Guardian Newspaper - Economy 7 could save you £200 a year...

gilesdavies

Reading this interesting article in the Guardian today and if you are prepared to make some changes to the way you use your electrical appliances, Economy 7 COULD work for you and save over £200 a year!

Will let you read the article and draw your own conclusion:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/10/cutting-energy-bills

Cardew

To achieve 50% usage at night - without storage heating - as suggested in the article is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

For those with gas, it is still probably cheaper to use gas than an immersion heater, and of course many now have combi's so an immersion is not an option.

Noise from a dishwasher and washing machine can be a problem for some, particularly in flats. In fact some blocks of flats ban the use after certain hours for that reason.

Whilst noise was not a problem, when I had E7 I found that we were putting on the dishwasher overnight when it was not really full, there was room for the breakfast dishes. So we were having extra washes.

I found that working quite hard to maximise E7 usage I couldn't get above 30% - so I reverted to a normal tariff.

beautiful_ravens

Can anyone get Economy 7? If so, how?
I have loads of timer plugs, and could do allsorts at night.

Cardew

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Can anyone get Economy 7? If so, how?
I have loads of timer plugs, and could do allsorts at night.

Yes, you ring up your electricity company and ask.

You will need new meters. Some charge - others don't.

You will find it very difficult to make Economy 7 pay.

Magentasue

Our experience was similar to Cardew's. We've had E7 a couple of times when we've had an immersion heater and have been able to break even with disciplined use of appliances at night. We only saved money for the quarters we used storage heaters, without them it wasn't worth the inconvenience.

I think it also depends on who's at home. When we were a childless couple at work all day, it was easier to use a larger proportion of units at night. Now, with carbon fiends often at home during the day, we'd never do it. Even if we only charged things at night and ran the white good on E7 hours, there would be too much during the day - TVs, Xbox, Sky, DVD, lights in the evenings, iron, hairdryer, straighteners, ... I know they don't use as much as dishwashers and tumble driers but, in this house, they're on for hours and hours. Or so it seems.

notbritishgas

gilesdavies wrote: »

Reading this interesting article in the Guardian today and if you are prepared to make some changes to the way you use your electrical appliances, Economy 7 COULD work for you and save over £200 a year!

Will let you read the article and draw your own conclusion:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/10/cutting-energy-bills

Do not be tempted by this article. We were on E7 until 2 weeks ago and tried very hard to make it pay, mostly by putting on the dishwasher, tumble drier and washing machine in the cheap period. Unfortunately the OH would not get up at 3.0am to do the hoovering;) . On this basis we were using about 34% of night rate electric and on our tariff this was £5 to £10 per year more expensive than a single rate tariff. This was not a huge amount but we decided that saving this money and having the flexibility to put things on whenever we wanted was worth the change.
Just to add of course we have gas central heating not electric storage heating.

dannymccann

Cardew = nail and head IMO too.

Good if you have electric heating, if you have gas though, stay clear

Premier_2

Figures above based on homeowner who has never switched and is still with their original electricity supplier. Assumes higher than average consumption (4500kWh) of which half is used at the cheaper Economy 7 rate. NB, some users could save up to £200 a year by simply switching to the cheapest electricity supplier on offer

See also the anomoly I highlighted in this thread.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1207887

dvs

Cardew wrote: »

I found that working quite hard to maximise E7 usage I couldn't get above 30% - so I reverted to a normal tariff.

Can you just revert to a normal tariff or do you need to have the E7 meter changed? I've had E7 for years but it seems like I never needed it as I have gas central heating and no tumble dryer. I used to set the dishwasher at night but I rent the place out now and I'm certain they will set the dishwasher whenever they want. So it makes sense for me to be on a normal tariff.

Premier_2

dvs wrote: »

Can you just revert to a normal tariff or do you need to have the E7 meter changed? I've had E7 for years but it seems like I never needed it as I have gas central heating and no tumble dryer. I used to set the dishwasher at night but I rent the place out now and I'm certain they will set the dishwasher whenever they want. So it makes sense for me to be on a normal tariff.

That depends on the supplier.

Some may simply add the 2 values together to provide a total consumption at a single rate whilst other suppliers may insist on a single rate meter to be installed. (I think if it's a ppm, you must have a new meter) Again, some suppliers charge for the meter change whilst others may not.

KevinG

This thread has got me thinking and I am going to have to do my sums again. I have been on E7 for as long as I can remember, have never had storage heaters and tried to make it pay by running immersion heater and washing machine/dishwasher during off peak periods. However, now that there is always someone home all day it almost certainly doesn't pay.

When switching supplier (currently on Scottish Power) I have entered my details on the comparison site and it has never suggested I come off E7, but maybe it wasn't that clever and just assumed I wanted E7 because I gave it separate day and night figures. I can't see why a supplier would need to change the meter and if I've got to pay for the change it probably isn't worth it.

BTW my E7 period is 2230-0030 and 0230-0730 (GMT. i.e. one hour later in the summer). I have to be careful to avoid the 2 hour gap, i.e. not put things on just before it. These are the times Seeboard gave me years ago and I checked them the other day and they haven't changed, even though the meter and supplier have been changed several times.