Daytime/nighttime ratio in Economy 7

glocal

How does the daytime/nighttime electricity consumption ratio compare between winter and summer in a typical Economy 7, no gas household? My guess is that in the winter people use more daytime electricity for lights and many other things because they spend less time out, but they also consume a lot more nighttime electricity for storage heating etc. So, in the winter daytime/nighttime drops. Does this make sense?

I am asking because I discovered my meter was completely messed up and my energy supplier replaced it recently. Now they will use a few days' readings as a sample and project the daytime/nighttime pattern over the last three years to see how much I should have been charged. I am concerned that the daytime/nighttime ratio in December is not representative of my pattern in the summer.

Thanks.

rogerblack

This is definitely the case.
In summer, nighttime use will be _much_ smaller.
Daytime use will be broadly comparable.
Never mind the ratio - the absolute amounts are massively different too.
The fairest way would be to wait a year, or at least 6 months, and then give you a bill.
But...
Are there neighbours with a similar house and lifestyle?
You could ask them what tehir usage is - and use this as a challenge.

How long has the meter been inaccurate for?
If it's over a year, they may be limited in what they can 'back-bill' for.

dogshome

It's only a rough rule of thumb, but in Winter your Daytime electric use increases by appx. 20%, simply because you turn the lights on earlier

With an adjustment to a 3 year meter failure , you are quite right that recording a few weeks consumption in December is no way to estimate what your annual bill should be - ie A single person or frugal couple in Summer may not use all the ECO7 Hot water in the tank, which means that over the next night less power would be used to heat the tank because it is still warm.

Your supplier will come up with some figures for which they expect to be paid,
BUT, when you get them WRITE to the supplier that you require their figures
to be re-visited and adjusted after you & they have gone through a full year and have an accurate record of annual consumption

You will need WRITTEN acceptance of the condition, so add to your letter that you require it before you will pay their estimated bill.

Cardew

You also need to factor in that when the clocks go forward in Spring(from GMT to BST) you get an extra hour of off-peak electricity in the morning. e.g. in winter off-peak is 12:30am to 7:30am and in summer 1:30am to 8:30am.

That extra hour in the morning is when a lot of electricity is consumed - cooking, appliances, showers etc.

glocal

The old meter was recording consumption at night rate 22:30-00:30, so I would think I have been overchanged very significantly for over three years. I didn't have access to the meter until recently, so I didn't discover this earlier. Interestingly, exactly the same thing happens with every meter I checked, so it could be over a hundred households. I reported this to the supplier and the caretaker but they didn't seem too concerned. It seems I will have to inform the neighbours myself.

Total consumption was recorded OK, so what they are trying to do now is get an approximate split between day and night and project. We all seem to agree that a sample in December, as opposed to a summer month, will show a split that is favourable to me (ie proportionally more night rate units). The problem is it is very likely I will have to move within a month or so, so the sample will be small.

Another variable is that over three years the prices have been increasing, so proper backdating will have to be done. That will be an interesting bill.

[Deleted User]

Glocal, there is another variant to eco 7 meters also, one which benefits eco 7 users. If the timer switch ( which controls the switchover time ) is a circular 24 hr clock with a pointer towards the time it thinks it is, it will almost certainly be set at the wrong time. Some I see are so far out, the cheap night rate is coming on just at a peak useage period in the morning.
If the timer is not set at the correct time it will skew the cheap 7 hrs into a more advantageous time away from the usual 12.30 to 7.30 am. Newer digital meters, with built in timers and radio teleswitch timers are usually correct

glocal

sacsquacco, the old one was digital, off by about 20 minutes. The new one is digital and apparently has a radio teleswitch, so it is accurate and I am told switches between GMT and BST. I can't believe so many meters were so messed up for so long. If my calculations are correct and everyone claims a refund, the total will be very substantial indeed.

[Deleted User]

Yes the digital ones are nt too bad, I dont see them drifting too far off, they remain on GMT throughout the year,I am not sure if radio teleswitch s move an hour to BST. In my area, S.Yorks the eco 7 meters are a complete mess, what with all the old analog timers out, and the digital ones having transposed readings in big numbers. Personally I think the Grid is losing huge ammounts because of these mess ups. In your case you seem to be the loser

glocal

At least I will be claiming a refund. Many others seem to be oblivious. Effectively ours was Economy 2, in the wrong part of the day too, so we shifted our pattern of consumption the wrong way, eg by the using the machine after midnight while the meter thought the nighttime rate applied 22:30-00:30.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Glocal, thats something I could nt possibly spot on my rounds, I have no idea how common it is neither. All the suppliers have problems with eco 7 meters, hopefully smart meters will end all these problems. I think you are due a good refund. They can go back 7 years

Wywth

glocal wrote: »

How does the daytime/nighttime electricity consumption ratio compare between winter and summer in a typical Economy 7, no gas household? My guess is that in the winter people use more daytime electricity for lights and many other things because they spend less time out, but they also consume a lot more nighttime electricity for storage heating etc. So, in the winter daytime/nighttime drops. Does this make sense?

I am asking because I discovered my meter was completely messed up and my energy supplier replaced it recently. Now they will use a few days' readings as a sample and project the daytime/nighttime pattern over the last three years to see how much I should have been charged. I am concerned that the daytime/nighttime ratio in December is not representative of my pattern in the summer.

Thanks.

Don't worry. The supplier will have average figures representing different times of the year and will take this into account when esimating your usage.

You suggest the meter has been faulty for 3 years? Wow! :eek:
Maybe a lesson learned there is to keep a more regular eye on it and your bills