meter capable of multi-rate billing, provided the supplier supports Economy 10 on it. The catch is supplier support rather than hardware cost: many suppliers do not support Economy 10, or may not offer tariffs to new customers⁶.

Installation and switching costs to expect

There is no published Economy 10 installation price, so any figure a household is given will be installer or supplier quoted. What can be said is what suppliers charge for adjacent meter work. Moving an electricity supply or meter costs £308 to £607 with SSEN, excluding additional work such as digging or traffic management, with a detailed quote provided during the application process¹⁴. SGN's basic alteration costs start from around £605 to £1,210, depending on whether SGN performs excavation work and which part of the country the customer lives in¹⁴. Those are network operator charges for moving a supply, not for fitting an Economy 10 meter, but they show the order of magnitude of any work that involves a visit and a change to the connection.

Switching between Economy 10 plans can also carry a cost that is not a fee at all: it may require the meter to be reprogrammed by an engineer¹. Switching away from Economy 10 to a standard tariff may require a fee to have a standard meter installed¹. For Economy 7, the equivalent rule is that if a household does not already have an Economy 7 meter, the chosen supplier will need to install a new one¹⁵. The pattern is consistent: the meter change is arranged by the supplier, and the charge, where there is one, is set by the supplier.

Running costs: whether the ten cheap hours save money

Whether Economy 10 saves money depends on how much load can be moved into the ten cheap hours. The tariff gives ten hours of cheaper electricity, usually in three time periods³. The unit rate can be up to half the peak rate, but standing charges are often higher, and the peak rate outside the cheap blocks is typically much higher than the average rate¹. A household that runs storage heaters and heavy appliances inside the cheap blocks is using the tariff as designed. A household that cannot shift its load pays the peak rate for most of its consumption.

The scale of what shifting is worth is visible in ordinary appliance running costs. An electric shower used for ten minutes a day costs around £137 a year on average¹⁶. Electric underfloor heating in a 10m2 room can cost as much as 36p per hour¹⁷. Fans usually cost less than 2p an hour to run¹⁶. These are general running costs rather than Economy 10 rates, but they show which loads are worth moving into a cheap window and which are too small to matter.

Storage heating is the load Economy 10 was built around. Upgrading to a modern storage heater can help reduce energy bills by about 10%¹⁸. Dynamic storage heaters do not work with Economy 7, and their running costs are still higher than night storage heaters for that reason¹⁹. Matching the heater type to the tariff matters as much as the meter.

Alternatives if Economy 10 is not available from your supplier

Availability is the binding constraint. There simply are not many Economy 10 suppliers available¹. Many suppliers do not support Economy 10, or may not offer tariffs to new customers⁶. Economy 10 is not as widely used as Economy 7, and not all suppliers offer tariffs that support it⁵. Most price comparison sites, including Uswitch, do not compare Economy 10 deals, and Uswitch does not support Economy 10 switching at all¹.

The practical alternatives are therefore:

• Ask the current supplier directly whether it offers an Economy 10 tariff, since comparison sites will not surface one⁶.
• Consider Economy 7, which is more widely offered and gives seven hours of cheaper electricity, mostly overnight⁹.
• Consider a time-of-use tariff built for a smart meter, since all smart meters can support tariffs that charge different prices at different times of day and night²⁰.
• Where the home has an electric vehicle or a heat pump, look at tariffs designed around those loads rather than around storage heating.

The trade-off is the same in each case: a wider cheap window usually comes with a higher standing charge or a sharper peak, and the household's own pattern of use decides whether that is worth it.

Checking whether Economy 10 suits your home and tariff

The first check is the meter. To get an Economy 10 tariff you must have an Economy 10 meter⁵. A household can identify a restricted meter from its bill: two different rates for day and night, or a tariff type listed as Economy 7 or Economy 10²¹. A meter that switches between peak and off-peak rates, such as Economy 7 or Economy 10, or a Total Heating Total Control tariff, is also the marker used to identify radio teleswitch meters²².

The second check is the radio teleswitch switch-off. Anyone with these systems on Economy 7 or Economy 10 tariffs will need a new meter to ensure their heating and hot water continue turning on and off as usual²³. That replacement is happening regardless of whether the household wants to keep Economy 10, so it is the natural moment to decide whether the tariff still fits.

The third check is smart meter compatibility. Economy 10 tariffs do not work with existing smart meters in every case, and many energy suppliers do not sell tariffs for them⁴. A household might be able to get a smart meter with an Economy 10 tariff, but this depends on which supplier it is with¹¹. Smart Energy GB's position is that a smart meter can be obtained on an Economy 7 or Economy 10 tariff²⁴, and the Energy Ombudsman states that all smart meters can support tariffs which charge different prices at different times throughout the day and night, with Economy 10 meters also available²⁰. The documents differ on how straightforward this is in practice, and the deciding factor is the supplier.

For a household, the independence question is narrow. Economy 10 does not remove reliance on the grid or on a supplier; it changes when electricity is bought and at what price. The dependence that remains is on a supplier that offers the tariff, on a meter that can bill three periods, and on a heating system that can use the daytime cheap blocks. Where those three line up, the ten hours do real work. Where they do not, the higher standing charge is paid for nothing.