economy seven & ten tariffs

Adsie

We are on Economy 7 but we only use it to heat our water over-night and for the dishwasher (+ anything that happens to be on overnight) Should I consider changing back to a 'normal' tariff. I'm sure Which? did an article some years ago stating that if you used it to put your washing machine/dishwasher on overnight then the cheaper night units used for this would more than compensate for the higher day units? Is this advice out of date and is there an easy way of working out what is best for us? Secondly I'm sure I did enquire about changing the meter when we swapped utility companies and was quoted a ridculous price like £70 to change it, which clearly makes a difference to the sums. Any advice or comments would be apreciated.
Thank you muchly,
Adsie

paul_h

Cardew wrote:

Your night and heater ‘boost’ tariff at 4.04p is much higher than E7 rates. (BG rates are around 2p(including VAT) depending on your geographic location.) This is quite a bit more than the figure of 0.5-1.0p kWh that Paul_h stated above.

I was speaking generally, as there are so many different versions of these tariffs - and the comparison was relative to the equivalent economy7 tariff from a particular supplier. I actually said

paul_h wrote:

Generally, the E10, 'warmwise', 'heatwise', or white meter tariffs have higher rates than E7, usually around 0.5-1p per kWh more for all off-peak...

Powergen's economy7 off-peak rates are above 3p per kWh, so I would have correctly expected around 4p per kWh for the economy10 type tariffs.

Cardew

Adsie wrote:

We are on Economy 7 but we only use it to heat our water over-night and for the dishwasher (+ anything that happens to be on overnight) Should I consider changing back to a 'normal' tariff. I'm sure Which? did an article some years ago stating that if you used it to put your washing machine/dishwasher on overnight then the cheaper night units used for this would more than compensate for the higher day units? Is this advice out of date and is there an easy way of working out what is best for us? Secondly I'm sure I did enquire about changing the meter when we swapped utility companies and was quoted a ridculous price like £70 to change it, which clearly makes a difference to the sums. Any advice or comments would be apreciated.
Thank you muchly,
Adsie

There isn't a simple answer to your question as the 'break even' point varies according to the area of Britain in which you live and the utility company.

The proportion of electricity you need to use at night varies from 0% to about 40%. You need to look at your bill and work out how much you have used at cheap rate(in kWh), then how much at day rate, and then compare those costs with 'normal' tariffs of the various companies. You can do this by entering the figures in the various comparison sites.

Given the useage you state you will probably be better off on normal rates as most people, without storage heating, have to work really hard at making E7 pay.

There is another factor about using E7 for dishwashers and Washing machines. I found that we were putting on the dishwasher when it wasn't full to take advantage of cheap rate electricity, which was a false economy.

As you don't have electric heating I assume you have gas? If so you will almost certainly find that heating your water with gas is cheaper than even cheap rate electricity.

I changed from E7 back to Normal rates and kept both meters - they simply add the 2 readings together and charge me for the total at normal rates. Several other people have said in this forum that their company did the same.

MATH

It is very easy to tell it you would be better off switching to standard day rate. Find the standard day rate for you supplier, add you day and night units used on you last bill together and multiply by this rate. If it is less than you were charged before vat on this bill you would be better switching.

Having siad that I think the effort to make e7 pay is over stressed. I do not have storage heating and cook on leccy at day rates. Just running my Dishwasher, heating water (summer only) running my tumble dryer (winter only) on e7 I am far better off using e7 rates.

Each family is different and you do need to do a comparison from your last year of bills.

paul_h

Like MATH I never found it difficult to make it pay either, but e7 rates are quite favourable in my own East Midlands region. As the other posters have said, you need to look at your own supplier's tariffs and do the calculations from your own usage.

I found that the items which were on overnight, such as fridge, freezer, etc., plus a few power hungry devices on timers made a useful saving. In addition, many people are up and about and boiling kettles before the off-peak rates end in the morning.

snudge

I have had the old EMEB Heatwise tarriff for about 10 years and have been very happy with the system. EMEB became Powergen and I have stayed because I have not found an alternative. There is a lot of advice about using uswitch etc. but if you have Heatwise be very careful. Contrary to the advice from several supply sales E7 is not the same, your system will not operate the same. Neighbours changed and found they did not have enough hot water and have now spent several tousand pounds on a new heating system. I do not think there is enough thought given by the advocates of switching to ensure that users of these less usual tarriffs are not misled into a change that might not give what they want.

Sallygreen_3

:oplease can you tell me what time exactly the clock for night meter start? and would be possible to set it from 8pm like someone here in the thread said

Cardew

Sallygreen wrote: »

:oplease can you tell me what time exactly the clock for night meter start? and would be possible to set it from 8pm like someone here in the thread said

The timing for Economy 7 vary.

The later meters are switched automatically and that varies according to where you live.

The older meters have a mechanical clock and you can actually see when it changes from/to Economy7.

Generally you get a 7 hour period between the hours of 11:30pm and 08:30am.

You don't get any choice in the timings, and certainly cannot get it to start at 8pm(unfortunately)

The timings for Economy 10 vary as well.

It is not unknown for old clocks to be running slow or fast, but that is a fault.

Sallygreen_3

Cardew wrote: »

The timing for Economy 7 vary.

The later meters are switched automatically and that varies according to where you live.

The older meters have a mechanical clock and you can actually see when it changes from/to Economy7.

Generally you get a 7 hour period between the hours of 11:30pm and 08:30am.

so shall I watch the meter to know when it starts exactely ??
Hope anyone could tell me how to set a heater with e7 to switch on automatically for 3 hours at night:o:o

Cardew

Yes, watch the meter and you will know - bear in mind that it can change when the clocks go forward/back.

Most(not all) storage heaters are wired so they only come on during the E7 period.
Also check timing for immersion heater.