Official MSE Economy 7 Guide discussion

missminx

Hi, new to the thread and new to Economy 7! We have recently moved to a LA house with Economy 7. We have storage heaters / water etc. We are looking in to changing the supplier, but I am struggling with the mathematics to work out the best deal - foggy brain
We haven't really been here long enough to work out our usage eg not using heaters yet. We are a family of 4, and would say we are medium users prior to moving here (ie without storage heaters etc) We do try to keep usage down during the day!
Can anyone give me advice tariff wise. I have found some cheaper unit prices than SSE plan to take us to with their price rise, but they have a higher standing charge. I haven't researched this fully yet, but hoping some experienced Economy7 users can help.
SSE are rising to:
Standing Charge 14.08 p (per day)
Day Energy 18.45
Night Energy 08.08
Those are incl vat.

Edit to add:
If I have done the readings correctly, our usage for 4 months is: 941 day and 474 night. Higher than I thought, must try harder!!

Cardew

missminx wrote: »

Hi, new to the thread and new to Economy 7! We have recently moved to a LA house with Economy 7. We have storage heaters / water etc. We are looking in to changing the supplier, but I am struggling with the mathematics to work out the best deal - foggy brain
We haven't really been here long enough to work out our usage eg not using heaters yet. We are a family of 4, and would say we are medium users prior to moving here (ie without storage heaters etc) We do try to keep usage down during the day!
Can anyone give me advice tariff wise. I have found some cheaper unit prices than SSE plan to take us to with their price rise, but they have a higher standing charge. I haven't researched this fully yet, but hoping some experienced Economy7 users can help.
SSE are rising to:
Standing Charge 14.08 p (per day)
Day Energy 18.45
Night Energy 08.08
Those are incl vat.

Almost certainly the Economy 7 tariffs with Scottish Power will be a lot cheaper.

Using a Cardiff post code these are the details for SP fixed to 31 March 2015

http://www.energyhelpline.com/cashbackmse/fri/domesticenergy/domestic/TariffDetails?GasTariff=0&ElecTariff=717445&RegionCode=12&SpecialOffers=

The Standing charge is a lot more at 34.25 p per day (£125.02 per year) but the electricity is a lot cheaper Day = 13.815 p/kWh and night = 5.692 p/kWh

Nothing else comes close, I would get in quick!

missminx

Thank you Cardew. I saw that one, but at that point was unsure how it would balance out versus usage, with the standing charge being 20p per day more. I just couldn't think straight to work out how many units I would need to use to benefit from that (still can't!). I much appreciate the advice
Think I need to try this again when the children are asleep, and I have a cold beer!!! Might improve my grey cell usage!

stattman

Hi,

I've been with Scottish Power for quite a few years and ever since moving in my semi-detached I've been on Economy 7. I thought I was pretty savvy when it came to taking regular readings, insulation and comparing the available tariffs however it's only when a work colleague suggested that E7 might not be beneficial that I've come here to seek advice:

My electricity usage over the last 12 months

Day: 1523kwH
Night: 236 KwH
Percentage of night usage: 13% (on average 16%)

I don't have storage heaters and run a combi boiler.

I'm pretty sure I need ask Scottish Power to get me off E7 but would appreciate the forums' help to confirm if I'm on the right track.

The thought of not having a competitive tariff and potentially being on the back foot (in light of the rip-off market we live in) is not good.

Many thanks for your help.

Kind regards
Mark

Cardew

stattman wrote: »

Hi,

I've been with Scottish Power for quite a few years and ever since moving in my semi-detached I've been on Economy 7. I thought I was pretty savvy when it came to taking regular readings, insulation and comparing the available tariffs however it's only when a work colleague suggested that E7 might not be beneficial that I've come here to seek advice:

My electricity usage over the last 12 months

Day: 1523kwH
Night: 236 KwH
Percentage of night usage: 13% (on average 16%)

I don't have storage heaters and run a combi boiler.

I'm pretty sure I need ask Scottish Power to get me off E7 but would appreciate the forums' help to confirm if I'm on the right track.

The thought of not having a competitive tariff and potentially being on the back foot (in light of the rip-off market we live in) is not good.

Many thanks for your help.

Kind regards
Mark

Scottish Power will not supply you with a Non-Economy 7 tariff if you have an Economy 7 meter.

Are you sure you have your consumption is correct? or have you another method of heating?

At 13% on off-peak E7 will be more expensive on all tariffs.

You need to use a comparison website.

Cardew

missminx wrote: »

Thank you Cardew. I saw that one, but at that point was unsure how it would balance out versus usage, with the standing charge being 20p per day more. I just couldn't think straight to work out how many units I would need to use to benefit from that (still can't!). I much appreciate the advice
Think I need to try this again when the children are asleep, and I have a cold beer!!! Might improve my grey cell usage!

With an all electric house with 4 people and storage heating you will be lucky to use less than 15,000kWh a year.

If you work at it, 50% to 60% would be at off-peak rates.

It is only arithmetic to work out costs using the above assumptions. i.e. 15000kWh with 50% on off-peak.

SSE
365 x 14.08p SC = £51

7,500kWh @ 18.45p = £1384

7500kWh @ 8.08 = £606

Total = £2041


SP

365 x34.25p = £125

7500kWh @ 13.815p = £1036

7500kWh @ 5.692p = £427

Total = £1588

missminx

I worked out what we would save on our current usage, before winter sets in, just as you did above. Have submitted a request to change supplier. Thank you for your help.

John_Pierpoint

stattman wrote: »

Hi,

I've been with Scottish Power for quite a few years and ever since moving in my semi-detached I've been on Economy 7. I thought I was pretty savvy when it came to taking regular readings, insulation and comparing the available tariffs however it's only when a work colleague suggested that E7 might not be beneficial that I've come here to seek advice:

My electricity usage over the last 12 months

Day: 1523kwH
Night: 236 KwH
Percentage of night usage: 13% (on average 16%)

I don't have storage heaters and run a combi boiler.

I'm pretty sure I need ask Scottish Power to get me off E7 but would appreciate the forums' help to confirm if I'm on the right track.

The thought of not having a competitive tariff and potentially being on the back foot (in light of the rip-off market we live in) is not good.

Many thanks for your help.

Kind regards
Mark

Can we assume that once upon a time your property was heated by night storage heaters, then gas heating was put in and nobody bothered to sort out the electricity supply (here might be signs within the electricity meter cupboard that suggesting the wiring has been changed or there are strange double sockets now that are not part of the ring main?

As the country's major source of electricity is now back to cheap coal generation from gas, we have a situation where 2/3rds of the heat in the coal ends up going up the chimney, the cooling tower or heating the goes of the virds sitting on the wires, that is why electricity cannot compete with a gas boiler, especially a 90% efficient one.

Historical electricity data: 1920 to 2012

stattman

Thanks for your feedback. Yes, it's an old house, I have had it rewired but the meters are oldish.. I will call SP about getting them to remove my E7 meter and get back to a single electricity rate. If they can't do it, I'll shop around...

Cheers
Mark

pottermiss

Here's the scenario:
- property is on economy 7
- one meter with two readings (day and night)
- storage heaters are wired into the E7 consumer unit, which in turn is wired into the meter
- everything else goes through the main meter

The hot water immersion heater must be at least 30 years old. There's no plug, the wire just goes straight into a single junction box with an on/off switch which has to be switched on and off manually. I was thinking of putting a timer switch on this so it could be set to come on during the night and benefit from the night time tariff, so I got an electrician in to quote.

However he told me (and NPower have since confirmed) that in order to get the night time rate the immersion must be wired up to the same E7 consumer unit as the storage heaters, otherwise no matter what time you switch it on it will always go through the main supply and you'll be charged the daytime tariff.

On the other hand, NPower have also said we could save money elsewhere by putting a timer on other appliances like a washing machine so they come on at night to use the E7 rates.

What I don't understand is, why does the immersion heater have to be wired up to the Economy 7 consumer unit in order to benefit from the E7 tariff, when other appliances can benefit from that tariff simply by using a timer to switch them on at night? Is there something unique about an immersion heater?