Storage heaters charging during the day

lizzlekicks

Hi

So Scottish Power have been no help in the past so thought I'd ask here before contacting them again.

I have electric storage heaters (hall and living room) and panel heaters (in each bedroom) - all the original ones from when the flat was built in 1990. I thought I was on an economy 7 tariff with cheaper electricity overnight but I've noticed my storage heaters are charging during the day. I left one off overnight as it needed to be cool for someone to fix it the next day. Once they had, I turned up the input ready for it charging again that night but about an hour later it was hot (about 3pm). Does this suggest my meter is an economy 10 one? I've just went out and taken a note of the 3 readings (day, night, heat) on my meter and I'll go back later and see what one has changed.

What I want to know is if my meter is programmed for activating the circuit my storage heaters are on during the day, how do I check it's getting charged at the off-peak rate? Just by seeing what reading changes? Or does it not make a difference since there is a separate reading for heat?

Thanks

footyguy

lizzlekicks wrote: »

Hi

So Scottish Power have been no help in the past so thought I'd ask here before contacting them again.

I have electric storage heaters (hall and living room) and panel heaters (in each bedroom) - all the original ones from when the flat was built in 1990. I thought I was on an economy 7 tariff with cheaper electricity overnight but I've noticed my storage heaters are charging during the day. I left one off overnight as it needed to be cool for someone to fix it the next day. Once they had, I turned up the input ready for it charging again that night but about an hour later it was hot (about 3pm). Does this suggest my meter is an economy 10 one? I've just went out and taken a note of the 3 readings (day, night, heat) on my meter and I'll go back later and see what one has changed.

What I want to know is if my meter is programmed for activating the circuit my storage heaters are on during the day, how do I check it's getting charged at the off-peak rate? Just by seeing what reading changes? Or does it not make a difference since there is a separate reading for heat?

Thanks

What tariff are you actually on? It should say on the bill/statement

As you have a 3 rate meter, you should be on a legacy tariff, and so it would be usual for the heaters to warm up during part of the day.

lizzlekicks

Help Beat Cancer fixed price energy May 2017 Online.

footyguy

lizzlekicks wrote: »

Help Beat Cancer fixed price energy May 2017 Online.

ok, I found a previous post of yours where you say you say SP told you you "have a Comfort Plus White meter and outlined the standing, day and night rates and off-peak is 11pm-7am"
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=68894828&postcount=5

lizzlekicks

Yeah I had asked Scottish Power for the off-peak times but they couldn't tell me but said just to watch the meter at around 11pm and in the morning to see when the rates changed. I did it with a plug socket that used to be a storage heater just watching to see when my phone started charging. I assumed I only had off-peak at night so never thought to check it during the day. I'll double check it tonight - maybe leave a light plugged in so I see when it comes on and goes off.

Richie-from-the-Boro

You are losing money - change your tariff to Help Beat Cancer Fixed Price January 2018

lizzlekicks

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

You are losing money - change your tariff to Help Beat Cancer Fixed Price January 2018

Thanks! I've moved to this tariff and it is cheaper - well hopefully once they fix my account! I put a reading in at the start of February and had no bill generated at the end of the month so I gave them a call. Guy explained that there had been a problem and the system hadn't "generated document numbers" for the readings so no bill was created. He said it'd be fixed in 48 hours. The next day, my bills disappeared and I was nearly £500 in credit. Phoned them again about a week later and it turns out the meter for the communal areas is on my account! The woman said that I hadn't been paying for it but because of it, the readings weren't generating bills as they weren't matching up. Anyone ever heard of this before?! The woman in the call centre was polite and helpful but sounded like she didn't have a clue. She said it needed to be passed to the "front desk" (or something like that) as they were the only ones able to remove a meter from an account. I asked how this was possible as my account had been fine since I moved in in July up to December. Keeping an eye on what I have paid but just wish I had saved my bills (only have the first two). She said she's set herself a reminder on her system and email or phone me with any updates - not holding my breath for that so I'll phone them again next week. Just worried they'll come back saying I owe £££'s!

Richie-from-the-Boro

Scotland have near to a half million dwellings on a district or communal heating system. Do you belong to a district or communal energy supply ? I'm pleased you saved with your switch - it all helps !

lizzlekicks

I'm in a flat so the communal meter will be for the lights and sockets in the stairwell. I vaguely remember seeing something (maybe on a price comparison site) where there was two options for my address so my number was on it twice - one for my flat and one for the communal supply. Just can't believe it's taken them 3 months and me phoning several times to get told different things each time and it's still not fixed.

[Deleted User]

If you have an old style 24 hr circular timer switch the timings for on/off for the different rates can be anywhere in the 24 hrs and not at the published times.

Be_Happy

If you're on Comfortplus then your storage heaters will be charging at some point during the day for around 2 hours.

It's several years since we were last on Comfortplus, but at that time the 2 hours during the day were at the discretion of Scottish Power ie when they were experiencing low usage by customers.

If you have a meter marked 'heat' this should indicate when the heaters are charging.