Storage heating best tariffs in London

skyjack

Hello everyone,

My wife and I just moved to a 2 bedroom flat and I found with disappointment that all heaters are storage heaters.

I try to phone up my old provider to move the account, but they told me that unfortunately they can't do anything about this because I have two separate meters (related meters) and I am struggling to find a good tariff. According to my 5 years history (I know I am a bit over keen in keeping data and stats) I have a consumption of between 5000 and 5300 kwh per annum, with a 18% night use and spend roughly £50 per month.

Would you suggest me any good tariffs available in London for storage heating?

Thanks a lot

Giacomo

CashStrapped

Do not be disappointed about the storage heaters. Storage heaters can, by far, be the cheapest all electric method of heating a property (especially a small flat). You just have to learn how to use them and have a clear understanding of your e7 tariff and the cheap hours in your area.

18% night use is very poor however. How are you arriving at that figure? You have annual consumption figures but say you have only just moved in to the flat.

Your sums may be distorted by the fact that we are coming into summer months and you are not using the heating (a major component of energy costs).

The minimum recommended to ensure you get the most of storage heaters is normally around 40% to 50%. This is, normally, easily achievable when you include winter months.

Other than that you need to use a comparison site - use your post code and select your current provider/tariff and night use percentage. energyhelpline.com is one I use quite often. Just ensure you select to show all available tariffs.

That is the only/best way of comparing the tariffs suitable to your use.

However to lower your energy costs you really need to look at how your usage patter and why you have such a low night use percentage.

Are you using the storage heaters correctly?
Are you using the hot water tank during e7 hours only?

You should not use the immersion/boost turning the daytime on the hot water tank.

Are the storage heaters combination heaters which have an expensive daytime heating mode. Many people do not realise they are using this. It is the worse way to use combination storage heaters.

So if I was you I'd to a comparison and then look at your usage pattern.

jk0

Are you sure you don't mean 18% day use, Skyjack? (Mine is about 85% night use. 18% would be better on a fixed tariff.)

I just took a two year fix with Scottish power on this tariff: Help Beat Cancer Fixed Price Energy June 2018 Online. Day rate is 11.725p & night rate is 4.777p plus vat.

coffeehound

Presumably the OP's previous usage doesn't involve storage heating(?) We would need to have a stab at guesstimating usage of the new flat's heaters to use a comparison site.

jk0

coffeehound wrote: »

Presumably the OP's previous usage doesn't involve storage heating(?) We would need to have a stab at guesstimating usage of the new flat's heaters to use a comparison site.

Good point. O/P, did you get an EPC?

lstar337

With two meters (two MPAN's) switching will be limited, as will available tariff's.

footyguy

skyjack wrote: »

Hello everyone,

My wife and I just moved to a 2 bedroom flat and I found with disappointment that all heaters are storage heaters.

I try to phone up my old provider to move the account, but they told me that unfortunately they can't do anything about this because I have two separate meters (related meters) and I am struggling to find a good tariff. According to my 5 years history (I know I am a bit over keen in keeping data and stats) I have a consumption of between 5000 and 5300 kwh per annum, with a 18% night use and spend roughly £50 per month.

Would you suggest me any good tariffs available in London for storage heating?

Thanks a lot

Giacomo

I can confirm you are already on the best tariff for your situation.

I can also confirm you are on the worst tariff for your situation.

I'm sure you can work out what that means

skyjack

thanks a lot for your replies,

my 18% night time was worked out across 5 years in another flat (exactly the same as mine now but upstairs in a block where I live) that had normal electric heaters. I keep track every month of my usage both monetary both consumption and historically I have reached 20% night usage only once in 5 years.

I just moved into my flat so I am not sure how the boiler is set up, I will have to check.

Anyway, why do I have 2 separate meters instead of the dual tariff (day and night) as I had in my old flat? can this be changed?

Thanks!

footyguy

skyjack wrote: »

...

Anyway, why do I have 2 separate meters instead of the dual tariff (day and night) as I had in my old flat? can this be changed?

Thanks!

Yes, assuming you have bought this property. Start with employing your own expert electrical surveyor who will be able to advise you further.
(Would have been better to have done that before you bought it)

skyjack

footyguy wrote: »

Yes, assuming you have bought this property. Start with employing your own expert electrical surveyor who will be able to advise you further.
(Would have been better to have done that before you bought it)

I wish mate! I am renting the property. So I assume from your reply I need to check with my Landlord, correct?

Bark01

skyjack wrote: »

thanks a lot for your replies,

my 18% night time was worked out across 5 years in another flat (exactly the same as mine now but upstairs in a block where I live) that had normal electric heaters. I keep track every month of my usage both monetary both consumption and historically I have reached 20% night usage only once in 5 years.

I just moved into my flat so I am not sure how the boiler is set up, I will have to check.

Anyway, why do I have 2 separate meters instead of the dual tariff (day and night) as I had in my old flat? can this be changed?

Thanks!

1) Your historical consumption bears little relevance once you move into a new flat.
2) You used to have an economy 7 meter with day and night rates , you now have a different meter that has 2 MPANs. Ask your supplier what metering set up you have, the times each register of each mpan apply and the name of your tariff, then we might be able to help more.

The day and night rates for economy 7 can be used for general electricity or heating i.e you can have your heating on during the day if you wish.

Typical 2 MPAN tariffs have a day and a night rate on 1 MPAN that is for general electricity only and then a heating rate on the other MAPN that can be only used for Heating. Basically your house will have 2 separate electrical circuits one for general electricity and one for heating.

There are various types of 2 MPAN meters, but in general each type is only offered by a single supplier so you probably won’t be able to switch supplier.

You can ask for a meter exchange to an economy 7 but this will require rewiring the supply point in your house so it runs from a single circuit rather than 2. The supplier won’t sort this out, if you want to down this route you will have to do it at your own expense.

There is an alternative known as a Totaliser. Some suppliers allow you to totalise onto a standard tariff this means they will add up the total consumption of all your MPANs and bill the total at a single rate. If your allowed to do this, you can swap to one of your current suppliers standard metered tariffs. However you will lose the benefit of having a cheap rate for your heating. This will still not enable you to swap to another supplier though.

If your current supplier does not currently allow Totalisers they will soon have to as the CMA have addressed the exact situation you are in as a barrier to switching. There are no timelines or any actual licence conditions to back up the CMA concerns, but they mention this issue specifically. I’d expect it to become law in under a year.

I think your best course of action would be to run with the current metering set up for a while and see if it actually works for you. As others have pointed out sometimes this type of set up can work out cheaper.