economy seven timing

David_Aston

Sorry if I have missed the answer to this in these forums.
Does anyone know if there should be some indication on our meter, or somewhere else, which would definitely tell us the hours that economy seven is in operation in our home? There is an ancient sticker on the immersion control which says, "on 02.15 off 07.15". I did wonder if this five hours only appertained to the immersion, if used. Have just had a thorough look under the stairs. Fairly ancient meter with rotating clock face and spigots which might indicate timing marks of some kind. Clock didn't seem to be at the correct time.
A rather posh looking pulse rate meter to one side of this meter, with it's little face alternating through two different rates, then a total, and then one of those check screens where all options are on at once!
Difficult to imagine the preceeding blah can have given anyone out there an additional clue!

espresso

David_Aston wrote: »

Fairly ancient meter with rotating clock face and spigots which might indicate timing marks of some kind. Clock didn't seem to be at the correct time.

Here is an example of a mechanical timeswitch set to come on at 00:30 and go off at 7:30. If yours is not set at the correct time, you will need to get them to re-set the time.

David_Aston

Thanks espresso, for a rapid post, and a very useful picture. Our clock seems to be an hour behind, but I am wondering if this becomes ballpark correct when the clocks go forward! Thanks to you, I can work out the "cheap" period, by seeing where the on/off levers are on the dial.

SwanJon

When all the other clocks go forward, it'll be 2 hours behind!

spiro

What time the clock says is not as important as ensuring your high comsumption devices (emersion, heating) are on during the night period. Sometimes the clock being out can work to your advantage as the night rate comes on earlier in the evening or stays on later in the morning so before you ask them to adjust you clock (which may result in a new meter) see if the variation helps you.

Greenr

you need to call your electricity supplier who will confirm what time 'off-peak' starts and ends. I found out recently that my night storage heaters were coming on too early (before off-peak had started)...

my times are:

winter: 11:30pm until 6:30am
summer 12:30pm until 7:30am

you may find that you have different summer and winter times...

Once you've found out what time your off-peak starts/ends, you need to set the meter clock which controls your storage heaters and immersion so that a)its at the correct current time, b)that the pins are set at the correct on/off times so that the immersion/night storage heaters are turned on automatically when cheap rate kicks in.

My clock is a bit like the one in the photo in the post above although we have a red pin(to turn appliances on) and a green pin (to turn off) that need to be put in the correct position. when winter ends, i'll need to move the pins to the 12:30 & 7:30 slots.

espresso

Greenr wrote: »

you need to call your electricity supplier who will confirm what time 'off-peak' starts and ends.

Your supplier will only tell you that "electricity is supplied at a cheaper rate for 7 hours between 12.00am and 8.00am for your region" They will not know what your timeswitch is actually set to or if it's time is set correctly or needs adjusting.

David_Aston

Thank you all for your further posts. espresso, you twigged instantly the mistake I was making about winter/summer times. I can't physically get at the pins in the meter, even if I wanted to. It does seem that it is just a question of remembering that the clock is in fact about fifty minutes slow just now.
Spiro, your comment is very apt. Although I don't assume the power companies would really want us getting economy seven rate during the day, possibly our current position wouldn't be too much of a problem. We do washing, dishwashing, and the odd oven clean using the timers, so it does seem to be a case of just timing everything an hour or so later.
Thanks again all!!!

David_Aston

Sorry Swanjohn, it was actually you, who pointed out my winter/summer error!

penrhyn

Some years ago I had E7 and storage heaters when living in a flat.
The mechanical timer went haywire and started switching during the day, then packed up all together.
The point being that it was replaced by a radio teleswitch which was completely reliable. I'm guessing that your supplier would do this for free if the timer is playing up.

spiro

penrhyn wrote: »

Some years ago I had E7 and storage heaters when living in a flat.
The mechanical timer went haywire and started switching during the day, then packed up all together.
The point being that it was replaced by a radio teleswitch which was completely reliable. I'm guessing that your supplier would do this for free if the timer is playing up.

They only tend to install radio teleswitches when they want to be able to vary the times remotely. Most if not all modern multi rate meters have the clock built into them. Once we go Smart all meters will be able to be controlled remotely so set switching times may become a thing of the past or at least you will probably see more than just E7 offered to domestic customers like they do for businesses now.