What would you do??

savings4me

Hi,
We moved into this house a couple of months ago.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that I reaklised it had an E7 meter so started using the dishwasher and the washing machine at night.
Today I have just had a look at it and it looks like it is switching to night time at 3.30 pm going off about 8 1/2 hours later.
Could this be right?
Obviiously if I change my washing patterns this could be beneficial.
But should I 'fess up?
Thanks

Ken68

It might be worth researching to find out if it is the meter readers responsibility to report out of sync. meters.
Something here, ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_meter

An annual visit to check, at least, for safety, is recommended, so you can assume it has been checked.
Would I 'fess up, difficult one that, probably no, but would put the money saved into a high payment savings escrow account against the possibility of having to pay it back.

savings4me

Thanks
I think for now, we'll leave it be and see what happens.
How would you estimate how much oney to put away?

Ken68

Have you had a bill yet, Svgs....if you start to cosh the new hours, it will show up on future invoices.
Doubt if anyone can get to 50% E7. Do you have storage heaters, in which case you won't be able to get the heat for early and morning. You would have to do the cooking and hoovering and dishwashing and clothes washing to fit in with the new hours. You couldn't, e.g., put out the clothes on the washing line. Need to know more..

richyrich7

I'm with Ken68 on this one, as to how much money to save ?
I would work it out like this: E7 is approx 1/3rd of daytime, so if you could afford to put away twice as much as your E7 part of the bill you should be about there.

anniecave

I would take lots of meter readings to verify when it is switching over.
I agree with Ken68, if it's an E7 meter, do you have storage heating, what hours is that in use for? If you have heating that uses a lot at night, then that could mean your bills would be much higher if the switch is not working normally.
So that would mean you definately need to get it sorted, and fast!

silvercar

I had one of these meters in my old house. everytime there was a power cut the clock governing the economy seven turn on was put out. I think it got to 4a.m. to 11 a.m. It was easy to see that the economy 7 meter was turning during this time - just put the kettle on and watch it wizz.

We then got changed to an digital meter with a radio controlled switchover.:sad:

savings4me

Hi,
The update is...
we don't have storage heating so no worries there. I just look at the meter and start the washine machine/dishwasher. I don't think there are many other big users that I can change my routine for.
However..... I think the clock is on a 24 1/2 cycle ....please stop laughing!!!
When I did the first post a few days agao, I said that it was coming on at 3.30 that day....yesterday it was 4.15 today i've had a look and it looks like it's going to be 4.45 ish.
This is going to be a bit of a nuisance if I've got to work out what time it is switching on to plan when to do the washing.
Is it possible that it can be running slow? maybe I should think about getting them to come and put a new meter in?
Any comments
S

Ken68

You would have been paying slightly extra on the day rate with an E7 meter, so if you can't cash in on the economy bit, perhaps a standard meter would be better.
With EBICO the breakeven point is 20% tho it varies with region. It works for me, anyway they wanted to charge £40 to change the meter.
Shouldn't apply in your case, because just tell 'em needs repairing.
You really need to recover what you have overpaid in E7 day rate, up to now.

savings4me

So you don't think it's worth E7 for approx 10 washes and 7 dishwashes?
Is E7 only really worth it if you have storage heating?
You can tell I've never had it before!!

anniecave

savings4me wrote:

So you don't think it's worth E7 for approx 10 washes and 7 dishwashes?
Is E7 only really worth it if you have storage heating?
You can tell I've never had it before!!

[/I] It depends on how much more expensive the day cost is on E7 than it would be on the single rate. And how much electricity you can use during the offpeak cheap rate.

If you can use a large percentage of your electric at night and it's only a bit more expensive on the day rate, that's when it's best.
If it's a lot more expensive and you hardly use anything at night (like we do) then you're better off with a single rate meter.