Changing from Economy 7?

cabincrew

Just had an elec bill with a message saying that my direct debit will go up from £24 per month to £54!! I supplied all the readings so I know that it's not just a wrong estimate... I live on my own in a 1 bed flat so £54 is quite a lot!!

I'm on economy7 and I don't think it is benefitting me at all as I use all my electricity in the day (in the summer). The only stuff I try to use at night is immersion heater - have a timer on my immersion heater so it only comes on at night during the cheap rate, and I run my washing machine at night too.

Everything else I use in the day - lights (not that often in summer though) pc, elec shower, fridge & freezer, oven and hoover. I don't have a TV or dvd player etc, so there aren't any appliances on standby.

I have storage heaters and I'd love to get rid of them - does anyone know of a good alternative? I've found https://www.ecolec.co.uk - anyone got these and would recommend them as an alternative to storage? Then I'd come off the economy7 and onto a normal tariff and switch to someone cheaper at the same time (i'm currently with Southern Elec.)

Thanks in advance for any feedback or good ideas!

Midas

Welcome to MSE

Presumably gas is not available in your flat? If not, I'd guess night storage heaters are the cheapest option (hence you being on Economy 7). If gas is available, you might be better off with gas central heating.

£54pm is £648 per year, which sounds like a lot, particularly when it doesn't sound like you have a huge number of appliances. Is the DD increasing so much to clear a deficit that's has built up? If so, once it is cleared you shuld be able to reduce the DD again, maybe to £40 pm ish.

Do you have energy saving lightbulbs?

That's all I can think of I'm afraid!

cabincrew

No, gas isn't available unfortunately. I think that's what must have happened - that the bills were quite high and the dd's weren't clearing them. Hopefully I can go back to normal once it's cleared...

Thanks for the tip about energy saving lightbulbs - I hadn't thought of that one!

homersimpson_3

Everything else I use in the day - lights (not that often in summer though) pc, elec shower, fridge & freezer, oven and hoover. I don't have a TV or dvd player etc, so there aren't any appliances on standby.

Isn't the fridge/freezer left on at night?

I have storage heaters and I'd love to get rid of them ....

gas central heating if possible-

cabincrew

homersimpson wrote:

Isn't the fridge/freezer left on at night?

-

Oops yes of course, just meant they are on all day too!

There really doesn't seem to be any viable alternative for big ugly storage heaters when all you have is electricity...:(

espresso

cabincrew wrote:

Just had an elec bill with a message saying that my direct debit will go up from £24 per month to £54!! I supplied all the readings so I know that it's not just a wrong estimate... I live on my own in a 1 bed flat so £54 is quite a lot!!

Just because they say that it needs to go up by that amount does not necessarily mean that it does! Work it out for yourself using your previous years kWh figures at current prices, also taking into account any debt on your account. When you have work out what you actually need to pay, ring them up and tell them. When challenged, they usually blame 'the computer' for the incorrect DD amount. This calcuator may help you with the figures.

I can't see that you would save by converting to a standard tariff due to your heating and hot water but enter your kWh figures into a comparison site that covers ALL of the suppliers like ukpower to see if you could save by switching.

HTH