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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly check if Economy 7 is right for you.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

15 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsNo suitable commercial alternative is listed in the supplied tools.

If this goes wrong: you move to Economy 7 on unsuitable assumptions and pay more because too little of your electricity use happens during the cheaper period.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open your latest electricity bill and copy the billing period, meter readings, day and night usage, standing charge and unit rates into the prompt.
    2. Open your supplier's current tariff page or contact the supplier and obtain the Economy 7 day rate, night rate, standing charge, meter requirements and night-time hours.
    3. List the appliances and systems that use substantial electricity, including storage heaters, hot water, an electric vehicle, washing machine and tumble dryer, and state which can run overnight.
    4. Paste the bill figures, supplier figures and household details into the prompt, then ask the chatbot to show the annual or billing-period comparison without filling gaps with estimates.
    5. Compare the chatbot's arithmetic with the figures on your bill and tariff page, checking that day and night units have not been swapped and that standing charges use the same period.
    6. Ask your supplier to confirm the Economy 7 hours, meter arrangement, switching process and all applicable rates before changing tariff, then keep the comparison and the supplier's confirmation.

    Prompt

    Check whether Economy 7 is likely to suit my household. Use only the information I provide and do not invent missing figures. Compare my current tariff with Economy 7 using the exact unit rates, standing charges, meter details and billing period I paste below. Separate day use from night use, show the calculation in a table, state every assumption, and identify any figures I still need from my supplier. Consider whether my heating, hot water, storage heaters, electric vehicle or other large appliances can realistically run during the Economy 7 night period. Do not claim that Economy 7 is cheaper unless the supplied figures support it. Explain what I should verify with my supplier before switching. This is not professional advice, so give me a practical comparison rather than a definitive financial recommendation. My details: [household and heating details]. Current tariff and bill figures: [paste them here]. Economy 7 tariff figures: [paste them here]. Typical day and night electricity use: [paste figures here].

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot see your supplier's current tariff or know whether the rates it remembers are still valid.
  • AI cannot measure how much of your future electricity use will actually move into the Economy 7 night period.
  • AI cannot decide whether your household will change its heating, hot water or appliance habits enough to make the comparison reliable.
  • AI cannot confirm that your meter, tariff terms and supplier switching arrangements are compatible with Economy 7.
  • AI does not carry the cost if an incorrect assumption leads to higher bills.

What caps this at PARTLY: real time truth, judgement under ambiguity and verification cost.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs1
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta2
Total7 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can AI tell me if Economy 7 is cheaper?
It can compare the tariffs if you provide accurate day use, night use, unit rates and standing charges. It cannot reliably predict whether Economy 7 will be cheaper when your usage pattern or current supplier rates are unknown.
Is Economy 7 worth it if I have storage heaters?
Possibly, because storage heaters can use electricity during the cheaper night period, but the answer depends on your actual day and night consumption and the full tariff rates. Use AI to structure the comparison, then confirm the meter and tariff details with your supplier.
How do I know if Economy 7 is right for my house?
Compare your actual day and night electricity use with the complete Economy 7 tariff, including standing charges, and check whether your main electrical loads can run overnight. AI can do the arithmetic and list missing information, but you must verify the figures and assumptions.
Can ChatGPT calculate whether I should switch to Economy 7?
Yes, it can calculate a comparison from figures you paste into it, but it should not fill in missing rates or usage. Check its arithmetic against your bill and current supplier information before switching.

Nearby answers

All Energy & bills rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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