Am I stuck with Eco 7 - can I remove storage heaters and switch to better plan?

Monkey_Joe

My new house has storage heaters, an immersion boiler and the previous occupant was on an Eco 7 plan with SE.

I have looked into the prices and Eco 7 is not right for me. I work from home and most of my electrical usage is throughout the day.

I was wondering if it was possible to have the two Eco 7 meters replaced with a standard one and then replace the storage heaters with regular portable electrical heaters or is that not possible?

If it is possible what impact will this have on my hot water, since the boiler is currently set up to turn on at 5am. I assume no impact, I will just be charged at the standard rate instead of the Eco off peak rate.

JennyR68

It's perfectly possible, we have done the same ourselves a couple of months ago. Our supplier changed the meter for free.

Monkey_Joe

JennyR68 wrote: »

It's perfectly possible, we have done the same ourselves a couple of months ago. Our supplier changed the meter for free.

Thanks for your feedback.

I have spoken to SE (the current supplier for property) and they have agreed to switch meter for free.

Have you found switching to be a lot cheaper then being on Eco 7? I work from home and I dont think Eco 7 is right for me but people keep going on about the fact that you will save a lot of money on heating with it but looking at the day rates I think it evens it self out. I want the option to be able to control when I want heat, so I think a standard online plan with portable electrical heaters is better for me.

Do you have an immersion for the hot water? I am wondering what impact switching from Eco 7 to a normal will have on the way hot water is heated up. I just assume it works the same, as in I set the timer to whenever I want and then it heats up at the standrad rate? Let me know if Im wrong.

EDIT: Also, how did you remove your old storage heaters? The ones that I have are connected to the wall and electrical point. Are they easy to remove and would I be able to set up mounted electrical panel heaters in the same place? I assume I would need to call in a professional/electrician to do this right?

dizziblonde

They can certainly get you off E7 - either a new meter or billing you one-rate by adding the two-rates together (think it depends on supplier if they do this - I know mine definitely does because we're on that system).

As for storage heaters - hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the evil things - no amount of setting twiddling ever got my old flat off the "toasty warm while you're out at work/siberia when you're home" setting!

Monkey_Joe

dizziblonde wrote: »

They can certainly get you off E7 - either a new meter or billing you one-rate by adding the two-rates together (think it depends on supplier if they do this - I know mine definitely does because we're on that system).

As for storage heaters - hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the evil things - no amount of setting twiddling ever got my old flat off the "toasty warm while you're out at work/siberia when you're home" setting!

Yes, I am planning to remove the mounted storage heaters and replace them with mounted electrical ones. However, I am wondering if its a "do it your self job" or should I call a professional/electrician and how much that would cost?

penrhyn

Whilst its a simple DIY job to remove your existing storage heaters, the circuit that feeds them will have been controlled by a Radio Teleswitch or mechanical clock ( i.e the circuit will only go like during the E7 period), these would have to be sorted out by a professional, probably the supply company.
BTW Storage heaters are very heavy, however the bricks can be removed one by one which makes the job easier.

You will of course be paying a lot more per unit by using day rate electricity for heating but I guess you are prepared for that.

Monkey_Joe

penrhyn wrote: »

Whilst its a simple DIY job to remove your existing storage heaters, the circuit that feeds them will have been controlled by a Radio Teleswitch or mechanical clock ( i.e the circuit will only go like during the E7 period), these would have to be sorted out by a professional, probably the supply company.
BTW Storage heaters are very heavy, however the bricks can be removed one by one which makes the job easier.

You will of course be paying a lot more per unit by using day rate electricity for heating but I guess you are prepared for that.

I just dont think Eco7 is right for me. I agree, the night rates are very cheap but whatever I save during the night is lost during the day due to the expensive day rates.

I would much rather be on a standard plan with electrical heaters that I can switch on and off when I please. Also, most of my electrical usage is during peak hours.

JennyR68

If you tell the engineer who comes to change the meter that you still want power going to the E7 heater points then he can sort that out for you at the same time as you change the meter. That's what ours did, he wasn't going to though till we asked. And then the power is there for you to wire your heaters to or convert to sockets.

Not sure, you would have to check building regs to see if you can change the sockets yourself or have to get an electrician in.

switch the heaters of a day or two before you remove them and get some really thick gloves, heat resistant, as despite the fact you think your heater is cold, the bricks do hang on to quite some heat!

I personally found it cheaper to switch off the E7 based on my usage. i.e the last week before meter change cost me £34.24 on E7 if it had been single rate would have cost £30.07. It all depends on your tarrif though on how it works out, I'm with EDF.

As for water heating I've changed the timings on my immersion to come on 3 times a day to make sure hot water supply is constant, we often run out and had to boost on E7. This works much better. We changed the tank to a direct unvented and now run a shower of it instead of using electric shower so need a steady supply of hot.

Katie-Kat-Kins

You can but why would you want to would be my question, as you work from home during the day you are likely to find your storage heaters aren't too bad as you will benefit from leaked heat during the day unlike those of us with 9-5 type jobs.

Bear in mind that on eco 7 your heating will use night rate electric and heat during the day. On standard you will be heating the house using standard rate electric.

It is a difficult time to compare, as you don't need much heat at the moment but I find that over 50% of my electric is on heating over the course of the year - so higher in winter. That is using storage heaters - I dread to think what it would cost to heat the house with normal panel heaters :eek:

Also bear in mind that if you have eco 7 anyway you can arrange certain things to take advantage of the night rate. I set my washing machine to come on over night and charge all rechargeable items at night. I also have a shower at night (well actually in the morning but during night rate electric) and heat the immersion.

You can compare eco 7 tarriffs on the comparison sites and the rates do vary, generally the cheaper the night rate the more expensive the day rate, so these tarriffs are good if you use a high percentage of night rate, but if your percentage is lower a tarriff where the night rate is higher and the day rate lower may be better for you.

Try monitering your usage in detail for a few weeks to get a picture of your usage.

JennyR68

Katie-Kat-Kins wrote: »

You can but why would you want to would be my question, as you work from home during the day you are likely to find your storage heaters aren't too bad as you will benefit from leaked heat during the day unlike those of us with 9-5 type jobs.

Bear in mind that on eco 7 your heating will use night rate electric and heat during the day. On standard you will be heating the house using standard rate electric.

It is a difficult time to compare, as you don't need much heat at the moment but I find that over 50% of my electric is on heating over the course of the year - so higher in winter. That is using storage heaters - I dread to think what it would cost to heat the house with normal panel heaters :eek:

Also bear in mind that if you have eco 7 anyway you can arrange certain things to take advantage of the night rate. I set my washing machine to come on over night and charge all rechargeable items at night. I also have a shower at night (well actually in the morning but during night rate electric) and heat the immersion.

You can compare eco 7 tarriffs on the comparison sites and the rates do vary, generally the cheaper the night rate the more expensive the day rate, so these tarriffs are good if you use a high percentage of night rate, but if your percentage is lower a tarriff where the night rate is higher and the day rate lower may be better for you.

Try monitering your usage in detail for a few weeks to get a picture of your usage.

Personally I've found it cheaper to use panel heaters on the single rate than storage on E7.

Katie-Kat-Kins

JennyR68 wrote: »

Personally I've found it cheaper to use panel heaters on the single rate than storage on E7.

I'm sure it is possible but I guess it depends upon your house, your heaters, your comfort level and the tarriffs available to you. It is easy to compare on the comparison sites and that is what I'd suggest the OP does.

It can be more convenient to do it your way too especially if you are out all day.

I'm just saying the OP needs to consider his options carefully, it can be expensive to heat a house on panel heaters alone, but if he is in a small flat then maybe it will work out better.