Official MSE Economy 7 Guide discussion

John_Pierpoint

Can you post the make and model number of your storage heaters?

How old is the property, what is its EPC rating, are the walls solid or cavity filled?

How do you dry your washing?

Do you always scrape off any overnight condensation on the windows, and pour it outside?.
Do you then open the widows for 15 minutes and blow all that sweaty overnight air away and replace it with nice fresh morning air?

Are you on this map.

http://www.ruralfuelpoverty.org.uk/rural2.php?mopt=1&pid=solid_areamap

eldaniel

Ginger_Nut wrote: »

So the problem is as I said 2 heaters that throw out 24/7 I have looked n my Dad has looked but no timer so how on earth am I meant to cope with that? and only use it at night when its cheaper?? I can't change the meter as i'm in rental (im still waiting for my raising damp to be sorted and I reported it over a year ago)
any help or suggestions would be nice to hear thxs

So, you want your landlord to sort out problem with damp, but what for? If you dont heat up the property properly damp and condensation will come back in no time... So it is a closed circle. You underheat property, causing damp, damp makes the place feel much colder and so on.

lstar337

Make and model of storage heaters needed, it doesn't sound like they are set up correctly.

geoff_s---r

Terry_D wrote: »

Ahh, you just beat me to it! I was about to say exactly the same re E-On and since we changed recently to Scottish Power, they also except 2 electricity meter readings and I'm not on an Economy 7 tarriff with them either.

Also allows you to switch back to economy 7 if your circumstances or the prices changes*. We've run our work one on two readings with both Npower & British Gas

*But I guess renewables like wind & solar will tend to drive economy 7 prices up, as peak capacity & lowest prices will increasingly be in the daytime.

1chlophie2

split times econamy 7. ours goes off at 12.30 and back on again 2.30 till 7.30. do the radiators so for the 2 hours we are using day rate, do the radiators switch off for this 2 hours or are we using them on day rate for that periiod

a_house_is_still_a_dream wrote: »

A few tips (we have economy 7 in a two bed 1980's all electric flat with a storage heater and immersion heater);

- Definitely find out when your economy 7 times are. Ours are split and do 11.30 til 01.30 and then 3.30 til 8.30 in the summer, and an hour earlier in the winter
- Check your meter is working properly - ours went wrong and was coming on in the middle of the day! the energy company soon sorted it when I rang them though
- Use energy wisely during the day e.g. use a one cup kettle thing, dry washing using a dehumidifier rather than a tumble drier, insulate the house, use low energy bulbs
- Turn off appliances you are not using, chargers etc.
- Get up early to have a shower (if electric), say get up at 8 in the summer and jump straight in the shower and you can have a cheaper shower, worthwhile as showers are power hungry
- Get up and do all the things that use electric straight away before the E7 finishes, make a cup of tea/ coffee, cook your toast etc. (I put kettle and toast on before I get dressed)
- A hot water bottle and a thick quilt keeps my wife happy without overheating the bedroom (we don't have a storage heater in there)
- Charge things overnight, but we put them in a closed room away from the bedroom and not on the fire escape route so we have a better chance of getting out in a fire
- Run the washing machine and dishwasher overnight on a timer (ours are built into the appliance)
- If you have lots of loads of washing, as you can only run one a night, put the hottest load on overnight (e.g. towels) as that will use the most energy
- Get to know your storage heater (ours is so old it only has an input control and a convector heater boast! No output control). We only have the off peak switched on so never use it on peak.
- We turn off the hot water in the summer as we have an electric shower and a dishwasher so would only use the hot water for washing our hands.
- Waste heat can be reused in the house, our immersion heater tank, run on E7, keeps the bathroom warm in the winter.

I hope these ideas help. We achieve 70% energy use at off peak rate so we make a good saving. Our annual electric bill is £600 and we have no gas bill (was less but my wife got fed up of being cold )

MeanyMoneyBags

just spoke to Scottish Power - they charge £45.91 to replace E7 meter with standard

John_Pierpoint

geoff_s---r wrote: »

Also allows you to switch back to economy 7 if your circumstances or the prices changes*. We've run our work one on two readings with both Npower & British Gas

*But I guess renewables like wind & solar will tend to drive economy 7 prices up, as peak capacity & lowest prices will increasingly be in the daytime.

I think it will always be at night as both sources of energy ultimately come from nuclear reactors one 93 million miles away and the others dotted near the sea side. You can turn them down but you cannot turn them off.

olbas_oil

I've just been quoted £50.89 to change to single-tariff meter, by Scottish Power. I need to switch supplier anyway (now reverted to standard tariff after a 12 month deal). The table on Martin's page suggests all companies do this change for free- but this is definitely out of date for Scottish Power.
Has anyone done a meter switch recently and got it for free?

Cardew

eldaniel wrote: »

So, you want your landlord to sort out problem with damp, but what for? If you dont heat up the property properly damp and condensation will come back in no time... So it is a closed circle. You underheat property, causing damp, damp makes the place feel much colder and so on.

Sorry, but this is a fundamental misunderstanding about using heating to prevent dampness in a property. Under-heating a property does not cause damp.

Ginger Nut has explained the problem with his property - he has rising damp.

If a property is damp, then it has an inherent fault(often inadequate ventilation). All heating a property achieves is to allow the air to hold a higher proportion of water which then condenses on cold surfaces.

To alleviate the problem use a dehumidifier, but this isn't a cure.

Believe me dampness is far more of a problem in sub-tropical/tropical regions, where without aircon the inside temperature can rise above 30C

John_Pierpoint

Actually not heating a property in the UK does cause "damp".
The sweaty breath of the occupants not to mention their cooking and bathing has to go somewhere. If the internal temperature of the walls, windows and even the furniture is below the dew point, then the resulting film of condensation will soak in and health destroying moulds will start to grow.

Obviously in a tropical jungle where everything drips with water, because it rains every day, heating the building to "dry" the air is not an option, having said that even in seemingly dry places (eg Aden) it is necessary to put a light bulb in the "closet" to stop mould developing on the clothes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point