Economy Seven newbie

Brallaqueen

HI All

I feel like a right plum asking about this, but I don't want my mum to think she's raised a dozy daughter so asking her is out of the question!

My first bill came through last weekend (£88), electric being £26.37, and I realised I was on an Economy Seven tariff (£14.30 E7, £12.07 normal rate).

First off - is this good, am I using it correctly?

Second off - does this mean I have an immersion heater somewhere? I usually heat water with gas, which was quite high...

Any help or experience would be gratefully received!

wuckfit

E7 usually works on a timer. you should have two sets of digits in your electricity meter. the Off Peak or 'Low' reading usually operates between 11pm and 7am (12midnight-8am BST) and the Peak or 'High' operates the rest of the time. If you have storage radiators, these are only connected to the electricity during the off-peak hours - they're filled with bricks which heat up and radiate heat during the day.
It makes sense to use washing machines, dishwashers etc during off-peak hours as these will be charged at the low rate, as well as the immersion heater, which may also be on a timer to co-incide with your off peak times.
Your bill will have two sets of figures and two electricity rates - off peak should be below 10p/unit and peak should be below 15-20p/unit, depending on your tariff.

dogshome

Hi Bralaqueen - Whilst you are getting Day & Night rate ECO 7 Electricity bills, you also mention your water is heated by Gas, does this mean you also have gas Central Heating?

ECO 7 heating has been around for 40+ years, but as it's expensive to run many house owners abandoned it and installed gas fired Heating & Hotwater - However if they did not tell their electricity supplier of the change, their meter was not swapped to a 'Standard' meter and they continued to be billed on thier existing dual rate ECO 7 meter.

The problem with this is that whilst the ECO 7 Night rate power, which they are using very little of is cheap- Say just the fridge, freezer and things on stand-by, the ECO 7 Day rate power is appx. 50% dearer for Prime units and appx. 11% dearer for Secondary units than those supplied by a Standard meter.

If you do have gas heating & hotwater, advise your Elect. supplier a.s.a.p

Haarlem

There are too many sweeping statements on this forum stating E7 is not for you. I have gas central heating and therefore do not use electricity for any heating. I pay the low rate for 30% of my consumption in winter, and 40% in summer, which does give me a modest saving.

Actions to take:-
1 Make sure you have actual readings, not estimates.
2 Confirm the times of the low rate from your distribution company (NOT SUPPLIER), and if you do not have a tele switch check the settings on the mechanical timer next to your meter. I get the low rate to 08.00 all year round.
3 Decide if your lifestyle allows you to operate appliances at the low rate (maybe with timers), or for example get the family up and breakfasted before the higer rate comes in. But don't use the appliances just because it is cheaper (eg still dry clothes outside if the weather permits).
4 E7 tariffs do vary between Suppliers and regions of the country, so you do have to shop around.

Then decide.

Smart meters will bring more tariffs like E7, so there will be more substantial savings in the future.

Brallaqueen

Hi eveyone and thank you for your input

Yes I do have gas central heating (the most expensive of the two bills so far). This heats my water twice a day for 1.5 hours each time. I can't reduce this as the timer has wide widget things for setting the time, only option for heating water.


-I take regular meter readings (Scottish power online billing)
-According to the modern looking LCD display, E7 is up to 8am at the moment. Useful for showering and washing clothes.
-I don't have a dishwasher or tumble dryer, I do have separate fridge and freezer, TV, laptop all on constantly.

So, general consensus is come off Economy 7?

Premier_2

Brallaqueen wrote: »

...
So, general consensus is come off Economy 7?

I'm not sure you should decide by concensus - take control of the issue yourself.

Calculate the difference in cost and decide for yourself whether moving away from E7 will actually save you any money.
Remember also that changing from E7 to single rate may involve a meter change, for which a charge may be made ... both are supplier dependant.

sunshinetours

Monitor it over the course of say the next year and see if you would be better off once you have a proper trail of how you use your electric.

We use about 65-70% of ours on Economy 7 (Washing machine and dishwasher on overnight and early morning showers (electric shower)) so it will depend on how you use. Low energy lights and fridges etc don't use a lot of electricity so its the high use stuff like electric showers and immersion heaters (if you have one) that will make a difference