Economy 7 Question

glider3560

Fairly simple question. I'm looking around for flats and have seen one that I quite like. A downside is that is has night storage heaters that look like they've been there since the 70s. The supply is economy 7 with EDF.

I will be using my own electric heaters, but with E7 this will work out very expensive. Is it possible to change to a standard single rate tariff without changing the meter? I assume they could just add up both readings?

Also, is it easy to switch supplier if you have a single rate tariff on an E7 meter?

jd87

Some suppliers can add the readings. Others will want you to get the meter changed. Some will charge for a meter change, others won't.

It's as easy to change supplier as in any other situation.

surfsister

some charge £50 to change. Are thereno storage heaters in the flat? I just wonder why the flat is on Economy 7?

Premier_2

You prefer to use your own electric meters, presumably at the more expensive day rate (whether E7 or standard), rather than the E7 heaters that run at about 1/3 the cost per unit?

Your choice I suppose, but are you sure you are on the right forum?
This is for moneysavingexperts

KimYeovil

Premier wrote: »

You prefer to use your own electric meters, presumably at the more expensive day rate (whether E7 or standard), rather than the E7 heaters that run at about 1/3 the cost per unit?

Your choice I suppose, but are you sure you are on the right forum?
This is for moneysavingexperts

Unless you are an unemployed reptile with no social life E7 storage heaters are unlikely to be cheaper than frugally used standard heaters.

dunloadin

originally posted by Kim Yeovil

Unless you are an unemployed reptile with no social life E7 storage heaters are unlikely to be cheaper than frugally used standard heaters.

Wow! two similar posts today referring to 'unemployed reptiles' and E7, posts like this we can do without.

KimYeovil

dunloadin wrote: »

Wow! two similar posts today referring to 'unemployed reptiles' and E7, posts like this we can do without.

Premier_2

KimYeovil wrote: »

Unless you are an unemployed reptile with no social life E7 storage heaters are unlikely to be cheaper than frugally used standard heaters.

Unemployed reptile or otherwise, the cost of 1 unit of electricity at night on E7 is about 1/3 the cost of electricity used during the day.

They are termed storage heaters because they do exactly that; store the heat they build up overnight and dissipate it during the day

KimYeovil

Well, perhaps I should have inserted an 'and' between 'cold blooded' and 'at home during the day' to avoid upsetting the overly sensitive.

I appreciate that Premier but the difficulty and expense with storage heaters is, surely, that you have to predict whether you will need them or not 18 hours in advance. I know the Met Office are handing out accuracy bonuses but still do not trust them. And what happens if you decide to go out for an evening?

Yes, if you tend to stick the central heating on for months at a time then storage may be a reasonable idea. But you do not have the option to only switch it on when it is really needed.

Premier_2

KimYeovil wrote: »

Well not the same day, but within 24 hours

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=24058213&postcount=14

Premier_2

Eclipsefifi wrote: »

Yes, you need to have storage heaters or use a large % of your units at nigt to benefit from economy 7 tariffs. Many suppliers don't bother about the details as long as they can persaude people to switch to them.
If you are on economy 7, it's easy to find out what it would cost on other tariffs - just use the "electricity" comparison tool on this site.

Not always, sometimes it may be better to be on E7 than the equivilent 24/7 standard tariff for all customers

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1207887

As you say, use the comparison sites to see which offers the best deal your your individual circumstance and choice of payment plan.