Want to save money on electricity!

Look back through your bill history and write down any meter readings that have a C or A next to them. These usually mean Confirmed or Actual rather than been estimated.

Write them all down, and the dates they were taken and post them here. We can help you work out your annual use.

From these figures we can also calculate your annual day/night use and , for an E7 flat, the all important night use %.

The night use % is how much of your annual electricity use is during E7 hours.

You want this to be above 50% at least.

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If you can't find these figures you can use an approximation.

A three bedroom flat is larger than most, so your annual use maybe in the region of 8000kwh.

If we assume a night use percentage of 55%, this means you would use

4400kwh at night

3600kwh Day.

That is a good starting point for comparison.

Edit:

You do say that your current Direct Debit is about 71 a month. This is pretty low, so do not be afraid of using a lower figure in a comparison site.

If we assume a lower annual figure of 5000kwh with a 55% night use you would get:

2750kwh night
2250kwh day


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But, working out your own figures is the better option. Your use could be a lot higher, or lower. The same with your night use %.

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Good luck!

OK, so looking at the early reading from 11/08/16 to 18/09/17 is a good indicator of use. This is nearly a years worth/

Day use = 56991 - 51666 = 5325kwh

Night = 55901 -52683 = 3218kwh

Total use = 8543kwh

That is for 13 months, so we can deduct a month off both.

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Day: 5325/13 x 12 = 4915kwh

Night:3218/13 x 12 = 2970kwh

Total annual use approx = 7885kwh

Your day night split is poor - to calculate this we take the total annual use (7885) and the night use total (2970) and work out what percentage the total is at night.

2970/7885 = 0.376 or 38%

So you only use 38% of your total use on the cheaper rate. This should be above 50% at least.

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As the majority of your annual use is comprised of heating (water and space heat) you should be able to increase your night use.

Do you use the storage heaters? Are you heating the hot water tank at night?

Are you supplementing the storage heaters with portable heaters which use the expensive day rate?

In terms of your overall use of 7885kwh. That sounds normal as an annual total. It was right on my guess with my original post.

What you need to work out is why your split is so bad.

Also use those figures in a comparison site to get an idea as to how good your tariff is.

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As a final important point check your energy company has recorded the night and day use the correct way round!

If they have it wrong, they are charging night use for day and vice versa.

You need to boil a kettle, then check which meter number is moving. Then check that that number corresponds to the correct meter readings on the bill!

It is a long shot, but worth checking as 38% is pretty low night use for an E7 flat.

If you flip the day and night round, your night use would be 62%. This sounds more correct for a night use %. So do check it!

That is just a general guide and quite logical....

Heating (hot water and space heating) often accounts for 60% of an annual bill.

If you have an E7 property which uses heating (hot water and space heating) at night then that should translate into a similar % split of an annual total.

Normally there are variables that can affect that figure (lifestyle choices) but, it stands to reason that the majority of your annual use in an E7 property should be done at night. The majority being....over 50% .

So at a minimum, with a standard E7 set-up, being over 50% on your night use is a good indicator that you are using the set-up correctly. Below that figure suggests there is room for improvement or that there is something else amiss.

With any E7 tariff the night rate is always cheaper than the day rate. So in any instance, ensuring as much of your heavy load use (within reason) is at night, makes perfect sense.

So, for an E7 set-up the higher the night use % (as a % of your overall use) the better.

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The main aim of the post was to help the OP calculate her annual use, and explain the percentage split. I also asked further questions to fully determine their set-up.

So, until we get those answers, my post was focused on the figures.

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But......to indulge your query....

I compared three sets of figures.....using an annual use of 8000kwh. One with a 30% split, a 50% split and a 60% split.

the cheapest tariff with a 30% split cost £953

the cheapest tariff with a 50% split cost £863

The cheapest tariff with a 60% split cost £724

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Now, it may be that the OPs lifestyle means that she can't get his/her night use over 38%, so they should choose whatever tariff is best for that.

But, that was not the point I was making.

I was stating that where possible, to make best use of an E7 system, the night use % as a proportion of your overall use, should be as high as you can achieve. Above 50% is a good indicator that you are using the system as intended and getting the most out of it (for the reasons I stated above).