Should I ditch night units?

chirpchirp

Well thanks everyone for your replies - I have just spent ages trying to work out using the cost of units that I am currently paying as to whether I am saving with economy 7 - totally forgetting the fact that if I wasn't on E7 then I would pay a cheaper rate for day units! I had come to the conclusion that i had saved over £60.

As I'm currently swapping suppliers, I then rang them, found out their rates and used previous figures to see if the E7 rate was better for me than their standard day time rate and it appears to be a marginal saving. I will have to watch this carefully as I am now hoping that not having the computers on overnight will make some difference to my night rates.

They suggested their new Eco 20:20 to me but I'm not sure about this at all - as involves new meter etc and won't necessarily save me money. However, I do tend to do alot of my washing etc in the late evening or at the weekends so I'll see what else I can find out about this.

macman

Switching off the PC's is sensible, but it will make little difference to your total consumption. The biggest users of power in your house will be hot water (if electric), heating (ditto), tumble drier, kettle and washing machine (the latter especially if it is cold fill only).

Cardew

catenorfolk wrote: »

Blimey that comment is a bit like being on an army parade ground, left right left right!!!!
I
ts quite easy to work out, take a certain amount of units, calculate 20% at the night rate, 80% at the day rate and then add the two together. this give you a total on e7. then also calculate separately the same total amount of units for a single rate meter at the single rate. then compare them. again it depends on the prices of different companies.but when i get quotes from most companies, i work it out and it usually is cheaper to stay on E7 if you are using more than 20% at night!!

Right then, get fell in and pay attention;)

Seriously, I obviously agree it is very easy to work out, and have gone through this procedure many times.

My request was for you to give examples of tariffs, areas and consumption where when 20% of the total electricity is consumed at night(on E7 rates) it is cheaper than a 24/7 tariff.

It is my contention that it is never cheaper to have a Economy 7 tariff if you only use 20% at the cheap rate - but obviously will admit I am wrong if you can show me a tariff that I cannot better with all electricity on a 24/7 tariff.

I would add that perhaps 3 years ago there were tariffs where 20% consumption at night was the 'break even' point. Most companies then upped the price of E7 massively so that even 50% night consumption would not break even(there were a number of posts on MSE about this)

They have since dropped the price of E7 so the 'break even' point is much lower but I don't believe it is as low as 20%.

Incidentally there is no need to work out these figures manually as you can go to energylinx and put in your area, consumption and percentage on E7 and it will give you a cost. You can do the same with a 24/7 tariff to get a comparison.

chirpchirp

Warning : This post may appear a bit naive!

As you all know by now I am on an Economy 7 tariff. I've decided to see if I can make this work for me before perhaps swapping to a different tariff later in the year as my washing machine and dishwasher both have timers. I can set these to two o clock - so then whatever happens it should be within my economy 7 time. However, my tumble dryer doesn't have a timer and is quite old and I know this is the main culprit for my high bills. I have two choices - replace the tumble dryer with a more energy efficient model with a timer (which I can't afford) or put the tumble dryer on either early in the morning or late at night.

The latter causes me a problem though - I need to know when my economy seven kicks in so that I know when to switch it on. How do I find this out? I rang my supplier a few years ago and they seemed to think it depended on the meter and they couldn't tell me what time it would start. I've looked at the meter tonight and realised it is running two hours ahead of itself ie at 20.30 it said 22.30. Now this could be good news if the economy seven is based on the time on the meter as I could just run everything before I go to bed (I'm a night owl).

What I need to know is - Does economy 7 correlate to the actual time or the time on my meters clock? How do I know when the Economy seven begins? Is there a set time ie in british summer time 1.30 -8.30, and other times 12.30 -7.30?

My meter has a digital display which shows the date, time, rate 2, rate 1. It doesn't have any buttons on it for me to click to find out rates or total units ( total units obviously isn't a problem as I have basic maths skills!). I'm explaining about my meter in case someone else has the same meter. Does anyone know of anyway I can find out when me economy 7 runs?

Cardew

chirpchirp wrote: »

Warning : This post may appear a bit naive!

As you all know by now I am on an Economy 7 tariff. I've decided to see if I can make this work for me before perhaps swapping to a different tariff later in the year as my washing machine and dishwasher both have timers. I can set these to two o clock - so then whatever happens it should be within my economy 7 time. However, my tumble dryer doesn't have a timer and is quite old and I know this is the main culprit for my high bills. I have two choices - replace the tumble dryer with a more energy efficient model with a timer (which I can't afford) or put the tumble dryer on either early in the morning or late at night.

The latter causes me a problem though - I need to know when my economy seven kicks in so that I know when to switch it on. How do I find this out? I rang my supplier a few years ago and they seemed to think it depended on the meter and they couldn't tell me what time it would start. I've looked at the meter tonight and realised it is running two hours ahead of itself ie at 20.30 it said 22.30. Now this could be good news if the economy seven is based on the time on the meter as I could just run everything before I go to bed (I'm a night owl).

What I need to know is - Does economy 7 correlate to the actual time or the time on my meters clock? How do I know when the Economy seven begins? Is there a set time ie in british summer time 1.30 -8.30, and other times 12.30 -7.30?

My meter has a digital display which shows the date, time, rate 2, rate 1. It doesn't have any buttons on it for me to click to find out rates or total units ( total units obviously isn't a problem as I have basic maths skills!). I'm explaining about my meter in case someone else has the same meter. Does anyone know of anyway I can find out when me economy 7 runs?

The time on your clock is what counts, plenty have the wrong time.

It is easily checked by seeing at what time the E7 meter starts to register.

You can always get any appliance, including dryer, plugged in via a cheap digital timer set to come on during the E7 times.

However personally I doubt you will ever get E7 to pay as you have gas for heating.

space_rider

Here you go chirp.

http://www.eonenergy.com/FAQ/Meters/Economy-7-Details.htm

space_rider

By the way, the best thing to do really is to be near the meter around the switching times and you`ll hear like a clunk when it starts. I used to have E7 with Eon on a teleswitch and it used to change over around 1 am until 8 am.

Cardew

space_rider wrote: »

Here you go chirp.

http://www.eonenergy.com/FAQ/Meters/Economy-7-Details.htm

I believe those timings only apply when you have a teleswitch i.e. it is switched to E7 remotely.

It appears that the OP has the older mechanical clock that switches on/off the E7 meter.

chirpchirp

Cardew wrote: »

The time on your clock is what counts, plenty have the wrong time.

Thank you - that's great news.

I think you might be right about it not working as I cut down energy consumption but for the time being I think it is slightly cheaper but it really is borderline. Although, since I have made electricity consumption a priority to cut down I'm already seeing a real change in my units.

I have just found out that it is now on the night rate!! so that is really good news as I can get into the habit of running everything before I go to bed.