Economy 7 times - Sheffield. Please help!!!

stephcyl

Hello,
Can someone please help me with the switching time for the lower rate electricity in Sheffield S6.
My flat has economy 7 and a hot water tank, but I have noticed that unit increases during the day. For example, when I checked this morning at around 10am, the meter reading was 31105, and now at 10pm, it has jumped to 31111. Does it continue reading during the day? Btw, the rate 1 stayed the same and has not changed.
What have i used on electricity today? Fridge, freezer, light bulbs and laptop. I have been using the hot water that supposedly was heated up last night.
So can someone please shed a light on this so I will understand what's happening? I am supplied by npower and I have asked them. The first person I spoke to said she doesnt know, the 2nd said its probably between 1am and 7am.
If there is a sure way of knowing the times please share so I can maximise the cheap slot.
thanks for answering

Richie-from-the-Boro

- steph it varies slightly between different regions
- so Sheffield specific is irrelevant in terms of times
- 6 units for all daytime units is tiny

To answer your timing question you get 7 hours cheap stuff and 17 hours more expensive day time, so long as you are using 40%+ of ALL the units at the night time rate you are using it correctly.

[Deleted User]

I work in that area, the battery back up digital meters are set at 12.30-7.30am G.M.T.( in B.S.T it will be 1.30 to 8.30). Am not 100% sure of the radio teleswitch meter times, they are accurately controlled by exterior timings.they may move along with B.S.T. to stay at approx 12.30- 7.30 am, best to observe your meter to see if the curser or reading blinking changes. If you have an old mechanical type of meter the timer will proberbly be miles out. look at the pointer on the dial and see how far off the actual time it is and adjust your cheap rate useage to match the meter. there is a little indicator in the top right of the meter to help you. I would nt bother the utilities about rectifying any faults in the timer, they are nearly all way off, but its to your advantage

Horseunderwater

stephcyl wrote: »

Hello,
Can someone please help me with the switching time for the lower rate electricity in Sheffield S6.
My flat has economy 7 and a hot water tank, but I have noticed that unit increases during the day. For example, when I checked this morning at around 10am, the meter reading was 31105, and now at 10pm, it has jumped to 31111. Does it continue reading during the day? Btw, the rate 1 stayed the same and has not changed.
What have i used on electricity today? Fridge, freezer, light bulbs and laptop. I have been using the hot water that supposedly was heated up last night.
So can someone please shed a light on this so I will understand what's happening? I am supplied by npower and I have asked them. The first person I spoke to said she doesnt know, the 2nd said its probably between 1am and 7am.
If there is a sure way of knowing the times please share so I can maximise the cheap slot.
thanks for answering

Have you had any physical bills arrive yet? This will show 2 rates and the usage on both rates. Day rate should be higher price and more units as this generally runs 7.30/8.30 am to 12.30/1.30am, then low rate Ec 7 runs from 12.30am/1.30am to 7.30/8.30 am. Originally introduced for elect heating via storage heaters way back when. Heating brickettes up during lower usage and then switching them off during day but providing heating for the home. However, some people like myself often do washing of clothes/drying them overnight as well as dishwashing. I tend to not sleep well, so will put machines on, then when I need to get up to take med's will then empty washer and put clothing in tumbler and sometimes I even have enough washing up to fill d washer again, so can get in another lot of savings. All helps. I also get dual fuel discount and cashback from nectar for my BGas. And I can top up prepay card/keys via my PC, so another saving.

Terrylw1

Have you got a time switch meter or radio teleswitch meter?

If its a time switch meter, the times are strictly configured based on industry standing data. Your supplier can see this and looks at your region (which is required as times vary based on the old geographical regions) and take a data item called Standard Settlement Configuration (SSC) from a data flow their meter operator sent them when it was fitted or when you switched to them. Don't accept that they don't know on these. They also only change for BST if supported by the industry data, otherwise you need to be aware of it for obtaining the cheap rate. Worth noting that its impossible to account for BST on a time switch meter because it would require amending the data held on all the meters every single year for the whole country.

If you have a radio teleswitch, its more complicated because the signal is sent daily and there is no national document to show how these work. In truth, if you monitor them daily, over a year they do fluctuate, often by 15 mins. Your supplier however, can contact the distributor to check this. Since Npower bought out both Yorkshire Elec and Northern Elec, they have a better relationship with NEDL/YEDL, the distributors for these regions who merged.

Don't accept that they don't know, their job is to find out and help you.

Terrylw1

sacsquacco wrote: »

I work in that area, the battery back up digital meters are set at 12.30-7.30am G.M.T.( in B.S.T it will be 1.30 to 8.30). Am not 100% sure of the radio teleswitch meter times, they are accurately controlled by exterior timings.they may move along with B.S.T. to stay at approx 12.30- 7.30 am, best to observe your meter to see if the curser or reading blinking changes. If you have an old mechanical type of meter the timer will proberbly be miles out. look at the pointer on the dial and see how far off the actual time it is and adjust your cheap rate useage to match the meter. there is a little indicator in the top right of the meter to help you. I would nt bother the utilities about rectifying any faults in the timer, they are nearly all way off, but its to your advantage

When a supplier creates a meter setting, they have to state the pattern over the year. If it never changes, you just detail the settings per recordable register for the 7 days. If you want it to change weekly or monthly, you have to put in settings that show this change so that each week or month of the year has a setting. You can't actually create a meter that switches with BST unless you specify the calendar date it changes. Since the last Sunday changes each year and the fact BST is an agreement that is subject o review/change, you would have to submit the settings yearly to avoid them creeping out I line until they came back inline.

Now, I know that some meters have come out that will record BST and the Smart ones can do it, but not everyone is using them. The radio teleswitch can also do it, but not all DNO's operate it (I know SWEB do) so the signal keeps the same if not.

So, I guess the question is who has got a meter that changes its clock.

macman

Assuming that it's your day rate register that is moving during the day, I don't understand what your issue is. 6 units is around 60p-not a great deal for one day, under £20 per month.
As long as the night rate register only is increasing overnight (have you checked?), then all is well.
All you need to do is make sure that your E7 hot water controller is set to come on during the latter part of the E7 cheap rate period., say around 5-7am.

stephcyl

Sacsquatto - I will check the indicators this night when I get home to know when it actually moves.
Horsewater - I do all my washing and ironing at night too.
My problem is to actually find out if I am using the cheap rate or the higher rate at night, since the rate 2 meter, which is supposedly the cheaper rate keeps moving during the day.
Thanks all for your input.

macman

It's quite simple, switch your kettle on (in the day) and the register that starts spinning wildly is the day one.

stephcyl

Thanks Macman, but where do I find the register? I think I have the old type of meters, and I need to press a button to switch from the various reading. I don't think you are talking about the meter, are you? I will put up a picture of what I have in the evening.

macman

The register is the display on the meter!
Some older meters have a mechanical display (so two registers), the modern ones have a single display which you can 'page' through by pressing the button-or it may cycle through on it's own.
Either way you can identify which is the day rate register.