economy 7 best way to make savings.

stolt

hi ned some advice , moved into a house and we are on a economy 7 plan, i understand we get cheap electric for 7 hours normally upto 7am. so if i set the timer for the immersion to come on about 530 am and go off at 7am that will heat our water up for the day. we just have normal radiators so not sure how thats going to help with cheap heating during the winter.

is it worth staying on this plan or moving to something else?

thanks

surfsister

stolt wrote: »

hi ned some advice , moved into a house and we are on a economy 7 plan, i understand we get cheap electric for 7 hours normally upto 7am. so if i set the timer for the immersion to come on about 530 am and go off at 7am that will heat our water up for the day. we just have normal radiators so not sure how thats going to help with cheap heating during the winter.

is it worth staying on this plan or moving to something else?

thanks

It's probably cheaper to change tariffs as the day rate is much dearer for economy 7 to make up for the night rate.

If you can run things on timers eg washing machine/tumble dryers/immersion heater you mat save money.

The times cary from winter to summ,er as clocks change in sum mer my cheap rate runs til 8.45 so I can get al my breakfasts ironing kettle boiling etc at the cheap rate. Also charge any batteries/mobiles burn cd's etc. Also using toaster/oven etc. I cook chicken over night in slow cooker and it's tender and cheaply cooked and easy for me.

If you look at the meter you should be able to see where they click on and off. Hope this helps.

baldelectrician

Some washing machines and dishwashers have timers on them, they can be set to delay start by up to 7 hours. You can set them and pop off to bed. There may be issues with unatended appliances, so make sure you have working smoke detectors that are functional.

macman

stolt wrote: »

hi ned some advice , moved into a house and we are on a economy 7 plan, i understand we get cheap electric for 7 hours normally upto 7am. so if i set the timer for the immersion to come on about 530 am and go off at 7am that will heat our water up for the day. we just have normal radiators so not sure how thats going to help with cheap heating during the winter.

is it worth staying on this plan or moving to something else?

thanks

What do you mean by 'normal radiators'? Do you mean wet radiators running of a gas CH system? If you want to get the full advantage of Economy 7 for cheap heating, then you need to install night storage heaters running off the Economy 7 circuit.
The worth of Economy 7 depends on the ratio of day use to night use, look at your bill and work out what the proportions are. Unless a large proportion of your bill is on the night rate then it's probably not worth it, as you pay a much higher day rate as mentioned by surfsister.

Athome1

surfsister wrote: »

It's probably cheaper to change tariffs as the day rate is much dearer for economy 7 to make up for the night rate.

.

I presume this depends on the supplier as I don't pay any more for my day time electricty.

I have my washing machine and dishwasher on timers and if I intend to use the my tumble dryer then I just make sure I use it before 8am.

My son has Economy 7 at his flat and sets his immersion heater to come on between 4-7am.

It does save a bit of money and as we all know, every little helps:D

stolt

thanks for al the replies, change me immersion heater settings last night. I meant wet radiators rather than storage heaters. To be honest having a family of 5 i think it may be cheaper to change tariffs as alot of our use seems to be during the day.

macman

It's not so much usage as consumption. The biggest usage will be high power devices: immersion heaters, washing machines and tumble driers. If you can run these on E7 then the savings will be greater.
That's why you need to compare the units used on each tarriff.

AdrianW2

Athome1 wrote: »

I presume this depends on the supplier as I don't pay any more for my day time electricty.

A quick, not very exhaustive, look at uswitch gives the best Economy 7 daytime rate at 11.6p/unit after the first 1000 kwh (approx £30) and the best standard tariff rate of 9.45p/unit.

stolt

thanks for the replies i think its going to better switching tariffs. ive got two freezers running and alot of washing gets done during the day. i'll have a look on u switch and see what i can do.

thanks

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Economy 7 is mostly used with electric storage heating when the biggest usage is during the night, it uses a 2 rate meter day/normal, night/low.

I think that your new house may have previously had electric heating and was changed to 'wet' at some time and the meter/tariff was never changed.

Check out your existing supplier's tariffs first, to see the difference in prices, and then contact them about tariff/meter change, and ask if any charge for meter change.

You may want to take a meter reading for a day or two and calculate cost using both tariffs.

brig001

Don't forget that draught proofing and insulation will also save money in winter. Insulate hot water pipes, put old blankets/duvets/coats etc. round the back of the water tank. Low energy light bulbs, switch things off etc. etc. You get the idea. Like others have said, make the most of the cheap night time rate for washing etc.

HTH,
Bri.