Economy 7 Problems

tjw77

My economy 7 has not been working properly for some time - both storage heaters and the hot water system stopped working for a while, then suddenly came back intermittently. One day I will get up and will have no heat/hot water, then the next day it will be working

I contacted my supplier and they changed the meter, which did not resolve the problem. They then said that it was my issue to sort. I hired an electrician who has changed the contactor, and I am still having the same issues.

I am now at a loss as to what to do next - everyone that has come out I feel has not really known for sure what the problem is - my supplier said its not them, and the electricians have said that I need to go back to my supplier! In looking on the internet, it also seems confusing as to whose responsibility it is to maintain contactors, as I have seen it sometimes say it is the consumer, but other times the supplier. Even if it is my responsibility, I just don't know now what to do, given that I have had the contactor changed, but to no avail. I haven't a clue about electrics, and haven't really had much in the way of explanation from the people that are meant to know!

Please can anyone help - I am really getting to the end of my tether with this, and whilst the heating situation is becoming less of a problem now, as it is getting warmer (on the whole!), I still don't want to be using the booster to heat my hot water over the summer, which is what I currently have to do. And I want to get this issue sorted before the weather starts to change again

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Cardew

Is your house wired so that all electricity, (i.e sockets, lights etc) as well heaters & immersion are using off-peak electricity during the 7 hours? If so are the lights and sockets working in the 7 hours?


Or do you have the older system where the house is wired such that only heaters and immersion get off-peak electricity?

tjw77

I'm not sure to be honest - I live in a flat that was built around 12 years ago. I had always assumed that all electricity used the off peak electricity during the 7 hours. Other electrical items do work during the off peak time

footyguy

If you are on E7, then all your electricity will be charged at the low rate for 7 hours per day.

The fact your lights work during the low rate period indicates there is nothing wrong with your meter. Anything after the meter is your responsibility, I'm afraid (assuming you own the property)

What is the 'contactor' the electrican has replaced? Do you mean one of the switches on the consumer board?

Anyway, I suggest you get him back to have another attempt at identying & resolving the problem.

You mention 'everyone'? Who else have you had out to investigate this issue other than your supplier (to change the meter) and an electrician (who changed the 'contactor')

Cardew

tjw77 wrote: »

I'm not sure to be honest - I live in a flat that was built around 12 years ago. I had always assumed that all electricity used the off peak electricity during the 7 hours. Other electrical items do work during the off peak time

I described the two Economy 7 systems in my post above. The majority of properties with E7 have all their electricity at off-peak rates for the 7 hours.


However some systems(depending on property wiring) only have storage heating and immersion heater on off-peak for 7 hours and all other electricity(light/sockets) is registered on the peak rate meter 24/7.


In either case the lights will work 24/7, but you need to check on which meter they are registered during off-peak hours.

footyguy

Cardew wrote: »

However some systems(depending on property wiring) only have storage heating and immersion heater on off-peak for 7 hours and all other electricity(light/sockets) is registered on the peak rate meter 24/7...

That is not Economy 7

What is Economy 7 and how does it work?

Economy 7 works through a ‘two rate’ meter which gives you lower cost electricity for a 7 hour period during the night. This means that any electricity you may use during the 7 hour night period typically costs one third of any electricity you may use during the day. To benefit, you will need to have an Economy 7 meter fitted....

Source: https://www.npower.com/home/help-and-support/types-of-meter/economy7/

Ectophile

footyguy wrote: »

What is the 'contactor' the electrican has replaced? Do you mean one of the switches on the consumer board?

A contactor is a high-current relay. The electricity meter sends a signal to the contactor when E7 is on. That allows the heating and hot water to turn on automatically at the correct time.

tjw77

Thanks for the replies. I am just confused because I would have thought that without the contactor functioning correctly, I would still get heat/hot water but it would be charged at the higher (non economy 7 rate). But I am not getting any heat at all from both storage heaters (therefore it is not that the individual appliance is faulty) neither is the water heating up. And now, having replaced the contactor and the same is still happening, I am not sure whether I need to go back to the supplier, or get the electrician back/find another one

matelodave

Have you any other timers for the heating or hot water.

Generally you should have a second fuse panel which feeds the the heating and hot water and the contactor will feed it - you should hear the contactor switching as they usually make a clunk when they switch. Make sure that the fuses/circuit breakers in the fuse pane are switched on and that any isolators or RCDs are switched on

tjw77

I'm not aware of any other timers. I do have a separate fuseboard for the heating/hot water, and have just had the contactor changed. Everything is switched on, on the fuseboard

Ectophile

It would probably be very easy for a qualified electrician to fault-find ... but only if you know an electrician who does night shifts!

Just randomly swapping parts in the hope that it will fix things may get there in the end, but a good poke around with a voltmeter should reveal where the fault is.