Air Source Heat Pump Tariff?

Ally74

Hello i was hoping someone can help me.

Scottish Power are taking a long time to get back in touch with me concerning which tariff suits an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) and a few other energy firms don't have a clue what one is.

I'm currently with Scottish Power and have an Economy 2000 meter in place which is no good for an Air Source Heat Pump (According to the people who fitted it). Apparently an ASHP requires a 24hr supply and the meter i have just now has two supplies going into it. Peak rate and an off peak which has 3 two hour shut down periods every day. So as it stands my ASHP is connected to the Peak supply so i dont benefit from any off peak periods. (hopefully someone will understand what i'm trying to say)

Does anyone know if Scottish Power offer any tariffs compatible with the ASHP or of any other energy firms that do?

Someone will be at home most of the day.

Regards

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Yes that all makes sense don't worry.

The situation with ASHP's is they use energy whenever they are switched on, and they are not a storage form of heating. The only time something like a cheap off-peak rate is useful is for heating that has an element of storage about it, such as storage heaters and immersion tanks for water.

There isn't a specific tariff I am aware of with any supplier that would just benefit your type of heating. What you need to do is go with whoever is cheapest overall just like everyone else. You would be a lot better off ditching the two tier rates and going on a single charge as those work by charging more for the day rate and less for the night rate, so you will be paying a premium with little benefit right now on your setup.

In time you may find better tariffs when smart metering is rolled out as these can charge based on specific times of the day. Until then you need to find out who is cheapest generally for you - use the comparison sites.

Cardew

There are several types of off-peak supply. Most of us have an Economy 7 tariff where all electricity consumed in the 7 hour off peak period is charged at the cheap rate.

However some houses have a separate electrical circuit for off-peak electricity(usuall going to storage heaters and immersion heater) In this case sockets, lights etc are never charged at cheap rate.

I get the impression that the OP's house is wired in this manner i.e. The ASHP will never use cheap rate off peak electricity.

In either case however, the OP needs to get a 'normal' 24/7 tariff.

Ally74

CitySlicker wrote: »

Yes that all makes sense don't worry.

The situation with ASHP's is they use energy whenever they are switched on, and they are not a storage form of heating. The only time something like a cheap off-peak rate is useful is for heating that has an element of storage about it, such as storage heaters and immersion tanks for water.

There isn't a specific tariff I am aware of with any supplier that would just benefit your type of heating. What you need to do is go with whoever is cheapest overall just like everyone else. You would be a lot better off ditching the two tier rates and going on a single charge as those work by charging more for the day rate and less for the night rate, so you will be paying a premium with little benefit right now on your setup.

In time you may find better tariffs when smart metering is rolled out as these can charge based on specific times of the day. Until then you need to find out who is cheapest generally for you - use the comparison sites.

Hi, thank you for the info.

I will keep an eye out for the smart metering. It might be worth waiting for a short time before changing to see if any company can offer one.

Ally74

Cardew wrote: »

There are several types of off-peak supply. Most of us have an Economy 7 tariff where all electricity consumed in the 7 hour off peak period is charged at the cheap rate.

However some houses have a separate electrical circuit for off-peak electricity(usuall going to storage heaters and immersion heater) In this case sockets, lights etc are never charged at cheap rate.

I get the impression that the OP's house is wired in this manner i.e. The ASHP will never use cheap rate off peak electricity.

In either case however, the OP needs to get a 'normal' 24/7 tariff.

Hi

Thanks for the info.

My house is indeed wired in the manner you mentioned. I suppose a tariff that spread the off-peak periods throughout a 24 hr period would be beneficial to an ASHP.

The energy companies i've contacted so far don't seem to know a lot about the heating system though.

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Therein lies your problem - you want off peak prices but you will be consuming during peak times. There isn't a tariff that does this.

Smart meters will take years to roll out, up to another nine years. It will take a bit of time even then for the companies to analyse how they can profit from time based charging as precise time charging (other than economy night rates) is all brand new to them. I wouldn't wait to change, I would compare and switch now otherwise you will be throwing money away for years.

Although you say not many people have heard of ASHP, try looking at it another way. Say for every 2kwh you put in you get 4kwh out. But you're still using 2kwh power regardless of how efficient it is in this example, so ask them what's the cheapest way to heat a house during the times of day you will be using it using an old fashioned two bar heater?

Ally74

At last i had a representative from Scottish power out today. After looking at the heat pump he recommended 2 tariffs. The rates excluding VAT are as follows.

Domestic -

10.703p No Off Peak Periods

White Meter One -

11.032p Peak Rate

4.979p off Peak Rate.

Off peak time is 11pm to 7.30am

I also had some feedback from Scottish Hydro today. They can offer me an Economy 10 tariff.

The rep says the rates for my area are roughly:-

Off Peak 7.33p

Peak 13.47p

Off Peak Times are

4.30am to 7.30am
1pm to 4pm
8.30pm to 12.30am

So i have a bit of calculating to do.

Thanks for the replies.

Cardew

Ally74 wrote: »

At last i had a representative from Scottish power out today. After looking at the heat pump he recommended 2 tariffs. The rates excluding VAT are as follows.

Domestic -

10.703p No Off Peak Periods

White Meter One -

11.032p Peak Rate

4.979p off Peak Rate.

Off peak time is 11pm to 7.30am

I also had some feedback from Scottish Hydro today. They can offer me an Economy 10 tariff.

The rep says the rates for my area are roughly:-

Off Peak 7.33p

Peak 13.47p

Off Peak Times are

4.30am to 7.30am
1pm to 4pm
8.30pm to 12.30am

So i have a bit of calculating to do.

Thanks for the replies.

If you go for White Meter or Economy 10, the way your house is wired you will not be able to connect your ASHP to the cheap rate supply.(or only to the cheap rate supply!)

Don't forget you have two separate electrical wiring circuits.

4$£&*(£$&*(!

From personal experience, don't switch on the say-so of doorstep reps. None of them are ever held to account if they make a mistake.

I am guessing you have little or no gas consumption at your property? Therefore you need to find out who can supply you with cheapest electricity. Do you know how much electric you consume? If not, use the comparison sites and set the electric as either average or high use and the gas as low use. Do your comparisons and switch like that.

I would scrap the two tier rate idea, from how Cardew has explained it to you I cannot see it benefiting you at all. If anything, it penalises you by charging a higher day rate to offset the cheaper night rate that won't be of any use to you.

Another thing to bear in mind is ASHP are not cheap to run. Broadly speaking they are on a par with oil heating. Gas is still cheaper than ASHP even if far less efficient. ASHP can be cheaper than storage heating but there are lots of calculations to get your head around in this instance, keep it simple and don't worry about that last bit.

You really need to do a comparison though.