Help: deciphering economy 7

patchy79

Hello,

My new flat has an economy 7 boiler and I have been searching online to find the cheapest tariff. Using the utitlities supplier comparison sites (e.g. moneysaving supermarket) I am told British Gas is the one to go for. However doing my own sluething I concluded that EDF was cheaper... but I dont trust my brain here since everything else is telling me BG.

Ok, let me break it down:

BG tariff: Night (10pm till 8am) 4.47 kWh; T1 (applies to 125 kWh per quarter of day consumption) 28.937 kWh and then T2 11.997 kWh

EDF tariff: Night (10 till 8) 4.71 kWh, T1 (applies to a block of 1000 kWh each year, so for 30 day bill will apply to the first 82kWh used in that bill) 20.1 p kWh and T2 12.05 kWh

Naively BG is cheaper on the night and tier 2 tariff, but EDF is much cheaper on the tier 1 tarriff.

any ideas how to understand this?

Thanks!

notbritishgas

patchy79 wrote: »

Hello,

My new flat has an economy 7 boiler and I have been searching online to find the cheapest tariff. Using the utitlities supplier comparison sites (e.g. moneysaving supermarket) I am told British Gas is the one to go for. However doing my own sluething I concluded that EDF was cheaper... but I dont trust my brain here since everything else is telling me BG.

Ok, let me break it down:

BG tariff: Night (10pm till 8am) 4.47 kWh; T1 (applies to 125 kWh per quarter of day consumption) 28.937 kWh and then T2 11.997 kWh

EDF tariff: Night (10 till 8) 4.71 kWh, T1 (applies to a block of 1000 kWh each year, so for 30 day bill will apply to the first 82kWh used in that bill) 20.1 p kWh and T2 12.05 kWh

Naively BG is cheaper on the night and tier 2 tariff, but EDF is much cheaper on the tier 1 tarriff.

any ideas how to understand this?

Thanks!

Cannot help with the prices, but do not get confused with the night hours. E7 is just that, 7 hours not the 10 hours you state. The times depend on the area of the country you are in but are normally 7hrs somewhere between 11 pm and 8.am. This is unless EDF and BG have had a total rethink and wish to give the customers a better deal:rotfl:

KimYeovil

Haven't looked closely* but British Gas will charge you 28p for the first 42kWh every month whereas 84kWh with EDF cost 20.1p

You want to calculate the 'standing' charge aspect of this so you compare that with the respective Tier 2 price.

So British Gas: 28.937p - 11.997p = 16.94p extra. There are 41 of these in a 30 day month so that makes a cost of £5.08 every month (on top of all kWhs x 11.997p)

with EDF: difference of 8.05p. 82.19 of these per 30 day month, that's £6.63.

So EDF is more expensive in 'standing' charge component, more expensive per day kWh and more expensive for night units.

(* Well, when I started writing the post I wasn't going to look too closely )

Garz

E7 generally is between midnight and 7am or thereabouts. If you post your region or postcode we can dig out the exact times you need to refer your times to.

stewie_griffin

Garz wrote: »

E7 generally is between midnight and 7am or thereabouts. If you post your region or postcode we can dig out the exact times you need to refer your times to.

E7 times don't just depend on region they also vary on the type of meter. The only way way to confirm the exact Economy 7 times is with either the TPRs or MTC of the meter.

Garz

stewie_griffin wrote: »

E7 times don't just depend on region they also vary on the type of meter. The only way way to confirm the exact Economy 7 times is with either the TPRs or MTC of the meter.

I think we have established that more information is required. Also I dont think the supplier comes to inspect your exact metering setup when you select a tariff, so I guess you can never be safe on the E7 timings being perfect. Nevertheless the OP just wants to know which supplier they would be best off with.

fedupfreda

patchy79 wrote: »

Hello,

My new flat has an economy 7 boiler and I have been searching online to find the cheapest tariff. Using the utitlities supplier comparison sites (e.g. moneysaving supermarket) I am told British Gas is the one to go for. However doing my own sluething I concluded that EDF was cheaper... but I dont trust my brain here since everything else is telling me BG.

Ok, let me break it down:

BG tariff: Night (10pm till 8am) 4.47 kWh; T1 (applies to 125 kWh per quarter of day consumption) 28.937 kWh and then T2 11.997 kWh

EDF tariff: Night (10 till 8) 4.71 kWh, T1 (applies to a block of 1000 kWh each year, so for 30 day bill will apply to the first 82kWh used in that bill) 20.1 p kWh and T2 12.05 kWh

Naively BG is cheaper on the night and tier 2 tariff, but EDF is much cheaper on the tier 1 tarriff.

any ideas how to understand this?

Thanks!

Lets try to work this out making some (admittedly rough) assumptions.
Say that you use 500 KWh at night rate and 500 KWh at day rate per quarter. If EDF apply T1 to first 1000 KWh per year this equates to 250 KWh per quarter, to put the sums on an even keel. This works out as follows:-

BG T1 125 KWh x 28.937= 36.17 T2 375 KWh x 11.997 = £44.98.
BG night 500 KWh x 4.47= £22.35 = total price £103.50

EDF T1 250 KWh x 20.1 = £50.25 T2 250 KWh x 12.05 = £30.12
EDF night 500 KWh x 4.71= £23.55 = total price £103.92

On this rough basis this makes BG marginally cheaper. Obviously this depends on your actual usage and the day/night split. Are there any standing charges to take into account? Or discounts for prompt payment? Personally as far as I can see there is not a lot in it. You might do better choosing on the basis of customer service (but then, there's not a lot in that, either, TBH ) HTH.

patchy79

nobritishgas oops
Kim Yeovil Thanks I did not think of it that way! very helpful
Garz thanks but I think i made my decision to go with BG
fedupfreda that was a detailed breakdown thanks!

patchy79

Thanks stewie griffin!

Swipe

I should really change to British Gas (from a money saving pov) but from what I've read their customer service is terrible and they are quite prone to c0ck ups.