Elec only - standing charge question

BillBrum

Hi all

I am in Birmingham in an all-electric flat with Economy 7 storage heaters and a meter with two readings and a separate clock. I get bills that show:
DAY - primary units @ ....
DAY - secondary units @ ....
NIGHT units @ ....

There is no standing charge listed.

I moved a few months ago to EON, on the tariff called ElectricityOnline Extra Saver 5 plan. It was cheaper then than it is now, and I am looking around. What I have found is that tariffs with standing charges work out much cheaper for me. Using my last bill's readings, which covered one month, moving to Scottish Power's fixed charge tariff would work out around half price if I could go onto a standing charge tariff. It works out like this:

EON - £127.69 less disc 26.76 = £100.93
Scottish Fixed Dec09 no standing charge - £100.28
Scottish Discount Oct09 no standing charge - £90.49
Scottish Fixed Dec09 standing charge - £51.90

So, my question is - can a person elect to go onto a standing charge tariff, or can I do nothing about it?
Also, should I stay on the EON, as I get discount plus Tesco points - or will they bump me off that tariff at some point?

Thanks

Bill

Cardew

In the first tariff you mention, the primary units(sometimes called Tier 1 units) are another way of collecting a standing charge. You pay for the first units you use at a higher(primary) rate and that extra charge is in fact a standing charge.

For most people the 'standing charge' paid under either method works out the same - only very low users are likely to gain with the primary unit method.

Scottish power might have a low standing charge, but that is only part of the total bill. The important part is the price of each kWh. e.g. you could have a low standing charge but a higher total bill.

BillBrum

Thanks for that, Cardew.

I got my sums wrong and made the Scottich one too cheap. My figures are:

1 Primary daytime units 79kWh
2 Secondary daytime units 358kWh
3 Night units 807 kWh

EON
1 79 x £0.22554 = £17.82
2 358 x £0.18596 = £66.57
3 807 x £0.05366 = £43.30

Total £127.69 less discount £26.76 = £100.93

Scottish fixed no standing charge
1+2 = 437 x £0.10572 = £46.20
3 807 x £0.05099 = £41.15
standing charge 30 days x £0.2184 = £6.55

Total £93.90

Not so different then.

Any idea about whether EON will move me off the Extra Saver 5?

Cheers, Bill.

Cardew

Those consumption figures are for one month?

Just a question. How do you get a £26.76 discount with EON for 1 month?

BillBrum

Thanks again Cardew.

Does the discount seem high? The Saver E5 plan had a DD discount and an online discount too. Interestingly, on the first screen after logging-in (Your Account), it says that my product is E7, but if I click on the link to view alternative tariffs, it shows me as still being on E5. That's one of the reasons why I was asking whether EON could just knock me onto another tariff without my agreement.

As far as the readings go - yes the start and end readings were actually taken, not estimated. As I say, the flat is all-electric. Two of us live here, and the flat is empty for around half the daytimes. For most of this billing month, only two medium-sized heaters were working at about 6kW overnight. New storage heaters were fitted on the last week of the period, and the flat's total overnight load is now 7.65kW. I don't have an immersion heater or storage tank, just a 12kW instant hot water boiler that services, mainly, the shower. The dishwasher and washer-dryer are cold-fill only. The hob is an induction model and is used most nights.

If the readings still appear high to you - would you suggest I ask for the meter to be checked? How do they do this and is there a charge?

Regards

Bill

Cardew

No I wasn't suggesting the figures for consumption were high. Where heating is concerned the size of flat and standard of insulation are the main factors.

65% of your consumption on E7 is good, although that is for late autumn I assume?

It was just a query on a £26.76 discount for just a month which is over 20% of your bill and £310 p.a??

Surely your best idea is to feed your annual consumption in kWh into a comparison website and they will produce the best deal for you.

rathga

BillBrum - to ask a slightly off-topic question, what make/model is your 12kW instant hot water boiler? I currently have immersion and a tank and I'm not sure it's so great.

Back on topic - Incidently I seem to be on exactly the same tariff as you (Saver E5 but says E7 on the first screen for me also). As far as I'm aware we have a 15% discount until April 2009, and a 6% discount for online billing - so 21% overall. Interestingly, however, this doesn't seem to be correctly reflected on the energy comparison websites, so it's worth double checking the math if you're shopping around.

mhendo

The description of your tarrif (and mine ), is "Electricity Online Extra Saver E7", where the "E7" is referring to Economy 7.

The actual tarrif is Electricity Online Extra Saver 5 (Economy 7).


Like you, I found that the comparison sites aren't reflecting the Electricty Online Extra Saver 5 tarrif correctly - UKPower is using old rates, and energyhelpline, energylinx, etc were not applying the 21% discount which applies until April on the version 5.

The version 5 is still cheaper than any other tarrif I would get - won't be worth moving again until the extra 15% discount drops off in April.

BillBrum

Thanks for your comments, mhendo. Maybe I will wait until March/April to look again at moving from EON.

rathga - the electric boiler I had fitted to replace the immersion heater/storage tank system is called a Multiflow, made by Heatstore, BS11 9YQ 0870 900 0420 - see link: http://www.heatstore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?catID=25&subCatID=41&productID=41
I bought mine from HSD Online: http://www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/products/prod107640

Beware - most instant electric boilers do still have a small storage tank that they heat up. This one, though, is really just like a shower unit that heats the water going through a copper pipe inside it. It's about the size of a shoebox and has given me a large kitchen cupboard where an airing closet used to be.