Economy 7 should it be taken out?

moneysavingwannabe

Hi,

I had a look in the meter box it has the 2 sets of dials and a radio transmitter but the switch is set to off.

The panel the electrician took out had economy seven written on it and a start timer thing not sure what else can't remember. But the meter is still moving round somehow??

Cardew

malc_b wrote: »

I have E7 meter as a long while back E7 worked out cheaper. I still have the meter but the elec company adds the two figures and so I'm on standard tariff. This has been the same for BG, Eon, Npower, and I think Utility warehouse. It would surprise me if a elec company couldn't do that. If they said they couldn't I'd be inclinced to ask why they were so useless then compared with all the others that don't have a problem.

I am exactly the same as you, E7 and day readings added together.(with BG)

Several people have posted on here that some companies will not do this and insist on a new meter; some charge for this others don't!

I suspect the reason is that their accounting computer system is not programed to handle this situation. When BG migrated to their new computer system(which initially was a disaster) it appeared to have great difficulty in coping with this situation and manual adjustments were needed.

System

Check if it actually only for 7 hours.

I recently found out that that my E7 is actually 8.5 hours, EON said it was something to do with the Scottish Power region.

I'm a bit of night owl, and also put on all my white goods overnight, so i think it saves me quite alot. The reason i know is that my off-peak usage is relatively high in the summer months when the storage heating is off 95% of the time

Clearly anything that heats, or moves (washing machine etc) uses power in high quantities. If your able to use them off-peak, it might still be worth it.

Gavioli_UK

moneysavingwannabe wrote: »

Scottish Power website
With an economy 7 meter you get cheaper electricity during the night. This may be controlled by a timer in the meter, a separate timer or a radio signal. The times for the off-peak period vary across the country and can be different for customers living in the same area. Your economy 7 meter may operate at different times, but you still receive at least 7 hours at the cheaper rate. Your supplier does not hold any information on the exact times of your meter. The best way to learn the off-peak period is to look at your meter around the times indicated below. Please note that the times on the meter are always set to GMT and do not change when the clocks go forward or back.

East Midlands = 11pm - 7am

I don't think Scotish Power are quite correct here. I am in the East Midlands, and if you have a radio teleswitch the 7 hours is from 01:00 - 08:00 all the year round, no matter who your supplier is. Separate mechanical time switches are always GMT, and the 7 hours between 11:00 and 07:00 varied to even out the load from a given substation. They are also prone to gaining and loosing time.

Your local Distribution Company manage the radio signal and will be able to tell you the exact times for their teleswitches.

Mechanical timeswitches have a large visible dial where you should be able to see the actual time it is set at, and ponters where it comes on and goes off.

I have monitored my cheaper useage for over a year now, and because I get it until 08:00 I can achieve well over 30% at the cheaper rate. (There are only 2 of us)

I think many people associate E7 with the reputation of storage heaters being expensive and do not realise that if circumstances are right some savings can be made without heating with E7