Economy 10 Tariff Availability

BorderCollie_2

Our 3 bedroomed bungalow has air pump source electric central heating- the type that has a fan-powered intractor on our outside wall, that extracts heat from the air and feeds it to the hot water supply. (We have no gas supply where we live)
This heating system is classed as eco-friendly as for every 1kw of electricity used by our central heating system, we get another 2.5kw 'free' from the air source pump.
However, the system is designed to run on Economy 10 Tariff- Economy 7 is useless.
We presently do have Economy 10 Tariff from EDF Energy, but recently they stopped their special Tariff, and put us on what they call- "Economy 10 Standard Variable".
This is costing us £15 extra per month.
I can only find 1 other major electricity supplier out of the "Big 6" that says they can supply Economy 10 for our PostCode- "Scottish Hydro", but they are even more expensive than EDF Energy.
Is anyone aware of a smaller energy electricity supplier, that has an Economy 10 Tariff available for our PostCode- DG1 (Dumfries, Scotland) ?
I am told several has, but do not advertise them unless asked specifically.
Any information would be great, Thanks.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

............

BorderCollie_2

Unfortunately this type of heating system is designed only for Economy 10 meters- I think because the system runs best during daylight hours, when the outside air is 'hotter' than through the night, so it can store a large amount of 'free' heated water, in order to run the heating cheaper after dark.
Economy 10 has strange 'off-peak' hours- ours from EDF Energy is-
6.30am > 9.30am
1pm > 4pm
8.30pm > 0.30am
Our Housing Association has installed nearly 1,000 of these air pump systems, in our local area alone in just the last 2 years, plus across the UK, 100 systems per week are being installed, so it's a big market- A big incentive is the 50% Grant that the UK Government is paying to subsidise what they describe as an "eco-friendly, energy efficient system"
I have some friends that remained on Economy 7 Tariffs, for periods up to 6 months after their air-pump systems were installed, (They previously had night storage radiators) and their electricity useage costs rocketed by 50% a month! After changing to Economy 10, their useage costs actually reduced by 15% a month, compared to what they paid when they had the storage radiators.
I'm actually surprised that only 2 of the major suppliers actually offer an Economy 10 Tariff, as installation of air pump and earth sourced electric heating systems are forecast to rocket by 500% in the next 3 years.
A missed opportunity maybe?
Still looking for a small electricity supplier for Economy 10........

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

BorderCollie wrote: »

Unfortunately this type of heating system is designed only for Economy 10 meters- I think because the system runs best during daylight hours, when the outside air is 'hotter' than through the night, so it can store a large amount of 'free' heated water, in order to run the heating cheaper after dark.
Economy 10 has strange 'off-peak' hours- ours from EDF Energy is-
6.30am > 9.30am
1pm > 4pm
8.30pm > 0.30am
Our Housing Association has installed nearly 1,000 of these air pump systems, in our local area alone in just the last 2 years, plus across the UK, 100 systems per week are being installed, so it's a big market- A big incentive is the 50% Grant that the UK Government is paying to subsidise what they describe as an "eco-friendly, energy efficient system"
I have some friends that remained on Economy 7 Tariffs, for periods up to 6 months after their air-pump systems were installed, (They previously had night storage radiators) and their electricity useage costs rocketed by 50% a month! After changing to Economy 10, their useage costs actually reduced by 15% a month, compared to what they paid when they had the storage radiators.
I'm actually surprised that only 2 of the major suppliers actually offer an Economy 10 Tariff, as installation of air pump and earth sourced electric heating systems are forecast to rocket by 500% in the next 3 years.
A missed opportunity maybe?
Still looking for a small electricity supplier for Economy 10........

In the current market climate, E10 simply won't happen with a smaller supplier.

I assume you can't be connected to gas mains?

BorderCollie_2

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

In the current market climate, E10 simply won't happen with a smaller supplier.

I assume you can't be connected to gas mains?

No- we live in s small rural village that only has electricty supply, so we're stuck!

Richie-from-the-Boro

BorderCollie wrote: »

Still looking for a small electricity supplier for Economy 10........

- as Bluebirdman has stated
- there are very few, the tariff price between them is non-competitive
- put simply E10 is the luxury [+3 hours] and therefore expensive end of E7
- off-gas ASHP are magical when done correctly [NIBE Energy Systems]
- most benefit however comes from correct insulation, sized installation and education of the householder

Best of luck in your search for a~n~other supplier

matelodave

Why don't you do a few sums to work out if a standard tariff would be better for you.

We've got an air-source heat-pump and wouldn't gain any benefit from either E7 or E10 as it's running most of the day and turns down overnight so it uses less overnight.

Add up all your kwh (both full rate & cheap rate) and put it into a comparison site to see if you can reduce your costs. We pay 11.05p a kwh and 21.02p a day for our fixed rate tariff and use less than 8500kwh of electricity a year.

BorderCollie_2

matelodave wrote: »

Why don't you do a few sums to work out if a standard tariff would be better for you.

We've got an air-source heat-pump and wouldn't gain any benefit from either E7 or E10 as it's running most of the day and turns down overnight so it uses less overnight.

Add up all your kwh (both full rate & cheap rate) and put it into a comparison site to see if you can reduce your costs. We pay 11.05p a kwh and 21.02p a day for our fixed rate tariff and use less than 8500kwh of electricity a year.

Tried that, thanks- standard tariff for our annual consumption would work out at an extra £11+ per month (EDF Energy rates)- mainly because E10 provides electricity for the entire house, not just the heating, at the reduced cost of just 6.7p per kw hour.

lstar337

BorderCollie wrote: »

Tried that, thanks- standard tariff for our annual consumption would work out at an extra £11+ per month (EDF Energy rates)- mainly because E10 provides electricity for the entire house, not just the heating, at the reduced cost of just 6.7p per kw hour.

Only for 10hours, the rest is at an inflated rate to compensate.

That is why you could be better off on a competitive flat rate tariff.

Never seen a single person claim that ASHP are specifically designed for E10 tariffs, mostly they are used on flat rate.

matelodave

BorderCollie wrote: »

Tried that, thanks- standard tariff for our annual consumption would work out at an extra £11+ per month (EDF Energy rates)- mainly because E10 provides electricity for the entire house, not just the heating, at the reduced cost of just 6.7p per kw hour.

That's OK but how much do the units that you use for the other 14 hours cost you. I'm assuming that you are disciplined enough to run the washing machine, drier and dishwasher during the 10 cheap rate hours.

BorderCollie_2

The rate for the 'other 14 hours' is at 13.8p kw hour.
British Gas, who installed the system provides an information booklet prior to installation, advising that E10 is the cheapest option.
Our next door neighbour, (identical 3 bedroomed bungalow and occupants) who has off-peak economy 7 heating, and who is on Eon standard tariff, pays £30 month more than we do.