Electricity cheaper at night??

moo842

I've just been watching GMTV and they had an older couple on who where doing all their housework at night as it was cheaper? is this really true, how would the electricity company know what time you use each unit?
i'm really confused

Ken68

They would be on a tariff called Economy 7, where 7 hours each night (times vary thru the country) is much cheaper.But daytime electric is dearer than normal.
There is also a tariff called E10 for boosting heating in the p.m. at a cheap rate.
Also in Scotland there is another tariff to include day time heating. This tariff and E10 need special meters and not every supplier wants the bother and expense.

madhouse

I have just phoned Eon who told me the Economy 7 would not affect my daytime fixed rate but would only cost 4p / unit between the hours of 12 and 8a.m.They said there is no extra charge I would just need a new meter.

notbritishgas

madhouse wrote: »

I have just phoned Eon who told me the Economy 7 would not affect my daytime fixed rate but would only cost 4p / unit between the hours of 12 and 8a.m.They said there is no extra charge I would just need a new meter.

Almost certainly you have been given wrong information.
Look on the EoN website to compare the prices of the standard tariff and the E7 tariff and I am sure you will see that the day unit price is higher.
Also 12 to 8am is 8 hours, you only get 7 hours on E7

ic

Yes - its a near certainty that you won't be able to find a tariff where the day rate doesn't go up to compensate for the lower night rate. If you're disciplined enough to do things like run your tumble dryer over night then it can make savings - however would you want to leave something like that going whilst you sleep? The rate typically applies between 11pm and 6am. Some energy providers may charge you to switch the meter over too.

looby-loo_2

Is it the case that some meters are radio controled by the company so the times would be exact?

notbritishgas

looby-loo wrote: »

My meter is 7 hours until 7.30 in the winter and 8.30 in the summer because the clocks change.

I set the washing machine and dishwasher to finish at about these times. I often get a bit of ironing, vacuuming or baking done and make a quick cuppa before I hear it 'click' over to day rate.

If I didn't do these things it would not be worth the extra day rate. Work out if you would use it by doing some meter readings before you change.

ps
My meter actually runs a bit slow so I get till 7.44 or 8.44, although only a few minutes is does provide the tim for the extra cuppa. Is it the case that some meters are radio controled by the company so the times would be exact?

Yes you are correct that some meters are controlled by a radio signal, I think I read somewhere that it is transmitted over Radio 4 (well it beats the Archers?)
And yes it is the same time all year and exact, for example I am in east mids and the time is 1am to 8am, so like you we can do a few things in the cheap rate in the morning.

cowbutt

notbritishgas wrote: »

Yes you are correct that some meters are controlled by a radio signal, I think I read somewhere that it is transmitted over Radio 4

More likely to be the National Physical Laboratory's MSF Time Signal

espresso

cowbutt wrote: »

More likely to be the National Physical Laboratory's MSF Time Signal

The radio controlled teleswitches make use of the 198 kHz BBC Radio Four transmission system.

notbritishgas

espresso wrote: »

The radio controlled teleswitches make use of the 198 kHz BBC Radio Four transmission system.

There I said they used it to drown out the Archers.:rotfl:

JohnnyM_2

notbritishgas wrote: »

Yes you are correct that some meters are controlled by a radio signal, I think I read somewhere that it is transmitted over Radio 4 (well it beats the Archers?)
And yes it is the same time all year and exact, for example I am in east mids and the time is 1am to 8am, so like you we can do a few things in the cheap rate in the morning.

Im in the East Mids and the fella who changed my meter the other week said that it is 1am to 8am currently. However, it may well change with the clocks in October. Fortunately, my new meter indicates which tarriff I am currently operating on, so a quick check either side of 7 and 8 in the morning come october will indiacte whether the period has shifted an hour.

Incidentally just to add confusion to it, the time on the meter reads one hour ahead for some reason. The meter bloke said they all do.