Economy 7 heating advice

kyllle

Hi all,

My partner and I are about to move into an apartment together next month which uses Economy 7, we viewed the apartment last night and met the current occupents who informed us that they spend £30 per week topping up the Economy 7 which I thought was quite a large figure? I dont know a lot about Economy 7 so I thought I would ask here for some input and advice? My partner and I will be out of the apartment from 7.30am until 6pm Mon-Fri and if this matters the apartment is the top floor of 3 levels.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Kyle

Katie-Kat-Kins

Hi, I use E7 so know a bit about this. I presume that the flat has storage heaters, and that is why it is E7. This is not the cheapest form of heating but if you haven't got gas it is probably the cheapest electric heating you will get.

The ways to make sure you don't spend too much money are to make sure that the house is well insulated and you aren't wasting heat, to understand how your heaters work, and to heat your water during the E7 period.

Firstly find out from your electric company when your economy seven period is. Midnight until 7am is common but don't assume, some are 11 til 6 and some vary when the clocks change. You may also get an afternoon boost too. You also need to check whether the E7 applies just to your heating circuit or to the whole house.

You are aiming to make as much of your electric usage as possible during the E7 period, so time your immersion to heat your water during the E7 period, and only heat more if absolutely necessary. Invest in a couple of plug in timers (about £2) and use these to make sure that items being charged up, and things like washers, dryers and dishwashers only operate during the cheap period.

Check that all of the heaters are storage ones, we have a mix, three storage heaters and two panel heaters.

Storage heaters work by "charging up" during the night and releasing heat during the day. They have an input and an output dial, and you need to adjust these to the right level. Irritatingly they aren't timeable or programable like central heating and so you can get cold if there is an unexpected cold snap and you haven't "charged" the storage heaters the night before.

If you are out at work all day then set your input at say 2 to begin with and output at 1, and then when you get in from work turn it up to 2. Normally you would have both set the same but if you do this it is likely that by evening all the heat will have been "used up" and you will get cold.

The numbers don't relate to the temperature of the room, and there is no thermostat so it is trial and error getting the settings right. When it starts to get cold in october I normally just turn one big one on to 1 and then if it is still too cold I turn another on, also on low, then if it is still cold I start to increase the input setting. I generally try to keep the input a little higher than the output so that I can turn it up in the evening without running out of heat.

I try not to use the panel heaters as much as possible as they use expensive "day rate" electric. But I turn them on if we have a cold snap or need to dry washing as they are more immediately adjustable. They can be turned on and off and will work straight away, they have a crude thermostatic dial to adjust the temperature.

It is useful to have at least one back up heat source when you have storage heaters as it takes a day for any change to take effect. I'd recommend a cheap electric fan heater for immediacy and flexability.

We have a couple of special wall mounted fan heaters in our bathroom and kitchen for additional heat which can be handy on a cold morning.

Any questions just ask.

Kat

James123_2

I'd see about swapping your tariff if you're really out all day. No matter what the E7 heaters claim to do, you'll find that you wake-up to blissful heat but the rest of the benefit will only be enjoyed by your furniture whilst you're out at work. You'll find that you'll have to top-up for evening heat - hence the requirement for panel heaters. As such, you'll be paying the bulk of your charges for warm mornings, hot water and no more than ambient heat in the evenings. Of course, if you crank the E7 heaters right up then your evenings should be OK. E7 heaters are usually about 7kw, so they'll soon burn the juice.
Please remember that the charges for E7 in the daytime are generally considerably higher than that of a standard, non-E7 tariff. This will depend on your area. I know my dad pays 5p in the night and 15p in the daytime plus standing charge. British Gas offer an online account charging a 24/7 rate of 9p a unit.
Anyway, in essence, for someone out all day E7 isn't the best arrangement. I guess it's a case of suck it and see - £30 a week seems a lot to me. However, the previous occupant might have liked to skip around the flat in the bare minimum of clothing. You can change back to E7 if standard tariff plus panel heaters doesn't suit - they'd certainly be more flexible and I can't think they'd cost more than £120 a month to run.

Katie-Kat-Kins

I'd try the storage heaters as they are fitted for now, and see how you get on, generally they should be ok for a well insulated small flat, it is with bigger older properties that you can struggle.

I'm out all day (though DH worked until 2pm last winter and will be home all day this winter) and I haven't had too much trouble with the storage heaters. They aren't as good as central heating and I would give my right arm for a gas central heating system but for a 3 bed almost detached slightly drafty house I never need them set about 4 for input and always have enough heat left for the evening, and come in to a warm home (with panel heaters you'd be coming into a cold house unless you could plug them into a timer switch).

Yes I do need to wear slippers and socks and a jumper round the house, which I wouldn't need to at my parents with their modern efficient GCH but it isn't too much of a hardship really. It is only when we have a real cold snap that we struggle, like when it snowed this year. But in over a year we have only used 2 units on our "Boost" facility, we haven't used the portable fan heater or the one in the kitchen at all and only use the one in the bathroom to take the chill off first thing in the morning (I get up before E7 ends so the storage heaters are still off).

If you can adjust to using them they are the cheapest way to heat using electric.

James123_2

As Kat says, try it and see. It might be that the previous owners liked to dress down and keep warm - hence the high bills. Just check-out the best deals re the E7 tariff. These, unfortunately, are not always very competitive.

Katie-Kat-Kins

I wouldn't mind betting that at those prices the previous tenants were keeping the heaters up high and possibly didn't understand how they worked and were turning them up excessively, using boost functions etc.

I'd say it would be worth having them on low just to keep an ambiant temperature and prevent dampness even if you then get a fan heater or oil radiator to provide actual warmth in the evening.

amtrakuk

To buck the trend I have got rid of gas over 18 months ago (Knackered boiler costing ££££ to replace). I don't use storage heaters or E7. In each room I use 1Kw Glen/Dimplex wall mounted panel heaters (sounding simular to what Kat uses).

I pay £80 a month whole house electric (Inc on demand hot water and cooking)for a 3 bed end terrace. In winter I put them on 1/4 - 1/3 and leave them on all winter. Takes about a day to heat the rooms but once upto heat it keeps it there nicely, even though the cold winter weve just had.