Economy 7 meters - how to decide whether it's better t0 move to a single meter

keiran

Hello MSE'ers

I've got Economy 7 meters and was wondering under what circumstances it made sense to switch to a single meter.

My annual electricity usage is 5800 kWh, 45% of it the night rate.
I have storage heaters which are used about 2-3weeks per winter, and night-time heating of my water.
I try to run my machines at night, roughly every 2 weeks for clothes and dishes.
I have no gas supply to the property.

Single rate elecricity would be helpful as I could then use heating as and when needed during the day, rather than trying to predict the next day's temperature, and could run my machines during the day.

Are there any guidelines, or online tools, to help assess whether such a switch would be a good idea?

Is it even possible to get a single meter?

Thanks in advance for thoughts

Premier_2

keiran wrote: »

Hello MSE'ers

I've got Economy 7 meters and was wondering under what circumstances it made sense to switch to a single meter.

My annual electricity usage is 5800 kWh, 45% of it the night rate.
I have storage heaters which are used about 2-3weeks per winter, and night-time heating of my water.
I try to run my machines at night, roughly every 2 weeks for clothes and dishes.
I have no gas supply to the property.

Single rate elecricity would be helpful as I could then use heating as and when needed during the day, rather than trying to predict the next day's temperature, and could run my machines during the day.

Are there any guidelines, or online tools, to help assess whether such a switch would be a good idea?

Is it even possible to get a single meter?

Thanks in advance for thoughts

Storage heaters are designed for use on low rate E7 tariffs. They'll cost a fortune on normal/day rates to run. You cannot use them as and when needed during the day. If you have alternative electrical heaters for this purpose, then you can use them even on E7.

At 45% night usage you are almost certainly better off on E7.

But use a comparison site to check for yourself. You have all the data you need. Check the cost using a single rate then check the cost on E7 and see for yourself the difference.

Cardew

Agree with the above - at 45% off-peak usage it is a 'no contest' stay on Economy 7.(E7)

However there is a huge difference in the prices on E7 tariffs, so go to a comparison website and check. For instance in my area(midlands) the cheapest is Scottish Power paying 21.905p/kWh for 225 kWh per quarter, then 10.635p/kWh and 5.353p/kWh off-peak.

On your consumption of 5,800kWh pa(which is very low for an all electric property) the cheapest single rate tariff is over 20% more expensive.