Question about daily rate and night rates

mi33cupc@ke

Hi all, my electricity meter shows two rates: Rate 1 and Rate 2 which I'm assuming is day/night rate. Obviously I'd like to take advantage of the cheaper rate, but how do I find out which rate is cheaper and when the start times are? I'm with Scottish Power if that's of any relevance.

spiro

First thing is; are you on a 1-rate or 2-rate tariff? If you dont have night storeage heating you may already be on a 1-rate tariff just with a 2-rate meter still installed. If you are on a 2-rate tariff you supplier should be able to tell you otherwise just check the meter during the evening/morning and see when the meter swaps from one register to the other (normally has an indicator as to which register is operating).

pennyweyes

Good question! I'm surprised how many people don't know when their 'cheap rate' is. It's usually something like this - you'll get 7 hours at the cheaper rate (commonly about a third of the standard rate) from 1 a.m - 8 a.m all year, OR 12.30 a.m - 7.30 a.m (GMT months in the UK) and 01.30 a.m - 8.30 a.m (BST months). You can watch your meter to see when it changes over. Use timers on appliances or spend a few quid on time switches and do as much as possible of dishwashing, washing, etc overnight on the cheap rate. I know someone who gets up early in the morning to do the ironing, too! Hope this helps :beer:

Dustykitten

We are 2 rate tariff and confusingly Rate 2 is day rate and Rate 1 is night rate. There is a sticker on my meter telling me my time band (00:30-7:30 GMT) remember when the clocks change your time band shifts by an hour. I'm not sure if mine 'clicks' over at the correct time but the clock on it is correct (well correct as in it will be when we put the clocks back)

brysiewysie

There's several threads saying how you can acurately find out your cheap rate period. Just search for Economy 7 times on the forum. The times are different for different parts of the country and also depend upon the type of meter you have. The info is already in other posts.