Economy 10 Confusion

rozza1981

We've just moved into a new house which has an Economy 10 electricity supply and no gas. We've just received our first quarterly bill which is almost twice as expensive as what we paid in our previous house :eek:. We think this may be something to do with the boiler as all our other consumption is exactly the same as before and we haven't even used the heating as it's been the summer. Does anyone know anything about this and how we can change the time that the boiler works if this is indeed the source of all the extra energy we are using?

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

I assume by 'boiler' you mean the Immersion heater in the Hot water tank?

I also do not know what you mean by 'extra energy'. It doesn't matter if you are on an E10, E7 or 'normal' tariff, you will use exactly the same amount of energy. The only difference is you will pay more if you are using any appliance at 'normal' rates when it could be used at the E10 rates.

That not only applies to the Immersion heater, but washing machines, dishwashers etc that could be put on a timer.

The immersion heater should be wired, or on a timer, so it only operates during the E10 hours. This normally is a 7 hour period at night between the hours of 11:30pm and 8:30am + a 3 hour 'top up' period in the afternoon.

You need firstly to determine exactly what those hours are and check that your Immersion heater only comes on in those periods.

peat

Cardew, not quite correct, quote from Scottish hydro:

Economy 10 has been developed to be used in conjunction with electrically heated wet radiator systems.

The low rate is available between 4.30am to 7.30am, 1.00pm to 4.00pm and 8.30pm to 12.30pm GMT. The normal rate applies at all other times.

Electricity used at the normal rate is slightly higher in price than the normal domestic rate, but everything you use during the low periods costs less than half the normal price. Therefore the more electricity you use during the low periods, the more you will save.

With Economy 10, you have just one meter which gives two separate readings. One measures the electricity used for the normal rate and the other measures electricity used for the low rate.

Cardew

peat wrote: »

Cardew, not quite correct, quote from Scottish hydro:

Economy 10 has been developed to be used in conjunction with electrically heated wet radiator systems.

The low rate is available between 4.30am to 7.30am, 1.00pm to 4.00pm and 8.30pm to 12.30pm GMT. The normal rate applies at all other times.

Electricity used at the normal rate is slightly higher in price than the normal domestic rate, but everything you use during the low periods costs less than half the normal price. Therefore the more electricity you use during the low periods, the more you will save.

With Economy 10, you have just one meter which gives two separate readings. One measures the electricity used for the normal rate and the other measures electricity used for the low rate.

Peat,
Agreed not quite correct on my part; the ones I had seen had a 7/3 hour split.

However, likewise you may not be 'quite correct' as you have made the assumption that all E10 tariffs have the same model as the Scots Hydro tariff.

I thought most people on E10 were with Powergen.

The UK Power comparison calculator does not have the facility to compare Economy 10 tariffs. If you wish to enquire about switching to an Economy 10 tariff or if you are a current Economy 10 customer then please read on.
Economy 10 Tariffs (sometimes referred to as “warmwise) consist of 10 hours off off-peak electricity, which suppliers charge at a discounted rate.
Like Economy 7, this tariff best suits households with storage heaters. If you are on Economy 7 and you are running out of hot water or if your storage heaters are cooling off by the evening then Economy 10 could be a good tariff for you.
To be on an Economy 10 tariff you must have an Economy 10 meter. These differ from standard meters as they have additional capability, which enables them to measure the consumption of electricity between the set Economy 10 hours specified by the supplier.
Almost any home can have an Economy 10 meter fitted if desired. Be aware that there may be a charge for installing the meter. To enquire about this please contact your local electricity distribution company.
The structure of the 10 off peak hours is as follows;

• 3 hours in the afternoon
• 2 hours in the evening
• 5 hours over night

The time of the designated hours can vary from supplier to supplier and in different regions, so it’s best to ask the supplier directly for precise times.
Not all suppliers offer tariffs that support Economy 10. Suppliers that do not offer Economy 10 could migrate you onto their Economy 7 tariff but this may or may not be advantageous. You would need to consider the unit rates offered against your consumption over the specified hours.

Some E10 tariffs have 3 meters and 3 charge rates(several threads on this) - day, night and day discounted.

Lets call it a draw!!!!

P.S.
One thing is certain. The title of this thread "E10 confusion" is appropriate!

rozza1981

Thanks to everyone for their help. I will have a look at the timer on the immersion heater

Terrylw1

Cardew,

E10 meters were originally in the old Powergen region prior to changes to nationise the electricity business but remember that meters are individual to Meter Operators, not suppliers. E10 meters can be found in all sorts of regions now, I've seen them in the Yorkshire & Northern regions. The old Powergen region Meter Operator is part of a larger group of companies now so the meters can be in all their regions.

Also due to changes under REMA meter can be bought & sold by these companies anywhere thesedays.

No one should be charging for meters to be fitted to, Suppliers are not charged any more than for a standard visit and it's all in their group contracts. E10 meters are a pain for Suppliers though if you ask for them to be fitted as a new MPAN has to be requested which takes a while (although it's a very simple process) as well as the MPAN being registered to your current Supplier. Some Suppliers billing systems don't even support billing customers on them and some even refuse to accept a customer unless they have it removed (this is against your rights though, but they try it!)

Regards