Official MSE Economy 7 Guide discussion

24567…67

Comments

  • garden_girl_2
    garden_girl_2 Posts: 52 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Im glad to see this as a discussion topic, been wondering for years whether we should keep our economy 7 meter, it was in house when we moved in. We do not have storage heaters, but use a fridge/freezer, separate freezer, washing machine 5 days a week and dishwasher twice a week, hot water is heated by gas.
    Our time clock works from either summer 12.55 - 7.55 and winter 1 hour earlier. I have asked previously if it would be worth changing meter, but not really had a satisfactory reply from suppliers (N.Power).

    Also i would not use a 30 wash, as its been proved that germs etc are not removed from clothes as it not hot enough to kill them.
  • garden_girl_2
    garden_girl_2 Posts: 52 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Sorry should have said use w machine and dishwasher overnight. also we live in suffolk.
  • railwayman50
    railwayman50 Posts: 1 Newbie
    If you have solar panels fitted with a FIT tariff arrangement Econoomy 7 can be beneficial. You save on electricity at night when you do not produce any electricity and any day time increase in cost only applies to that electricity you still draw from the grid during the day as any electricity you generate and use is not affected by the increase in cost
  • merit_mark_2
    merit_mark_2 Posts: 28 Forumite
    Currently use average over year 55% overnight use without storage heaters. Have hideous LPG central heating but also use several oil filled radiators on timers to heat the house up in the early morning on off peak power. Cheap (compared with buying / installing storage heaters) and effective - saves a couple of hours of central heating so house is warmed up before boiler cuts in.

    Also run dehumidifiers on timers as well as dishwasher, w/machine, breadmaker etc. Used to run a huge '70s chest freezer in the garage (DIY lagged with 4" polystyrene) - it was able to be off during the peak hours without warming up excessively. Only menace - modern appliances often are not compatible with clockwork timers :-(
  • Sparky47
    Sparky47 Posts: 314 Forumite
    Sprocket_Tom wrote: »
    OVO said I would need a new meter installing and would cost me £130 to get it installed so I never did it but every year im thinking I should do it but they said no mater which supllier i went with it would need to have the meter replaced.

    Unless something has recently changed, that is not the case.
    Up until last Dec I was with EON on a normal tariff with an E7 meter.
    They were happy to just add the two readings together.
    Some companies do require a meter change but some will change it free of charge.
  • Terry_D
    Terry_D Posts: 63 Forumite
    Sparky47 wrote: »
    Unless something has recently changed, that is not the case.
    Up until last Dec I was with EON on a normal tariff with an E7 meter.
    They were happy to just add the two readings together.
    Some companies do require a meter change but some will change it free of charge.
    Ahh, you just beat me to it! I was about to say exactly the same re E-On and since we changed recently to Scottish Power, they also except 2 electricity meter readings and I'm not on an Economy 7 tarriff with them either.
  • ally18
    ally18 Posts: 761 Forumite
    Terry_D wrote: »
    Ahh, you just beat me to it! I was about to say exactly the same re E-On and since we changed recently to Scottish Power, they also except 2 electricity meter readings and I'm not on an Economy 7 tarriff with them either.


    Hi,
    Could I ask, is this definitely correct, that SP will accept two readings???
    I switched over to SP about 8 weeks ago now after being with np who accepted two reading for my bills. I expected to go on a particular tariff with SP but they changed it to an E7 tariff because I had the meter. When I asked about this, I was told SP will definitely not accept two readings to create one bill. I had the E7 meter so I had to stay on an E7 tariff. Obviously I was annoyed. I don't use enough night units to warrant the E7 but cant afford to change the meter either! :(
  • noneleft
    noneleft Posts: 1 Newbie
    I live in a flat with underfloor heating ( no storage heaters & no gas) Cannot use washing machine /drier at night because of noise am in all day have been told by southern electric my best deal would be economy 10 can anyone tell me if this sounds right?
  • CanAmSteve
    CanAmSteve Posts: 4 Newbie
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    This information may be useful for some. We purchased a home built in the late 1970s which had an electric storage heater. This is essentially a large number of special bricks, wrapped in resistance wire and insulated. You heat the bricks up at night when power is cheaper and in theory you can then heat your house the rest of the day with the residual heat. It didn't work very well, as it was only set up to supply hot air (which is blown over the hot bricks) to the lower level - the idea being, I suppose, that heat rises. Each upstairs bedroom (4) also had an electric wall heater which was connected to a parallel, timer-operated E7 circuit.

    The heat storage capacity of the storage unit wasn't really even enough for the lower floor, and of course in cold weather it ran out of "puff" even sooner. Meaning freeze or pay huge rates. As far as the wall heaters, the Economy 7 rate is available while you are snug in bed but now when you are getting up in the morning, so it's exactly what you don't need.

    We replaced our E7 system with gas (LPG as we are not near mains) and we pay about £900/year (one refill of a 1000L tank) for almost all heat and most hot water now (4 bed house - I switch the gas off in the spring and use the HW immersion heater instead). We have a couple of small areas of underfloor electric (not on E7) and our electric bill for the year is about £1200.

    We have to have two meter reading still as it is not worth the electric company's expense to switch meters back, and they keep saying we will get a smart meter. Right. Someday.
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Rampant Recycler
    ally18 wrote: »
    Hi,
    Could I ask, is this definitely correct, that SP will accept two readings???
    I switched over to SP about 8 weeks ago now after being with np who accepted two reading for my bills. I expected to go on a particular tariff with SP but they changed it to an E7 tariff because I had the meter. When I asked about this, I was told SP will definitely not accept two readings to create one bill. I had the E7 meter so I had to stay on an E7 tariff. Obviously I was annoyed. I don't use enough night units to warrant the E7 but cant afford to change the meter either! :(

    You are correct. Scottish Power will not accept the two meter readings(peak and off-peak) to be added for a single rate tariff.
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