time switch missing

benwan32

hi. i just moved house and now just got my electric bills. right now i am being charged for GBP 105 estimated for 3 months usage.

when i check the meter reading it seems that my night rate is not moving and i noticed that my day rate is moving quite fast even though i am hardy at home during the day.

i contacted Scottish hydro and the technician who came to my house told me that i am missing the time switch for the meter. he advised me to change the meter to a single rate unit for better price.

my old house use the scottish hydro THTC tariff and i am paying around GBP 120 for 3 months. my new house is currently on Domestic Economy tariff.

is it normal if the night rate doesnt move at all or it that because im missing the time switch? and is it cheaper to switch to the single rate tariff?

i hope somebody can help me since im a student and i even rarely switch on the room heater during the winters just to save money. thanks.

macman

Little point in being on E7 if you don't use your storage heaters or heat your hot water with it. You are paying a premium rate for all your other consumption outside the cheap night-rate hours.

benwan32

is E7 the same as Domestic Economy? i only use hot water for shower only. so what is your expert advise for me? should i change to single rate or keep this meter without time switch? really appreciate it. thanks.

jalexa

benwan32 wrote: »

is E7 the same as Domestic Economy?

Dunno. Where *exactly* does it say you are on "Domestic Economy"?

benwan32

on the bills. and i goggled it and its a type of meter by scottish hydro that has day and night rate. but my night rate isnt working now. i just dont know what macman means about me being on E7.

jalexa

benwan32 wrote: »

on the bills.

Unfortunately the "Scottish Hydro technician" hasn't been very helpful to you. The time switch (or teleswitch) would belong to Scottish Hydro and is necessary for your supply to be E7.

Unless you have (and use) storage heaters, or a lot of hot water (more than a few showers) it is very unlikely that E7 will "pay".

TBH you need to discuss this again with Scottish Hydro and ensure that (initially) you are on a standard (single rate) tariff.

benwan32

jalexa wrote: »

Unfortunately the "Scottish Hydro technician" hasn't been very helpful to you. The time switch (or teleswitch) would belong to Scottish Hydro and is necessary for your supply to be E7.

Unless you have (and use) storage heaters, or a lot of hot water (more than a few showers) it is very unlikely that E7 will "pay".

TBH you need to discuss this again with Scottish Hydro and ensure that (initially) you are on a standard (single rate) tariff.

thank you for your time explaining it to me. i still dont quite get it though. from what i read the E7 is when you have day and night rate which is the same as Domestic Economy. but you need the time switch for that. so i dont know what kind of meter i have :T

and i cant find anything about single rate from hydro. whether i would be cheaper for me or not. i guess im stuck with all day rate. :A

macman

You'll know which tariff you are on because if on E7 you will be billed on 2 rates. Read your bill. If no night rate units used it will still give the opening and closing readings for each rate?

Carrot007

It's probably better off if people stopped talking about E7 here!

Scotland has no E7 tarrifs. SPOW area (the south) has 8.5 hours and HYDE (the north) has 8 hours off peak instead. (Scotland does enjoy being different).

http://www.hydro.co.uk/GasAndElectricity/YourMeter/DifferentMeterTypes/

Under All Electric heating you will find Domestic Economy which you appear to have installed but are not using it. This is very expensive as you are being charged more for your standard units (they do this to offset having to give you cheap heating units).

Under If you have gas or oil-fired central heating you will find Domestic Standard which is what they are calling a standard 1 rate meter. This is gopign to be cheaper for you if you currently do not use any low rate units.

benwan32

finally something that i can use. thank you so much. so i guess i will be calling them to change the meter to a single rate since it will be cheaper even though i am using All Electric at my house.

thank you.

mattcanary

Benwan - you last post suggests that you should have a timeswitch installed.

If you have all electric heating, I would suggest that you should have a day and night tariff (or E7 or domestic economy).
Do you have electric storage heaters, or some other form of electric heating?