storage heater afternoon boost

sgun

Hi, I am presently on npower dual fuel but because of their introduction of a standing charge for gas (I use about £50 a year) I am now looking to swap. I am struggling to find suppliers who offer the afternoon boost on the Economy 7 tarrif, e.g 5 hours cheap at night and two in the afternoon. So far I have only come up with Scottish Power. Does anyone know of any other provider that offers this? Thanks!

Wywth

sgun wrote: »

Hi, I am presently on npower dual fuel but because of their introduction of a standing charge for gas (I use about £50 a year) I am now looking to swap. I am struggling to find suppliers who offer the afternoon boost on the Economy 7 tarrif, e.g 5 hours cheap at night and two in the afternoon. So far I have only come up with Scottish Power. Does anyone know of any other provider that offers this? Thanks!

E7 times remain the same at your address no matter who supplies you.

But are you really on E7? If not, attempting to switch invariably will end in tears.

sgun

hmm yes, I had considered that. Npower have been very evasive,, almost as if they don't themselves know how my electric works! I think the reason I haven't changed from npower in the 12 years I have been here is that I can't get anyone to recognise what my actual supply is. All I know is I am on their "super tarrif" (which does not exist on their website) and I get a 2 hour boost in the afternoon. Calling other firms has also ended in confusion as most only offer the cheap rates for the 7 night time hours.

lstar337

The only time I have heard of an afternoon boost was on Economy 10 tarrifs.

I guess it is possible to do 5 hours at night and 2 during the day. Do you have an analogue time switch?

Richie-from-the-Boro

The old regional area electricity tariffs used to have a super E7 tariff of two blocks of 5 & 2 at non-core rate. In my area NEEB, [Northern Electricity Energy Board] terms stated a 5 hour supply at night and a 2 hour boost in the afternoon - at times of the companies choosing.

I agree with Wywth, switching from E7 to E10 [5+2+1] always ends in tears.

sgun

Well a very helpful lady at Scottish Power has checked via the grid and confirmed my metre is Economy7. The problem is that the old Super Tariff was originally a Northern Electric tariff which Npower have decided to maintain (and not offer new). The only way that I can see to get an afternoon boost through another provider is to switch to Economy10 which would be quite pricey for my usage. Oh well, I'll switch my gas to Ebico and stick with npower for the boost alone. Working all this out has taken me approximately the same time it takes to write a 5000 word masters essay, so much for it being simple!

Richie-from-the-Boro

sgun wrote: »

Well a very helpful lady at Scottish Power has checked via the grid and confirmed my metre is Economy7. The problem is that the old Super Tariff was originally a Northern Electric tariff which Npower have decided to maintain (and not offer new). The only way that I can see to get an afternoon boost through another provider is to switch to Economy10 which would be quite pricey for my usage. Oh well, I'll switch my gas to Ebico and stick with npower for the boost alone. Working all this out has taken me approximately the same time it takes to write a 5000 word masters essay, so much for it being simple!

Easier solution, just store more of the cheap stuff in the first place..........

- unless the one you want to boost is already a 3.4 size
- change your 2.5 for a 3.4
- or put an additional 0.07 in the room concerned
- the boost requirement is clearly needed because you are not storing enough in the first place

lstar337

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Easier solution, just store more of the cheap stuff in the first place..........

- unless the one you want to boost is already a 3.4 size
- change your 2.5 for a 3.4
- or put an additional 0.07 in the room concerned
- the boost requirement is clearly needed because you are not storing enough in the first place

I agree. I have never felt the need for a 'Boost' to my heaters.

Just turn up the input charge by a notch or so, and they will hold their charge for longer.

As Richie says, If they are already at max input charge, then you might need to upsize a little.

ic

sgun wrote: »

Oh well, I'll switch my gas to Ebico and stick with npower for the boost alone.

Don't forget to account for any dual fuel discount that you'll miss out on - I think its normally an annual credit of £100 with NPower?

sgun

Well I have experimented quite alot over the last 12 years and have always needed the boost, they are just cold by 6pm when I generally get home and I do like the comfort. It might just be that they are old heaters I suppose. I do live somewhere cold, windy and hilly and my rooms are really big. Storage heaters are probably not the best heating for the house but they were put in as there was no gas to the village until about 15 years ago. My yearly heating bill is only about £500 which is low compared to friends in similar houses with GCH so maybe I do need to try turning them up a bit more!

sgun

Yes I did take into account losing the £100 (you still get £40 for the electric so only losing £60 really). The gas would cost me £164 in standing charges alone and I only use about £60 a year so not worth it for the loyalty discount.

Thanks everyone for input, always useful to get your opinions.