Official MSE Economy 7 Guide discussion

Cardew

Terry_D wrote: »

We changed over in April and we are on Online Fixed Price Energy September 2014 tariff

That can be a Economy 7 tariff as well as a normal(24/7) tariff.

This a notional account.

http://www.energyhelpline.com/cashbackmse/fri/domesticenergy/Domestic/ShowCustomerCurrentTariffs?Id=b73dbfd0-cec0-4788-a7cd-a23d012e4c08

Seems strange that two of us on this thread have been told they cannot aggregate readings - and it has been stated several times on MSE.

Not saying you are wrong, but it would be nice to get an explanation.

Richie-from-the-Boro

HappyMJ wrote: »

It doesn't cost much to top up the heat in a storage heater with the output damper closed. You would only be saving pennies per night. The timer would cost a lot more and you will not be able to recover the costs in any reasonable length of time. I'd just set it to maximum and leave the output damper closed. Any heat not used by the end of the next night will still be in the heater and it will cost less to top up the heater the next night. If the heater has only been half topped up with heat and runs out of heat during the evening it will cost more turning the boost function on during peak hours so in my opinion it's cheaper just having the storage heater full of cheap heat and never using the boost function.

I'd just set it to maximum and leave the output damper closed

Agreed, I've had dozens of debates over the years in this group, on just that [fabric temperature] subject :

- 30 and more years
- store enough cheap stuff
- maximum radiated
- minimum convected

djm2013

Hi all,

I used to work for a very large energy company.

The Economy 7 guide is great, and it's good to see that this is getting some media attention ... It was always a pet hate of mine to come across consumers who were using the meter without it benefiting them...

A few odd bits and bobs ... The Economy 7 times vary by area not by supplier - so if you change suppliers, the times should remain the same. The times are set by the Electricity Distributor, which varies by your location, so it's them that you'd need to check with.

Also - how to leave Economy 7? - It's true that most energy suppliers charge to change the meter to a Standard meter - it depends on how old your meter is as to whether you'll be charged or not. If your due to be 'upgraded' as you've had your meter for years, they could change it for free as they'd have to come and change it anyway because of their legal obligations... If there is a charge and & you can't get around it - you can ask suppliers to change your TARIFF to a Standard rate tariff - what happens here is although the meter still clocks the two readings, the price will revert to as if there's only one - so instead of getting cheap at night and (let's face it) extortionate in the day - the readings are added together to get your usage and your charged the same price (as a regular meter.)

One other thing - the amount of problems that happen due to people entering the wrong reading for the wrong time of day is scary - this could be consumers, or even meter readers. I'd urge to check your meter and make sure that your being billed correctly - take a reading, boil the kettle, and take a reading again to see which reading has changed - that's your day (if you do this in the 'day' time) ... If the readings are 'twisted' then this could mean that your underpaying - and eventually it WILL be corrected and you'll get a massive bill!

Hope this helps!

Helencrumblequeen

I like the challenge of enconomy 7. Our changeover time is 8am (east Midlands) which means I can get loads of early morning heat consuming jobs done early, eg kettles, oven cooking. Heat one room with electic fire until 8am, and dont turn the central heating on am. I am very strict about not using the dishwasher or washing machine in the daytime. I take ice blocks out of the freezer and put them in the fridge in the daytime but I think this might be a bit excessive. Also you need to keep checking the metres - I record them on a app.

Lisbet

The cheapest way to save money with Economy 7 is to switch to Economy 10. The "off peak" hours are 0001- 0500, 1300 -1600, 2000 -2200. This means even if you are at work all day you come home to a warm house. You can do your washing/tumble drying in the evening, and if you had a bath in the morning the hot water tank has reheated in the afternoon! We have six storage heaters. The peak rate is about 20p p KWH and off peak about 6ppKWH. We have saved over 2000 units of peak power by switching to the more advantageous and useful time bands of E10, therefore saving a lot of money. We did the sums, it's a no brainer. Not all electric companies offer E10 though. We are with EDF.

a_house_is_still_a_dream

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 )

seggy_2

railwayman50 wrote: »

If you have solar panels fitted with a FIT tariff arrangement Econoomy 7 can be beneficial. You save on electricity at night when you do not produce any electricity and any day time increase in cost only applies to that electricity you still draw from the grid during the day as any electricity you generate and use is not affected by the increase in cost

Hi I have had solar panels installed this year. I have Economy 7and storage heaters and all electric. I am still working out how to best run everything to be very economical. I run appliances in the afternoon on a sunny day and at night on dull days and in the winter I'm unsure of my savings as I haven't done a year yet Any advice gratefully received.

John747

Lisbet wrote: »

The cheapest way to save money with Economy 7 is to switch to Economy 10. The "off peak" hours are 0001- 0500, 1300 -1600, 2000 -2200. This means even if you are at work all day you come home to a warm house. You can do your washing/tumble drying in the evening, and if you had a bath in the morning the hot water tank has reheated in the afternoon! We have six storage heaters. The peak rate is about 20p p KWH and off peak about 6ppKWH. We have saved over 2000 units of peak power by switching to the more advantageous and useful time bands of E10, therefore saving a lot of money. We did the sums, it's a no brainer. Not all electric companies offer E10 though. We are with EDF.

Thanks Lisbet. This is very useful to know. I will contact EDF later today!

Terry_D

Cardew wrote: »

That can be a Economy 7 tariff as well as a normal(24/7) tariff.

This a notional account.

http://www.energyhelpline.com/cashbackmse/fri/domesticenergy/Domestic/ShowCustomerCurrentTariffs?Id=b73dbfd0-cec0-4788-a7cd-a23d012e4c08

Seems strange that two of us on this thread have been told they cannot aggregate readings - and it has been stated several times on MSE.

Not saying you are wrong, but it would be nice to get an explanation.

Right guys, I'm about to start on a big slice of humble pie here!

I downloaded and checked my latest bill last night and it is on the Economy 7 tarriff. I'm not only embarrassed by my insistence I was correct but I'm also livid :mad: that I was not informed at the time I changed over - there was never any mention of this at the time. I was previously with E-on who switched me over to a single tarriff at the beginning of last year after explaining we were not using enough night time fuel to warrant E7 (less than 20% I think it was) No mention was made then of a change of meter and E-on just added the 2 readings together. The first time I heard about the necessity to replace the meter was when I read it on this discussion here yesterday - hence my earlier posts.

So the big question is - if one supplier can live with an E7 meter on a non-E7 tarriff, why can't they all? I shall be asking that very question on Saturday when I have a call-back from SP arranged.

At least it makes sense now why my bills have gone up and not down since I changed over - I assumed it was because it was a fixed tarriff and possible increases in prices had been built in. It seems I have been making too many assumptions regarding this and will be more careful in the future. I think I might need to have a word with the MSE change-over team as well for not warning me.

Apologies for my earlier incorrect posts. Now where's that pie......

espresso

Terry_D wrote: »

Right guys, I'm about to start on a big slice of humble pie here!

I downloaded and checked my latest bill last night and it is on the Economy 7 tarriff. I'm not only embarrassed by my insistence I was correct but I'm also livid :mad: that I was not informed at the time I changed over - there was never any mention of this at the time. I was previously with E-on who switched me over to a single tarriff at the beginning of last year after explaining we were not using enough night time fuel to warrant E7 (less than 20% I think it was) No mention was made then of a change of meter and E-on just added the 2 readings together. The first time I heard about the necessity to replace the meter was when I read it on this discussion here yesterday - hence my earlier posts.

So the big question is - if one supplier can live with an E7 meter on a non-E7 tarriff, why can't they all? I shall be asking that very question on Saturday when I have a call-back from SP arranged.

At least it makes sense now why my bills have gone up and not down since I changed over - I assumed it was because it was a fixed tarriff and possible increases in prices had been built in. It seems I have been making too many assumptions regarding this and will be more careful in the future. I think I might need to have a word with the MSE change-over team as well for not warning me.

Apologies for my earlier incorrect posts. Now where's that pie......

Similarly why to some suppliers charge approx £50 e.g. SP, to change your meter to one suitable for the tariff that is best suited to your needs, when others do this for free?