Economy 7 confusion - please help!

PinkGrapefruit_2

Hi, I was hoping someone knowledgeable and helpful could give me some advice!

I moved into my flat about 2 months ago. It is elec only, 1 bedroom although more of a bedsit really. Powergen have given me estimated bills of £50 a month which I was happy with. I was worried about how much I was spending so rang them with a reading recently and they told me in the first 6 weeks I used £147! eek. I know its been cold and all but I think I have been using my heating incorrectly as I was told it is a cheap way of heating the flat.

So..I have two storage heaters. I leave them switched on at the plug on the wall all the time. there are two dials input and output, but I dont understand the difference so I always put them at the same level. I turn them on (about 75% up the dial) about 6 in the evening. Then I turn them both back down (to 0% if you like) when I go to bed about 11.They seem to give off heat all the time though obviously it decreases, but when I get up in the morning there is still some warmth coming out even though theyve been off all night.

Am I doing it right? I assumed if it was plugged in at the wall and switched on it would automatically charge overnight when its cheap but now I think I must be doing it wrong as my elec bill is so high.

Any advice gratefully received thanks!

macman

Are you on an E7 tariff? Do you have an E7 meter?
Are you in the flat in the day when the heat is released, if not ,then E7 is not an appropriate tariff.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

you're right, they do work on timer, though it's from about 11pm to 7am.

The input: the higher the setting 1-6/9, the more heat you will get, but will also use more electricity, no need to turn it back at bed time, as that is when it should be charging up overnight on the cheaper electric.

The output: controls a flap inside, the higher the setting, the more of the stored heat it lets out, you should shut this one down at bedtime, to save heat during the night, and open it again in evening if feeling cold.

Surprised at your bill, because you are shutting the input down just when it is starting to charge up, so I would think they won't be very hot in the morning.

Are you using other heaters in evening?

Edit: Oops, I'm presuming you are on E7

Premier_2

PinkGrapefruit wrote: »

...
So..I have two storage heaters. I leave them switched on at the plug on the wall all the time. there are two dials input and output, but I dont understand the difference so I always put them at the same level. I turn them on (about 75% up the dial) about 6 in the evening. Then I turn them both back down (to 0% if you like) when I go to bed about 11.They seem to give off heat all the time though obviously it decreases, but when I get up in the morning there is still some warmth coming out even though theyve been off all night.

Am I doing it right? I assumed if it was plugged in at the wall and switched on it would automatically charge overnight when its cheap but now I think I must be doing it wrong as my elec bill is so high.

Any advice gratefully received thanks!

Many modern storage heaters have 2 dials, one which controls the amount of energy input and the other which controls the amount of heat output (although some may not have the latter dial).

Storage heaters are designed to heat up overnight using cheap rate electricity on an E7 (or similar) tariff. This obviously means you need to be on a suitable tariff to begin with, and in most installations the storage heaters will be on a separate cicuit that only becomes live when low rate electricity is available. If that is not the case, the storage heaters will need to be controlled by a timer to ensure they only heat up at times of low rate.

Some storage heaters also have a convector heater built in that allows you the opportunity of an additional boost heater. This uses electricity at the rate applicable to when it is being used. This is available 24/7.

Setting up storage heaters is all about balance. I found that setting the input dial as high and the output dial as low was generally the best option ... as it allows you adjust the output to a higher value in the evening if necessary.
However, setting the input dial too high, I found the heater simply got too hot and gave out too much heat.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Hi PinkGrapefruit,

If you have an Economy 7 meter, the storage heaters should be wired up to this so they only ‘charge’ during the off-peak times.

You can check this by checking the night rate on your meter is clicking over some time between 12am and 8pm (7 hours in this period varies from area to area).

You can then check the ‘night’ reading is the same or inline with the bills to ensure you’re being charged the right was round.

Although storage heaters are quite well insulated heat can leak out and so it is not possible to stop a heater giving off heat once it is charged up.

Frugalmacdugal is spot on with the input output information, the higher the input the more heat, but the more cost, the higher the output the quicker the heat will run out.

Premier is right about the tariff as well; check you have the Economy 7 version of whatever tariff you are on. I can check this for you, if you’d like me to please feel free to email me.

Brian

PinkGrapefruit_2

Wow, thanks guys that all very helpful, hopefully I can save myself a bit of money now.

Yes its economy7, I spoke to the elec company last week who confirmed this. I know what you mean about it being released during the day and therefore possibly not appropriate but I do use it from say, 5.30 till 11 which is still in the peak time, plus all day sat/sun I am at home so Id use it then.

so based on all your advice I will try putting input fairly high and output low, switch off output at bed time but leave input dial up at bedtime to charge while its cheap.

I dont have any other heaters, just one large storage heater in the livingroom/bedroom and one small storage heater in the hall. I dont have many electricals just a small oven and small tv and I have energy saving lightbulbs.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

and take a reading at least once a week to give you an idea of how much you are using, even daily for first week if you have the time.

Fire_Fox

PinkGrapefruit wrote: »

So..I have two storage heaters. I leave them switched on at the plug on the wall all the time. there are two dials input and output, but I dont understand the difference so I always put them at the same level. I turn them on (about 75% up the dial) about 6 in the evening. Then I turn them both back down (to 0% if you like) when I go to bed about 11.They seem to give off heat all the time though obviously it decreases, but when I get up in the morning there is still some warmth coming out even though theyve been off all night.

We need to know whether most of your use is in the day or at night, and what the split is in percentage terms. The above says to me your storage heaters may not be on a separate E7 circuit, as they can't be charging overnight if you set the input to zero. Not all houses with an E7 meter and storage heaters have a separate circuit, some have the entire house going to cheap rate at night and then expensive during the daytime.

E.ON_Company_Representative

Fire_Fox wrote: »

We need to know whether most of your use is in the day or at night, and what the split is in percentage terms. The above says to me your storage heaters may not be on a separate E7 circuit, as they can't be charging overnight if you set the input to zero. Not all houses with an E7 meter and storage heaters have a separate circuit, some have the entire house going to cheap rate at night and then expensive during the daytime.

Hi PinkGrapefruit,

Fire Fox raises a good point here.

It's important to check your storage heaters are charging at the off peak time, so check two things. Firstly that you know the correct E7 times for your meter (we can tell you these) and secondly that the storage heaters click on during the correct times.

If the E7 times are 12am till 7am, check the heaters click on and off at these times.

E.ON can also check that you are using enough energy on the night rate to warrant an Economy 7 tariff, if you are not then a single rate tariff may suit you better and be cheaper(however in cases of storage heating this is rare).

Brian

raymondellis

I'm about to move into a small house with e7. There is a digital meter with a toggle switch between peak and offpeak. How do I find out if storage heaters are limited to the off peak timing or if whole house switches over, and indeed what the times of off-peak will be? Save me sitting up all night checking the meters!

Katie-Kat-Kins

Ok a few suggestions:

1. My storage heaters still charge up a bit if input is put down to 1 (0%) if you don't want them to charge at all you have to turn them off at the wall. Yours could be the same.
2. Check your tarriff AND YOUR METER - I thought I was on E7 and my bill said E7 but I was actually on E10 and had an E10 meter! E10 is more expensive but can be better if you are trying to heat a house on electric and want heat in the evenings as it spreads out your cheap rate into three periods.
3. Look up the operating instructions for your heaters so you know exactly how they work.

I have three storage heaters and find that input on 1 or 2 is fine in all but the very coldest of weather. Output stays on 1 and gets turned up if we start to feel the cold. If you aren't running out of heat in the evenings then you don't need to increase the input.