Re: Please Hopefully some one can help????

TheMidge

If you are using Economy 7 heaters they should only be using the low rate electricity, ie from midnight to 7am or whatever time you have for cheap rate. Check your bill to see how much you are using at cheap rate and how much at peak. If you are not using much during the off peak periods then check that the heaters are timed correctly. With some older installations it isn't possible to use the storage heaters at expensive times, as they are separate supplies, but many rely on a timer that could be out. The other thing I have seen is that some storage heaters have a seperate convector panel that uses peak electricity for those times that the storage heaters cant cope. One house I went to the storage heaters had been turned off by accident and the occupiers were using the peak convector panel all the time to heat the property. VERY EXPENSIVE! Don't ditch the Economy 7. Its the cheapest option you have available. Just make sure its working as it should, and use any washing machine timer facility to use that during off peak hours, and get a timer fitted to your immersion heater so it only comes on at off peak times (you may have this already in which case make sure it is correctly timed). Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of Economy 7 storage heaters but they are the best option you have available. Even if you do ditch them the economy 7 meter can still save you money if you make use of as much electricity overnight as you can. Also check out what grants you can get for intallation of cavity wall and loft insulation. Lots of energy companies will give you substantial grants even if you aren't with them. I know I have repeated a lot of what others have said, but I think they are important points.

penrhyn

I concur with the comments re E7, its your cheapest option.
Have you checked your loft insulation and been round draft proofing your home.
You may be able to get your insulation done at a discount by your energy supplier.

Premier_2

newbie2009 wrote: »

Hi the house was built in 1930 and the heters are Creda, look like 60's brown and white. The boiler or immersion heater is covered in blue insulation, your askign an admin assistant! So all I have is some old p/work for some maintainence or something saying 36X18 DIR cylinder foamed (telford)????

Are the storage heaters about 10-12 inches thick, or a bout 5-6 inches thick?

If they are the thicker ones, then you are probably correct about their age.

Unfortunately, in my experience, these very old storage heaters are not very good and extremely difficult to control compared to more modern storage heaters.

If you don't plan to use the storage heaters, then I can see no real reason to prevent you from switching to non-E7 if you think that would be of benefit. What makes you think non-E7 would be of benefit to you anyway?

If you do decide to switch away from E7, some suppliers will simply change the tariff you are billed on (e.g. by adding the current 2 rates together, or billing them both at the standard rate), but some will insist on the meter being changed and some will charge for that.
Your supplier should be able to say what is possible if you ask, although may not want to give any actual recommendation.

Edit: if SSE require a change of meter to remove you from E7 tariff, they should not charge to supply this
http://cfe.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/cfe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6364&p_created=1237548114&p_sid=JsvDqgFj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MSwxJnBfcHJvZHM9MCZwX2NhdHM9MCZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PUUxMA**&p_li=&p_topview=1

However, depending on your existing installation, the electricity supplier may not agree to connect your existing installation to the meter - this may need you to employ your own electrician which you say you cannot afford.
So if they say they will only take you off E7 with a meter change, perhaps consider switching supplier to one that will bill you on a single rate even when you have a dual rate meter.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Ok now I'm no expert on electrics but I have in the last few years been learning to live with storage heaters.....

Firstly speak to your electric supplier and get the details of all your rates and the times of the off peak, we have 5 rates all together and it is important to understand what you have and how to use it. If you have an afternoon off peak rate then this may be more convenient than the night rate although not quite so cheap. Bear in mind that whilst a lot of eco 7 tarriffs give you cheap rate 12pm to 7am some are 11pm to 6am and some vary when the clocks go back and forth so check!

Secondly get a timer switch for your immersion. Immersions are expensive to run, but if it has that hard foam insulation on it will stay hot all day. We have ours on a timer (purchased for about £10 and fitted by my dad) and it is heated for an hour 5am to 6am every day, normally this is enough for washing up throughout the day, we only need to give it a boost if we want a bath rather than a shower.

We have an electric shower, this is more efficient than the immersion and I get up before seven and have my shower on cheap rate because I like a long hot shower.

Your storage heaters *should* be set up to use the chheap rate electric automatically and should "charge" during cheap rate and give off heat during the day so they should be suitable for you. You need to experiment a bit with them to get the settings right, if you find that they are stone cold by tea time then you need to either put the input up or the output down. Try setting the out put on 1 or 2 just to take the chill off the house while you are at work and then turning up when you get in. Check you aren't using the boost facility on them because that is really expensive.

Try to get a timer switch for your washing machine too, or get up early to put it on during cheap rate. I haven't got a suitable timer switch for ours yet so I stay up until midnight to turn it on or do it first thing.

An ordinary timer switch can be bought cheaply from wilkos or similar and these can be used on plug sockets set them for your cheap rate times and use them to charge all your battery devices like you ipod, mobile and laptop.

If you are making the most of your eco 7 like this it will be cheaper and once you get your head round the heating most of the year you should be able to manage. At least you have the open fire for when it gets really cold. I'd love one, our only option is a plug in electric heater (may as well burn money!). In fact if you have a suitable chinmey a wood burner may be an efficient option for getting more heat.

The usual advice of lots of jumpers blankets and warm slippers goes without saying...... nice thick lined curtains, and draft excluders too. Try the O/S board for more tips