Economy 7 - any advice to save money?

grahamc2003

2010 wrote: »

An immersion heater only needs to be on for an hour in winter and a half hour in summer.

Try it.

1.5 hours of heating for a whole year's worth of hot water!

I'd expect the water to cool down by Feb, even with the best insulation going (assuming you don't have a bath or use any water in Jan that is).

But seriously, I assume you are neither married nor have a bunch of teenagers demanding baths every day if you manage on just 30 mins water heating (per day).

2010

grahamc2003 wrote: »

But seriously, I assume you are neither married nor have a bunch of teenagers demanding baths every day if you manage on just 30 mins water heating (per day).

It would still be cheaper putting it on as required for 30/60 minutes than leaving it on all the time.

Foggster

2010 wrote: »

It would still be cheaper putting it on as required for 30/60 minutes than leaving it on all the time.

But it would take longer than 30 mins to get hot.

I am happy with my bills but I may treat myself to a timer to be uber efficient.

2010

Foggster wrote: »

But it would take longer than 30 mins to get hot.

In the winter I use the boiler for C/H, hot water.

I have my immersion heater on during econ 7 hours in the spring/autumn for an hour.

In the summer I have it on for half an hour.

I usually shut down the boiler from mid May until late Sept.

I use the wash/mach on during econ 7 hours and because nearly all of them are cold fill now, they don`t need hot water direct but use electricity to heat the water up.
Fridge and freezer run during e7 hours along with any other appliances that NEED to be on.

You really have to know what your e7 hours actually are and use them to your advantage.
For some people the extra cost of having e7 isn`t worth it.

Raksha

grahamc2003 wrote: »

1.5 hours of heating for a whole year's worth of hot water!

I'd expect the water to cool down by Feb, even with the best insulation going (assuming you don't have a bath or use any water in Jan that is).

But seriously, I assume you are neither married nor have a bunch of teenagers demanding baths every day if you manage on just 30 mins water heating (per day).

I have had our boiler off to heat water for nearly a year (admittedly it's gas and not what we are talking about) - all the domestic appliances are cold fill, we take showers rather than baths and find the pilot light keeps the water in the tank warm enough for hand washing or the occasion pan scrub.

bettybarchetta

If you think that you will not be making full use of Economy 7, I strongly recommend that you contact your supplier and get the meter changed asap.

We have had Economy 7 for the last 8 years (because it was in the house when we moved in). Never thought much about it...had the dishwasher and tumble drier on timer, and the immersion heater would come on for an hour early in the morning. I thought we were being quite efficient. Wrong!!

Someone happened to say something to me this week about Economy 7 being a bad idea unless you have storage heaters. So I called npower and asked them to analyse my usage. Within 10 minutes they had told me that I could save £400 annually by moving to a standard meter and tariff!!!! I was flabbergasted! All this time they have been taking our money, knowing full well that we were paying over the odds....makes you sick! :mad:

[Deleted User]

Ive got storage heaters and i find it cheaper in the winter to wash my clothes in the evening (On a minimum wash temperature and quick wash cycle) and put them on a clothes horse infront of one of the storage heaters at night and use a dehumidifier to dry them, rather than wash them on eco 7 and dry them during the day when the storage heater starts running low on heat. Thus i cut out using a tumble drier. I also have a storage heater in my bedroom and if this is used i normally wake up half way through the night and switch it off and save money by only half heating the storage heater (which is adequate in my bedroom). I only use the immersion heater to heat bath water (hour and a half in the snowy weather, one hour in normal winter weather and half an hour in the summer). I generally have showers (electric, but not a power shower). To wash up i boil a full kettle, have some for cooking, some for cups of coffee (im at work during the day so this is normally 1st thing in the morning and late evening) and the rest to wash the dishes. Two full kettles a day rather than the immersion heater being used. I switch everything off at the wall except the fridge freezer (i also switch off landline phone and sky box). When the clocks go forward to british summertime my eco 7 switches on at 1.08am to 8.07am i do use the Eco7 to do my washing then when the weather warmer and the storage heaters go off and also have a shower, charge laptop, mobile phone all before 8.07am. My last electric bill was £231 for 3 months mid Nov to mid March. Oh i also use some of the new lightbulbs in the most used parts of my home. I try and use my microwave more than the oven when i can. My only luxury is my electric blanket for half an hour a night because i dont like a hot bedroom but find my bed too cold,