Economy 7 info regarding daytime! Help*

Doughboi

Evening all,

New to the forums, so hi :j . I have a question for any of you gurus regarding economy 7 tariffs and storage heaters. The problem I'm facing is - I'm looking to rent a new apartment, it's all modernised, other than the storage heaters. The landlord has said it is economy 7 and I understand how the storage heaters work etc. My only issue being...I am a shift worker and have 4 days off a week. Often I'm at home watching tv or playing video games etc. I just wanted to know whether that would be an issue on an economy 7 tariff, during the day? Do any of you use it? Would the prices be astronomical during the day? Will I only ever be able to do things at night time? I've read nothing but bad things about it, so any help or your personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!! and sorry for the newbiness!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Storage heaters charge up during the 7 hours off-peak period and release the stored heat at a rate and time controlled by yourself.


If you release sufficient heat for you to be comfortable from morning and throughout the day in winter, it is probable that you will run out of heat in the evening.


This means you will have to use another heater which will be expensive to run outside of the 7 hours off-peak period. You can buy a fan heater for about £10 and an oil filled radiator for £20 to £30.


The insulation of the property and how warm you like the rooms will be the main factor in costs.

macman

E7 is ideal for retired people who are at home in the daytime. So if you are at home 4 days a week it should be quite suitable for your needs.
The E7 cheap rate hours are not in the evening, but typically midnight to 7am

Broadwood

Welcome Doughboi.

Apart from the issue of your storage heaters which well covered by post 2, the real consideration is your electricity usage during night and day rates for all appliances.

We use an electric immersion heater time-switched for the last 3 hours of the E7 rate. We also use a couple of time-switched thermastatically-controlled heaters on E7 around the house in the winter and sometimes use the dryer on E7 when the washing can't be put out to dry.

Everything else electric including LED lighting, cooking, hoover, washer, TV etc is used as and when required 24/7. Other heating is by gas fire and also GCH during very cold snaps.

From our bills over the last 25 years, day rate has been about 35% and night rate therefore about 65% of total units used.

With energy prices rising faster than inflation, my advice would be to convert your most-used lights to LEDs and only fill the kettle with the amount of water actually needed. Maybe also set your TV screen settings to the economy mode especially if it's on for long periods during the day rate times.

Also worth checking exactly when the E7 night/day rates actually switch in your area and then make sure any timers are set to take maximum advantage. Here night rate is midnight til 0700 during winter time, and 0100 til 0800 during BST, but I've heard it varies around the UK.

Cardew

Broadwood wrote: »

Also worth checking exactly when the E7 night/day rates actually switch in your area and then make sure any timers are set to take maximum advantage. Here night rate is midnight til 0700 during winter time, and 0100 til 0800 during BST, but I've heard it varies around the UK.

This gives the hours:



However it is worth pointing out the there are many properties where the changing time is controlled by a clock and these clocks can be fast/slow by many hours - so you need to check.


Mine is 20 minutes slow so my off-peak time starts 20 minutes late and ends 20 minutes late. at present 12:50am to 07:50am

A._Badger

Cardew wrote: »

This gives the hours:



However it is worth pointing out the there are many properties where the changing time is controlled by a clock and these clocks can be fast/slow by many hours - so you need to check.


Mine is 20 minutes slow so my off-peak time starts 20 minutes late and ends 20 minutes late. at present 12:50am to 07:50am

Could you please quote the source of that chart, Cardew? I live in the South East and have been told mine runs from (currently) 12.30-7.30. All my heavy duty usage (washing machine, tumble drier etc) is used accordingly, so if that odd split rate your chart shows is accurate, my bills will have been considerably higher than they should have been.

Owain_Moneysaver

Doughboi wrote: »

Often I'm at home watching tv or playing video games etc. I just wanted to know whether that would be an issue on an economy 7 tariff, during the day? Do any of you use it? Would the prices be astronomical during the day?

E7 daytime prices are higher than standard tariff, but watching TV etc uses negligible electricity compared to heating and hot water.

Cardew

A._Badger wrote: »

Could you please quote the source of that chart, Cardew? I live in the South East and have been told mine runs from (currently) 12.30-7.30. All my heavy duty usage (washing machine, tumble drier etc) is used accordingly, so if that odd split rate your chart shows is accurate, my bills will have been considerably higher than they should have been.

From NPower


https://customerservices.npower.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/179/~/what-are-the-economy-7-peak-and-off-peak-periods%3F



This link phrases it differently
http://www.businessjuice.co.uk/energy-guides/economy-7-times/


Economy 7 Times: By Region

• North of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• South of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• North East England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Yorkshire – 00.30 to 07.30
• North West England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Merseyside & North Wales – 7 hours between 00.00 and 08.00
• East Midlands – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• West Midlands – 7 hours between 23.30 and 08.00
• Eastern England – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South Wales – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• Southern England – 23.30 to 06.30
• London – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South East England – Either between 22.30 and 05.30 or 00.30 and 07.30
• South Western England – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30

A._Badger

Ah... an nPower inexactitude. Why aren't I surprised?

Cardew

A._Badger wrote: »

Ah... an nPower inexactitude. Why aren't I surprised?

I wonder how many people start using heavy power(immersion/storage heaters/appliances) at 10:30 only to find off-peak starts 2 hours later!

Broadwood

Cardew wrote: »

Economy 7 Times: By Region

• North of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• South of Scotland – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• North East England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Yorkshire – 00.30 to 07.30
• North West England – 00.30 to 07.30
• Merseyside & North Wales – 7 hours between 00.00 and 08.00
• East Midlands – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• West Midlands – 7 hours between 23.30 and 08.00
• Eastern England – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South Wales – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30
• Southern England – 23.30 to 06.30
• London – 7 hours between 23.00 and 07.00
• South East England – Either between 22.30 and 05.30 or 00.30 and 07.30
• South Western England – 7 hours between 22.00 and 08.30

My meter must be programmed independently then because I can actually hear it click between tariffs. It is one of the early electronic large digital ones installed in the late 1990s when the old spinniing disc meter packed up.

It is a Siemens meter and says "Radio Controlled" on its face. It has only 1 single push-button to scroll through the readings on the LCD display.

Mine switches to day-rate at 0700 GMT exactly and that isn't the time given above for my region. So I would suggest it's safer to assume that each consumer should check their own individual switching times to take maximum advantage of the E7 tariff.

Definitely - Consumer Beware !