HELP - Electric storage heaters / Economy 7 & 10

Jubba

Hi all,

I've seen similar topics discussedbefore, but I was hoping to put out a more specific question relating to mycircumstances for some guidance.

I've just bought a large flat in anold, Grade II listed building. The property has purely electric heating. It does not have central heating (water), gasor underfloor heating, and there is no ability to have it installed. Currently,the flat is heated by a mixture of electric storage heaters and normal electricconvector radiators.

I informed the current energysupplier - E-ON - that I now own the property, and they told me that theproperty is currently on an Economy 10 tariff. The property has three meters that would trackmy consumption - day, night, and stored heat meters. Apparently their rates per unit are asfollows: Day rate = 16.989p, night rate and stored heat rate = 8.684p. Inaddition, the daily standing charge is 26.019p. These rates are not fixed and can vary dependingon electricity costs.

The night rate runs between 12amand 7:30am. The stored heat meter apparently also uses this time to charge thestorage heaters, but they are on a different ring.

There are three storage heaters inthe flat - one in the hall, and two in the lounge / diner. Looking at theelectrics, it seems that only the storage heaters and boiler come on during theoff peak hours. The dishwasher / washing machine etc are all on the"day" ring and so would presumably use up units during the peak rate nomatter what time they are used.

E-ON tells me they would encourageme to change from Economy 10 to Economy 7 or to a standard rate as they arelooking to phase out Economy 10 due to its complexity. They say that they wouldnot charge for any changes needed to the meter. The rates they have offered me are as follows:

Economy 7:
Variable Day rate: 16.989p
Variable Night rate: 7.361p
Or
1yr Fixed day rate: 16.422p
1yr Fixed night rate: 7.109p
(standing charge the same asbefore: 26.019p)

Standard rate:
Variable rate: 13.913p
1yr fixed rate: 13.440p
(standing charge the same as before:26.019p)

The standing charge will reduce to16.422p per day if I pay via monthly direct debit (which I will do).

When I was speaking to E-ON I wasalso surprised when they told me the costs that the previous owner had beenpaying for electricity. During theprevious year, they had charged a total of £1,981, which was 15,434 units. They could not break down which of these werepeak / off peak units, but they were able to tell me the following informationfor the second half of the year:

During the period from June toNovember, the previous owner had been charged the following:

• 881 peak rate units
• 104 night rate units
• 669 stored heat units

Using advice previously obtainedfrom MSE, it does seem that the ratio of peak vs off peak is good – over 40% ofthe total electricity usage comes from the off peak units. But the number used is fairlystaggering. The usage would have costthe previous owner an average of £165 per month! It may be that the previous owner wasinefficient with their usage etc, but it still seems very high. The storage heaters also seem old which mightaccount for some of the energy wastage.

My usage of the electricity in theflat might be a lot less than the previous owner. I work during the week, so I would only be inthe flat from 6 until 7:30am and then out of the house until 8pm in the evening,Monday to Friday. In the evening, therewould be the usual electricity usage (TV, cooking, washing machine etc) which Iunderstand would all be charged at the peak rate. There would be no one else benefitting fromthe storage heaters throughout the day, but of course I will be in over theweekend.

So, my question is…

Is it worth me continuing with thestorage heaters and economy 7 / 10 package or should I just bin it and go forthe reduced standard rate (but fix it at a lower cost per unit)? I am concerned that I would be charging upthe storage heaters and hot water all night just to have them wasting their heatthroughout the day when I’m not there. Would it be better just to have standard convector radiators throughoutthe property which could just come on 30 mins before I wake up and then 30 minsbefore I get home from work? Also, sincethe washing machine etc is not on the off peak rate, then these would not beadding to the night-time usage.

I am tempted to get rid of thestorage heaters for the flexibility afforded to the standard electricradiators, but I am worried about making such a large step given that thestandard rate does not seem that much less than the peak rate on Economy 7.

Any help that can be provided wouldbe greatly appreciated. My apologies forsuch a long post, but I thought it might be useful to provide as muchinformation as possible.

Many thanks! :T

Ectophile

A few thoughts, in no particular order:

You should find that everything you use at night is on the night rate. The way to tell would be to turn on an energy-hungry appliance (such as a kettle) and see which meter starts spinning around or flashing (as applicable). That's why you have a day/night meter.

With economy 10, you should be getting 10 hours a day of cheap electricity. That means a "boost" of cheap electricity some time during the day - probably mid-afternoon before the evening peak. With E7, it's night-only.

Don't switch to E7 and then rip out the storage heaters. That way you'd pay more than normal for almost all the electricity you use.

While nobody likes storage heaters, running ordinary electric heaters on standard-rate electricity is one of the most expensive ways to heat a home. See http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison/ and look particularly at the "pence per kWh" column. People in well-insulated eco-homes may not have a problem with that, but it could be frighteningly expensive if your home is old and draughty.

Jubba

Thank you for the quick response!

I suppose my options are:
1) stick with Economy 10 and storage heaters
2) move to Economy 7, fix at a lower unit rate, and keep the storage heaters
3) scrap the Economy tariff & storage heaters and do a 1 year fix on the standard rate

The downside of 1 and 2 is that we are not in the flat most of the day, so I'm worried about the heaters losing heat when no one is in. But 3 might be expensive if I overuse the heaters. I can see that electric is the most expensive way of heating a home, but unfortunately I have no choice - I just have to make the best of it.

Robwiz

We had E10 and it's not offered by most providers so it's almost impossible to shop around.

It appears that Eon has offered you an E7 rate that's less than competitive. The best tariffs are around 13p day/5.6p night. I suggest you put the consumption figures you have been given into a price comparison site to find the most competitive rate.

You definitely need to check whether night usage is recorded on your peak or off-peak meter. It would be a good move to have an electrician wire everything to go through the E7 meter when installed. Then use night rate for washing, dishwasher, etc. by using the delayed start function on these appliances. (If they don't have a delayed start then consider replacing them with more modern, A energy rated models.

Some people go to the extreme of using a slow cooker overnight to save on using their cooker at peak rate.

You can control how much energy goes into night storage heaters (NSH) and the rate it is given out by using the input and output controls. You can adjust the settings according to your occupation of the flat and the weather forecast.

As NSH are 100% efficient, so changing to more modern designs would probably not be beneficial. They may be more compact and look neater, possibly be better insulated which would help store more heat for release in the evenings. That said, modern units like Dimplex Quantum allow greater flexibility, particularly in your case where the flat is empty until the evening.

In a listed building, it's worth doing all the draught proofing and insulating you can, including thick curtains over windows and secondary glazing.

I'd also suggest you take your meter readings at least weekly (I think daily is worthwhile in an all-electric home) so that you are on top of what you are using and see the effect of lifestyle changes.

Former_E.ON_Company_Representative:_Malc

Hi Jubba and welcome to the Forums. Thought I'd jump on with some information about your metering set up. There's quite a chunk so hope you don't mind if I go on a bit.

Economy 10 meters were designed mainly for all electric properties, like yours, with storage heaters and electric water immersion heaters. They give 10 hours of cheaper off peak electricity in every 24 hour period. This is split into three periods at night, in the afternoon and during the evening.

To work, the meter will be wired directly into the heating/water heating circuits. This lets them automatically switch the storage heaters on and off during the off peak times.

Traditionally, a fairly common complaint with storage heaters is a tendency to leak heat and to start to cool down too early. As a result, the industry came up with Economy 10. As well as a cheaper off peak period at night, Economy 10 meters charge up at two other times of the day in the afternoon and evening. This is meant to 'top up' the stored heat so properties stay warm throughout the day.

There are different types of Economy 10 meter. With some of the older ones, the off peak electricity during the afternoon and evening periods is just for those heating/hot water appliances wired into the dedicated circuits. All other usage at these times will be charged at the higher peak rates.

During the night period, though, all usage will be charged at the lower off peak rates regardless of whether it's for heating or anything else. This period usually lasts for 5 continuous hours.

With newer models, all usage during the 10 off peak hours will be charged at the lower prices.

From what you've said, I suspect you've an older model. This will give only 5 hours of cheaper electricity for all usage. Not at very sociable hours but, as Robwiz says, timers may be a way round this.

Economy 7 meters also work with storage heaters. Here, there are 7 continuous hours at night for all usage. There aren't any extra 'top ups' later in the day so this may be something to think about.

With Economy 10, we've only the one tariff available. There's a greater range of tariffs available for Economy 7 meters, both with us and with the other suppliers.

Another benefit with us for Economy 7 meters is you can still have a single rate tariff without the need to change the meter. All we do is add the day and night readings together and charge as a single rate.

You're right, to benefit from multi rate meters like Economy 7 and Economy 10, you need to use a good proportion of usage during the off peak hours.

When you've a minute, have a look at the Saving Energy section on our website. Some tips there to help you save money by saving energy.

Also, as a Grade II listed building, you may benefit from topping up the insulation. Depending on your circumstances, there may be help available with this through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme. This is a Government led energy saving initiative aimed at cutting usage by helping with things like loft and cavity wall insulation. Again, there's more about this on our website.

I know this doesn't directly answer your question Jubba but hope it gives you food for thought when deciding what best suits your lifestyle.

Malc

Ectophile

Jubba wrote: »

The downside of 1 and 2 is that we are not in the flat most of the day, so I'm worried about the heaters losing heat when no one is in. But 3 might be expensive if I overuse the heaters. I can see that electric is the most expensive way of heating a home, but unfortunately I have no choice - I just have to make the best of it.

They will lose heat during the day, but the night rate electricity is so much cheaper, that it will still most likely be the cheaper form of heating.

andyrpsmith

I was in a similar position to you in 2008 when I moved into a Grade II listed cottage. On E10 and using storage heaters my annual bill was £3500.

I moved to a low as possible unit rate on a standard tariff and only used oil filled radiators with timers and thermostat control, my bill dropped to £2500 and the heat was much more controllable. I just keep switching to the lowest rate (currently just under 10p inc vat per unit). I also installed a jetmaster open fire which is more efficient than just an open fire and so far I do not need the lounge heater each evening.