Revealed! Is Economy 7 right for you? New MSE guide

LesU

I'm with Scottish Power in the East of England. I don't have an electric shower or hot water heating, I use Gas CH. I heat a greenhouse overwinter with an electric heater and try to put washing machine on early in the day. I achieve between 35 and 39% mix between E7 and high rate, even in the summer.
I calculate I'm saving about £40-50 per year compared to non-E7 rate. My consumption would have to fall to 20% mix for E7 to be more expensive, but even then not by a significant amount.

surfsister

I am all electric so stuck with economy 7 but there are ways to save extra eg shower before the day rate kicks in - cook a joint or chicken overnight in a slow-cooker - charge mobiles/cameras etc over night. put the washing./tumble dryer on from 6 in the morning to save money also.
I have a very large immersion which is only on during economy 7 hours.
In the morning pre-cook anything which can be done on the cheap rate.
A bit pedantic but try to boil a full kettle on the cheap rate.
Also look for the supplier with the cheapest day rate as some companies eg British gas charge up to 24p a unit during the day!!

2010

iammumtoone wrote: »

I am glad you said that as I read the article and started to get worried. I have EC7 but no storage heaters, I do use it I do my laundry with it and charge all gadgets on it. However I don't have an electric shower. I cook with gas.

I am not sure how to work out which tariff would be better for me?

Try to find an old bill from about a year ago and get the readings.
If you have an online account, the bills are usually there for two years.
Then get your current readings to find your annual usage.
Go to https://www.energyhelpline.com and put your readings in first with using econ7, then without,
Each time it will give you how much you spend per year.

Annual USAGE is the most important way of comparing, in fact I would say it`s the only way.
Make a spread sheet and take weekly readings of all your meters.

technomum1

Our Economy 7 meter hours change whenever there has been a power cut, the 7 hours are now between 08.00 and 15.00! Far more useful!

iammumtoone

technomum1 wrote: »

Our Economy 7 meter hours change whenever there has been a power cut, the 7 hours are now between 08.00 and 15.00! Far more useful!

very handy we do get power cuts but rarely. I did check meter the other day and still the same night hours for me unfortunately (its only about 6 minutes out)

I am wondering if those 6 minutes are due to the small power cuts we have accumulated? I am now hoping something will go wrong and we get a long power cut!

2010

Ive been in my present home for 25 years from new and we`ve had plenty of power cuts over the years but it`s not affected my econ7 hours which are controlled by radio signal.
I get 1am to 8am all seasons, the moving of the clock twice a year doesn`t affect the hours.
I was told once that the hours were set by your ORIGINAL local power supplier.

Orange_wasps

HappyMJ wrote: »

I wouldn't mention anything about looking into Economy 10. It's not worth it. Competitive tariffs are not offered...it's one supplier per region and that's it...and at a high price. It would be cheaper just switching to the 13p standard tariff and using electricity at any time...and if it is better it's more suitable for houses with ground source heat pumps heating underfloor heating at a low background heat rather than storage heating.

I have an "all electric" house, have panel radiators (not storage), good cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, and a well lagged hot water cylinder. I have used Economy 10 for the last 3 years; the cheap periods are from midnight to 5am, 1pm to 4pm and 8pm to 10pm. I have never felt cold in winter, cook, heat the water (with time clocks),wash, and dish-wash during the cheap periods as all my appliances have a "delay start" facility. Even for the coldest period of the year, my quarterly bill has never exceeded £550, and when the heating isn't on it's often less than £150. And I have my computer going most of the time! I think that's a good deal!

HappyMJ

Orange_wasps wrote: »

I have an "all electric" house, have panel radiators (not storage), good cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, and a well lagged hot water cylinder. I have used Economy 10 for the last 3 years; the cheap periods are from midnight to 5am, 1pm to 4pm and 8pm to 10pm. I have never felt cold in winter, cook, heat the water (with time clocks),wash, and dish-wash during the cheap periods as all my appliances have a "delay start" facility. Even for the coldest period of the year, my quarterly bill has never exceeded £550, and when the heating isn't on it's often less than £150. And I have my computer going most of the time! I think that's a good deal!

What are your unit rates, usage and region? I'll bet that a standard online managed tariff paid by direct debit woud be cheaper. I have never seen a usage profile where E10 would be cheaper so I'd love to see one. £1,400 is quite high.

[Deleted User]

technomum1 wrote: »

Our Economy 7 meter hours change whenever there has been a power cut, the 7 hours are now between 08.00 and 15.00! Far more useful!

Every one on Eco 7 meters should be doing a check to establish the switchover times. most of the analogue meters are way out, and even the digital ones ( non radio telemeter meters ) have started to drift

mannie

How do you check what times economy 7 works ?