At work all day – should I bother with economy 7?

rorym

I’ve recently bought my first property – a 1-bed ground floor maisonette. I’m currently staying with parents so I’ve got the luxury of spending a few weeks decorating and sorting things out before I move in properly.

My question is whether or not I should go for an economy 7 tariff. I’ve read the MSE e7 guide but I’m still unsure what I should do.

I have got two storage heaters (lounge + bedroom) which I’ve taken off of the walls, whilst I paint and replace the flooring. Should I bother putting these back on, or should I just replace them with some panel heaters? (~£500 for two?). My block does not have gas so I’m stuck with electricity for my heating and water.

I work all day and I’m fairly busy at weekends, so storage heaters seem a little pointless? Surely by the time I get home at 7.30, much of the heat will have dissipated? The same is probably true for hot water – on economy 7 the water would be heated all night and I wouldn’t be there during the day to use it?

So, should I chose a regular single tariff and ditch my bulky storage heaters? Would this cost me a lot of money to replace timer switches etc? Any opinions are much appreciated!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

You have accurately described the dilemma facing people in your situation on whether to get rid of E7.

The savings on water heating can be better than you might appreciate as you will not need to use any 'daytime' electricity to heat the tank, and any heat loss from the tank heats the fabric of the building.

Storage heaters that hang on walls would appear to be modern?? the older type were heavy floor standing heaters. So losses during the day should not be too bad.

On the other hand prices on 'normal' 24/7 electricity tariffs have reduced considerably(I pay 8.79p/kWh) and E7 tariffs tend to cost much more.

It might be worth remaining with storage heaters for a year to get a good idea of consumption, and then compare the cost with a non-E7 tariff. Either way it will take you a long time to recoup the £500 cost of new panel heaters.

Having said the above, in your situation I personally would ditch the storage heaters!

rorym

Thanks a lot for your reply, that’s really helpful!

The heaters are indeed old-style floor standing ones, pinned to walls with a bracket. I’ve taken both apart, removing all the bricks etc (which is a pain!). I’m laying wood laminate so the weight of the heaters will probably dent the floor, which isn’t really a problem but I’d need to replace those bits of wood if I ever replaced the storage heaters in the future.

Hmm.. you’re right maybe I should stick with economy 7 though until I get a better idea of how much it’s costing / how inconvenient it is.

Out of interest if you were in my situation would you put electric panels in, or something different?

Thanks again!

Robisere

Hi rorym
There was a similar Thread some time ago, I gave some details which helped the OP, this is an excerpt:

"Somewhere on or in each heater will be a manufacturer's code for each one. Knowing the manufacturer and model, you can access the website and email them for the information as to how old they are.

Until we had GCHeating fitted last year, we had Economy 7 and Night Storage Heaters. The heaters were over 30 years old and did not work economically. I found the age of the heaters by the method I describe above. The manufacturer in my case, was Creda and they were very happy to tell me that these models were discontinued years ago and were unsuitable for us anyway. That type of heating is fine for people who are out all day at work (as are you) but no good for those who are in all day. By 3 or 4 pm, the storage blocks have lost all heat and the house is no longer heated until Economy 7 has heated the blocks overnight.

You may have modern, more efficient and controllable heaters, in which case this will not apply, and you may be able to turn them on and off at will. However, the older heaters are not built that way, once 'on' they produce heat until it runs out. "

This company supplies the best of modern electric storage heaters, I have a friend who uses them and works all day:
http://www.fischerfutureheat.com/

Should be a straight swap for your current heaters. The beauty of these, is that they can be used as storage or just electric. Might be worth getting a quote?

rorym

Thanks Robisere,

I’d not actually considered simply replacing my old storage heaters for new better storage heaters.

Like you say, worth getting a quote. Thanks again.

Rubidium

Robisere wrote: »

Hi rorym
There was a similar Thread some time ago, I gave some details which helped the OP, this is an excerpt:

"Somewhere on or in each heater will be a manufacturer's code for each one. Knowing the manufacturer and model, you can access the website and email them for the information as to how old they are.

Until we had GCHeating fitted last year, we had Economy 7 and Night Storage Heaters. The heaters were over 30 years old and did not work economically. I found the age of the heaters by the method I describe above. The manufacturer in my case, was Creda and they were very happy to tell me that these models were discontinued years ago and were unsuitable for us anyway. That type of heating is fine for people who are out all day at work (as are you) but no good for those who are in all day. By 3 or 4 pm, the storage blocks have lost all heat and the house is no longer heated until Economy 7 has heated the blocks overnight.

You may have modern, more efficient and controllable heaters, in which case this will not apply, and you may be able to turn them on and off at will. However, the older heaters are not built that way, once 'on' they produce heat until it runs out. "

This company supplies the best of modern electric storage heaters, I have a friend who uses them and works all day:
http://www.fischerfutureheat.com/

Should be a straight swap for your current heaters. The beauty of these, is that they can be used as storage or just electric. Might be worth getting a quote?

Please read this thread here (what's left of it after threats by Fischer) particularly this post here before contacting this company!

Cardew

Robisere wrote: »

Hi rorym
There was a similar Thread some time ago, I gave some details which helped the OP, this is an excerpt:
This company supplies the best of modern electric storage heaters, I have a friend who uses them and works all day:
http://www.fischerfutureheat.com/

Should be a straight swap for your current heaters. The beauty of these, is that they can be used as storage or just electric. Might be worth getting a quote?

I suggest the OP carries out plenty of research - including on MSE - before committing to buying any Fischer Future heat products.

This thread is a good example:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3516223

Above all remember that all electrical heating is 100% efficient so you get EXACTLY the same amount of heat output for the same amount of electricity consumed(and hence cost). You could be forgiven thinking that Fischer advertising claims otherwise;)

So a £10 fan heater from Argos is equally as efficient as any Fischer heater, or any other electrical heater.

st999

So a £10 fan heater from Argos is equally as efficient as any Fischer heater, or any other electrical heater.

But it is not as quiet.

I used to occasionally use a fan heater but only if I wasn't watching TV as I couldn't hear the TV sound when the fan heater was on.

zaax

Also there is Economy 10. https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/economy-10.html

Cardew

st999 wrote: »

But it is not as quiet.

.

Agreed! So substitute a £20 oil filled heater, or a 1/2/3 bar fire found at a boot sale for 50pence, or a £10 Infra Red heater.
All have the same efficiency as any other electrical heater.

Cardew

Robisere wrote: »

This company supplies the best of modern electric storage heaters, I have a friend who uses them and works all day:
http://www.fischerfutureheat.com/

How on earth can you make such a statement!

Is that what your friend told you?

Do you know how much they cost?

Are they storage heaters?

Have you read the many judgements against the company by the Advertising Standards Authority(ASA)? https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications.aspx?SearchTerms=fischer%20future%20heat#results

Are you aware that MSE is a money saving website.