Ecomony 7 Storage Heaters and Hot Water Immersion Tank Usage

MightyAxle

Hi!

Since turning on my Ecomony 7 Storage Heaters, combined with using the Hot Water Immersion Tank, I have noticed my stored energy climb progressively over the last three months. I was expecting it to stablise after about two months.

Is it normal for Ecomony 7 Stored Energy to increase over several months like this ? The 3x Storage Heaters input levels are set to 4 and output set to 1.

I am with SSE and rent privately from a well known residential property group ( Landlord ). I have contacted my Landlord about this issue, but the recent repair call was cancelled due it not being deemed as a repair with no supposive fault with the heating?

Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks!

CashStrapped

How are you measuring this? In cost? Or in kwh?

As the temperature has lowered over the last few months so has the ambient temperature of the air and more specifically the tempature of the cold water coming out of the mains.

This means much more energy is required to bring the cold water in the tank from maybe 5 degrees up to 70, than in summer, where it may be 15- 20 degrees to 70. This will get progressively worse as winter goes on.

Similar with the storage heaters, although this may may be less of an impact depending how manually they are operated. Some adjust themselves based on ambient air temperature. But, if the bricks start off colder during the charging phase, again, more energy will be required before the thermostat cut's off the charging cycle.

I would also ensure that the tank is charging during E7 hours only.

You can offset the cost of heating the tank a bit by turning down the immersion temperature. Look at a youtube video on how to do this. But, ensure the electrics are turned off before hand. It is very simple to turn it from 70 degrees down to 60. The gauge may be in Fahrenheit so look at equivalent temperature. I would set it no lower than 50-55 degrees.

Check your tariff has not changed (if you are measuring things by cost only). Do a comparison and see if there are cheaper tariffs.

If on prepay, ask the landlord to swap to a credit meter. You could save a lot. If you demonstrate the difference, the landlord may be more inclined to authorise a swap. Although it is not something they should have a final say over, especially if the meter is not in the flat. If credit checks are an issue, suppliers like EDF do not do any.

matelodave

It is usual for your heating bill to increase during the winter months because it's colder.

When it's colder, the property loses more heat and the heating system has to work harder to maintain the same indoor temperature.

Likewise the temperature of your incoming water is significantly colder so it takes more energy to heat it to the same temperature.

Most people use around 65% of their annual energy between November and March and 35% between April and October.

December and January have been a lot colder this year than last year so you'd expect to be paying more.

MightyAxle

Thank you both CashStrapped and matelodave for your information.

I use a Spreadsheet that calculates my meter reading unit usage ( Day, Night and Ecomony 7 Stored Heat ) into pounds and pence. Even before submitting my meter readings to SSE, I can see straight away what the difference in units and money is each month. This how I discovered the increase!

The Immersion Tank is set to use Ecomony 7 and doesn't consume any additional energy, unless I use the Booster Switch ( currently off ).

The weather has probably got something to with the temperature operation of the Storage Heaters and Immersion Tank. I will continue to monitor the usage.

I am on an SSE fixed rate deal until August 2018 with :

Day ( 1 ) p/kWh ( 17.03p )
Night ( 2 ) p/kWh ( 9.01p )
Stored ( 3 ) p/kWh ( 7.56p )

This of course excludes the standing charge and 5% VAT.

I have also turned the input levels on my three Storage Heaters down to 3 with ouput set to 1. There is still sufficent heat during the day and evenings. This may well bring the cost of usage down until my next meter reading. I will also looking into getting a better deal through switching energy providers.

I will keep you all posted!

Thanks again!

CashStrapped

Is that a complex meter set-up rather than a standard e7?

I thought only E10/complex meter variants had three tariff periods.

MightyAxle

CashStrapped wrote: »

Is that a complex meter set-up rather than a standard e7?

I thought only E10/complex meter variants had three tariff periods.

It's an Electronic Meter set up for E7, I cycle through each rate with one button when taking a reading. The flat we live in, is about 15-20 years old. So, I guess E7 was the option back then. None of the flats have Gas, only Electric.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Gas supply since Ronan Point changed. Even the pipework, distance from the meter etc means that a gas supply after just the first storey is very complex and expensive to install and maintain. Hence the reason for so little gas in blocks of new build flats from the 70's onwards.

In the case of this O/P there are clearly cheaper E7 suppliers and getting the day / night split closer to 50/50%. It's a fact that these 3 months will seem endlessly more. Getting your all electric annual cost to £700-£800pa payable in equal 12 monthly budgetary installments is a less stressful and manageable way to do it and view it.

AbraC

Hi All. I'm new to this forum and have no idea how to start a new thread so I'm casting my net here. Yesterday I tested a key meter in a flat I manage, the tenant left because of the cost of the Economy 7. I switched two night storage heaters and the immersion heater on overnight. It is a small flat so I was stunned to find that the meter had gone down by £7, no wonder the tenant left. Fifty quid a week in electricity! Is this right? I was expecting it to be half that. Can anyone advise please? And don't tell me off for putting this in the wrong place, all the advice says there is a 'New Thread' button but I've gone goggle eyed looking for it.

System

MightyAxle wrote: »

Thank you both CashStrapped and matelodave for your information.

I use a Spreadsheet that calculates my meter reading unit usage ( Day, Night and Ecomony 7 Stored Heat ) into pounds and pence. Even before submitting my meter readings to SSE, I can see straight away what the difference in units and money is each month. This how I discovered the increase!

The Immersion Tank is set to use Ecomony 7 and doesn't consume any additional energy, unless I use the Booster Switch ( currently off ).

The weather has probably got something to with the temperature operation of the Storage Heaters and Immersion Tank. I will continue to monitor the usage.

I am on an SSE fixed rate deal until August 2018 with :

Day ( 1 ) p/kWh ( 17.03p )
Night ( 2 ) p/kWh ( 9.01p )
Stored ( 3 ) p/kWh ( 7.56p )

This of course excludes the standing charge and 5% VAT.

I have also turned the input levels on my three Storage Heaters down to 3 with ouput set to 1. There is still sufficent heat during the day and evenings. This may well bring the cost of usage down until my next meter reading. I will also looking into getting a better deal through switching energy providers.

I will keep you all posted!

Thanks again!

Wow the price of those units is really expensive, is there no way of switching to a normal e7 meter you are paying loads compared to my e7 tarrif. I know my tarrifs is not available any more but I'm paying

Day 12.22
Night 5.09
Standing 19.57.
I still have a year left on these prices.
I'm sure you will be able to get a better deal. My winter bill with 3 storage heaters on nearly full is round about 250.

Good luck

CashStrapped

AbraC wrote: »

I switched two night storage heaters and the immersion heater on overnight. It is a small flat so I was stunned to find that the meter had gone down by £7, no wonder the tenant left. Fifty quid a week in electricity! Is this right? I was expecting it to be half that. Can anyone advise please? And don't tell me off for putting this in the wrong place, all the advice says there is a 'New Thread' button but I've gone goggle eyed looking for it.

@AbraC

You have moved into a flat in the middle of winter. In fact February is usually one of the coldest months. So your bills at the moment are the highest they are going to be for the year.

However, you need to ensure the following:

1) You actually have an E7 set-up. Some landlords rip out the storage heaters (replacing them with panel heaters) and leave the meter, but you are only charged a single rate. This confuses some tenants as they think they have an E7 system, but they don't. A worse situation is when the flat is left on an E7 tariff but the tenant can only use the day rate heaters. This will result in an extortionate bill.

Do your heaters have an output and input controls? Are they quite large? If so, then they are indeed storage heaters.

What is your tariff? What are your unit rates? What is your daily use in KWH on both day and night rates?

2) You should not need to turn the storage heaters on and off at the socket. They should only charge at night. You need to ensure you use the controls correctly. Only adjust the input controls based on tomorrows weather. Always leave the output at 0 unless you want a short boost. Always leave the output at 0 before bed.

Some storage heaters have duel heaters. Basically two heaters in one. Some people mistakenly use the day rate heater thinking they are using the night rate heater. This will cost an awful lot of money.

3)Try to swap away from a prepayment meter to a credit meter. Prepayments meters are the most expensive way to pay for utilities. If credit checks are an issue, some companies, EDF in particular, do not do a credit check for swapping a meter. But you must ensure you manage your account more with a credit meter and direct debit. Give a meter reading every month to avoid getting into debt. You should ask your landlord, especially if the meter is in the flat. They should not have an issue with swapping to a credit meter. Especially if you can show them it will save you £100's.

But, remember, it is winter, so bills are at their highest for everyone. In summer you should put a bit aside ready for next winter. This is what the direct debit system is designed to do for you.