Official MSE Economy 7 Guide discussion

Richie-from-the-Boro

Cardew,

My past opinion on standing charge ~v~ no standing charge is the same as it has been for the last 5 years. If you strip out all of the other factors the unit rate prices will be more expensive for the NSC. In other words they get the same % profit per unit of gas or leccy sold. The higher unit charge for NSC merely pays for the missing standing charge.

- high unit cost - low or no standing charge
- low unit cost - high standing charge

I agree with everything you say, in particular that the particularly useless lapdog called ofgem on this occasion made the companies simplify their tariffs!!

On a different but related subject the advent of hit~and~miss generation of green power should have brought ToU tariffs into play in a big way. This of particular advantage to that very distinct groups of [76%] consumers called E10 E7 and preserved tariff [24% mainly Scotland town heating] users but smart metering [see NOTE02] appears to still be in the not-agreed melting pot. This group use leccy as their main heat source heating. You and I are part of this distinctly different group [2.4 million households or 9.3%] and we are subject to many disadvantages which affect our electricity usage and satisfaction with both our tariff and heating system. Two other big winners on a ToU would be underfloor & the do~lally users of those well known non-storage German storage radiators.

NOTE01 : I have ignored the 3 rate tariffs such as E18 E15 & E9.

NOTE02 : Always drastically underestimated by GOV but their own smart rollout costs impact assessment says :
- Metering equipment costs and its installation and operation amount to £6.10bn
- Communications equipment costs amount to £2.46bn
- IT systems costs amount to £1.06bn
- Industry set up, marketing, disposal, energy and pavement reading inefficiency costs amount to £1.23bn

John_Pierpoint

I have never been good at TLAs; what does ToU mean ?

Cardew

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

I have never been good at TLAs; what does ToU mean ?

IIRC;) the TLA ToU = Time of Use. TIA.

markja_2

I can't say I have read every posting here. Maybe 40%ish. Hope this has not been asked answered previously. Much of the discussion centres on switching from one tariff to another.

I haven't cruched the numbers and maybe install costs and standing chares would scupper my idea...

But why can't I have both a standard meter (current) and add a second E7 meter. Yes, Two accounts/suppliers... I would then wire a ring to my maximuum consumers (Tumble dryer ; Washing machine ; Dishwasher). These would be able to be switched between the two supplies as required. Either manually or maybe a timer.

Best of both worlds? Comments?

Elec ~ 7300kWH / yr
Gas ~ 30000kWH / yr
in London

Tks,
Mark J

lstar337

I'm guessing they wouldn't allow that.

You could band up with a neighbour I guess?

Feed a couple of extension leads across and take advantage of flat rate units from one property, and off-peak units from the other.

I'm guessing the supplier would wonder why you have consumed 0kWh on your peak units on the E7 supply though.

Miss_Mollie

Wonder if someone can help me?

We are on E7 with EDF, live in East Midlands and all EDF can tell me is my off peak hours can be anywhere between 2200hrs and 0800hrs, though usually 1200 till 0700, dependent on National Grid - not particularly helpful when you put appliances on timers...

A small tolerance I can work with but 3 hours?

Is there somewhere I can find out anything more specific re the off peak hours?

lstar337

• Eastern = 23:00 - 07:00am
• East Midlands = 23:00 - 07:00am
• London Electric = 23:00 - 07:00am
• Manweb = 00:00 - 08:00am
• MEB (mechanical meter) = Summer time - 01:00 - 08:00am Winter time - 00:00 - 07:00am (Radio teleswitch meter) = Summer time - 01:30 - 08:30am Winter time - 22:30 - 00:30am and - 02:30 - 07:30am
• Northern = 00:30 - 07:30am
• Norweb = 00:30 - 07:30am
• Scottish Hydro = ( All meters have different settings)
• ScottishPower = 22:00 - 08:30am
• Seeboard = 22:30 - 00:30 and 02:30 - 07:30am
• Southern = 23:30 - 06:30am
• SWALEC = (All meters have different settings)
• SWEB = (All meters have different settings)
• Yorkshire = 00:30 - 07:30am

http://scottishpower.metafaq.com/help/sp-service-standards/off_peak

You may have an hour in the middle where it is peak again, and look out for mechanical timers which are often out of sync with time.

espresso

Miss_Mollie wrote: »

Wonder if someone can help me?

We are on E7 with EDF, live in East Midlands and all EDF can tell me is my off peak hours can be anywhere between 2200hrs and 0800hrs, though usually 1200 till 0700, dependent on National Grid - not particularly helpful when you put appliances on timers...

A small tolerance I can work with but 3 hours?

Is there somewhere I can find out anything more specific re the off peak hours?

Regardless of anything that you are told, you really need to check for yourself when it actually switches over because the suppliers are simply not bothered about the accuracy as long as you get your 7 hours of cheap rate and 17 hours of expensive rate electricity.

If you don't understand how yours is switched e.g. timeswitch or teleswitch post a picture.

johnybjb

I really didn't think you could request a meter change, I thought it was the same as water. After 12+ years in this house of paying the economy 7 rates with little to no overnight usage, EDF swapped out the meter for free within two weeks of the request (and returned me to my previous locking in tariff)

So glad I get the MSE email.... Just wish I had known 12 years ago

JBerger

Hi,

We moved into a rented flat recently which is on an economy 7 tariff. Having not had this tariff or storage heaters before we finally thought we had worked them out by turning the charge up and discharge down over night and then turning up the discharge when we got home in the evenings. Although definitely not the most efficient heaters (even with the discharge turned off they seem to emit heat) in the smaller rooms this has been working well and the rooms have been warm and toasty in the evenings. We’ve also always had ample hot water in the mornings.

Since last weekend however something seems to have changed. We have not had hot water in the mornings and the heaters, although hot at about 2/3am have lost almost all their heat by the time we wake up and are stone cold by the time we get home (discharge is definitely turned down). The landlord has suggested it could be that our electricity company, ISupply, have stopped providing the full 7 hours of E7 and therefore hot water and heaters are not getting as hot as they should. I’ve contacted isupply but have so far had no response.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Or can think of any other reasons why this may be happening. We are absolutely freezing at the moment and spending a fortune on electric heaters and using the immersion switch to heat up the water on the day rate so we can shower…