Wet Electric Central Heating

JamesFews

Hi,

I know this is probably flogging a dead horse but I am still not sure that things are correct on my meter. I know now that the meter doesnt change to back to GMT automatically so thats done and dusted but my bills still seem high to me.

I have a 14kw boiler and im in rented accomodation so cant change it.

I am on ECO10 and am with OVO who say that even though they dont have an ECO10 tarrif they have put me on thier ECO7 tarrif and it works out the same. Is this true?

I stick as much as I can to the off peak hours for the heating, my timer is set to them and if its gets ridiculously cold then I press the boost button for an hour.

But, my bill is still coming in at about £120pm....it was £170 from dec 15th to jan 15th and all I did was cooking on christmas day and had the heating on some more during on peak hours to keep the house cosy but when i got that bill I balked!

I am out all day and its a 3 bed house. No family, live on my todd.

I know that elec is 3 times the cost of GCH but when my combined bill in my old house was £60pm its kinda worrying when i get a bill in for £120!

So basically can ECO10 people be on an ECO7 tarrif and it still be calculated correctly and is £120 pm ok for a house that cold all the time cos I can only put the heating on for 10 hours a day?

Thanks
James

molerat

E7 and E10 are similar in that they have single off peak and peak rates unlike others that have multiple rates. Having an E10 meter on an E7 tariff is of no real concern. E10 off peak is split into 3 bands (usually 00.00-05.00, 13.00-1600 and 20.00-2200) whereas E7 is usually a single overnight 7 hr period sometime between 2300-0800

Problem 1 is that you have possibly the most expensive form of central heating there is. A 14kW boiler will be painfully expensive to use during peak hours.

What are you paying per unit and how many kWh are you using on each register ? Are the registers being billed the correct way round ? Are you being billed to actual supplied meter reads or estimates ?

Carrot007

While any two rate meter can be bileld as e7 with and e10 meter you will likely be better off on standard rate than e7 as you are unliekly to want the heating on overnight.

E10 tarrif gives much more usable times and is desgined for use it you system https://sse.co.uk/help/electric-heating/economy-10

Richie-from-the-Boro

Change where you live or leave OVO.

You will always be expensive [Wet electric] even on an E10 tariff but while the water will heat in the five overnight (e.g. midnight – 5am) hours the 'top up hours' of three off-peak hours in the afternoon (e.g. 1pm – 4pm) and two in the evening (e.g. 8pm – 10pm) will be an invaluable contribution to both warmth & comfort. Best of luck.

JamesFews

Molerat:
My tarrif is 7p off peak and 13p peak (bar the .pence which I cant remeber at present).

I have checked the times and it does swap to off peak at the correct times, bar a few minutes.

I give a reading every month as I have to do that to get a discount.

Carrot:
Im confused by your reply. You are saying I would be better off on a standard rate, but then underneath you say E10 is designed for my system. No offonce meant but that seems to contradict doesnt it?

I am on E10 just to clarify.

Kind Regards
James

JamesFews

Richie:
Does it matter which off peak I use to heat my water? At the moment the only thing I use hot water for is washing up when I get in from work so I put the timer on for half hour between 3:30pm and 4:00pm which is off peak and then its hot for when I get in.

The shower is an electric shower which doesnt help I know. I was actually wondering if it would be better to heat the water and use one of those tap attached showers and use the water thats in the tank? Not sure which would be cheaper.

Its not a power shower, just a bog standard electric one which is rubbish by the way haha.

Kind Regards
James

molerat

The electric shower and using the heating outside off peak will be the killer. A mains shower from off peak heated water will be cheaper. What is your actual consumption in kWh for each ? Are they being billed the right way round ?

Richie-from-the-Boro

You don't state the brand/model of your system or the litre size of your cylinder. The bulk of your water is heated in the 7 cheaper overnight hours. Unfortunately the core/expensive day hours are needed for transporting that water and depending on your brand/model your system might well also 'top up' its water temp also on expensive day rate.

At the moment the only thing I use hot water for is washing up

Not so my friend hot water is everything important about wet heating [hot water circulates through a system of pipes that connect to the radiators throughout a house] including providing a supply of hot water for bathing and washing. As molerat said the most expensive. Best of luck.

JamesFews

ok so these are the readings so far...

2nd nov 2017
On Peak: 25599
Off Peak 17518

THis is when I moved to Ovo and is the first readings then this followed:

4th Dec 2017
On peak: 26202
Off Peak: 18252

18th Dec 2017
On Peak: 26436
Off Peak: 18827

11th Jan 2018 (because I took it early for some reason)
On Peak: 26919
Off Peak: 19645

17th Jan 2018
On Peak: 27063
Off Peak: 19863

I have real trouble seeing if this is normal because I have dyscalculia and have real issues with numbers.

Thank you for the tip about the shower, I will look into that. So, do you think im being charged normally, nothing untoward and its just im not savvy enough yet?

Also Richie, I dont have a cheap 7 hour block over night. Im Eco10 not Eco7. Also I have a button to turn on heating and a button to turn on hot water. If I dont press the button for hot water then heating still works but I dont get any hot water out of the tap so they definately are seperate.

Kind Regards
James

molerat

You seem to be billed the correct way round, your off peak use is higher than peak - just confirm they are the figures on the bill, not just what you have submitted. You are using 61% off peak at the moment, but really should be higher during winter, so E7 is probably your best option - only a full year can really show though. Your peak use is very high at well over twice the national average coming in at 20 kWh per day. That is where your big bill is coming from and something you need to look into, reducing peak use even if it is at a cost of increasing off peak.

JamesFews

Thanks for that, i just cant understand what is making it so much higher when im not there during the day.

I mean christmas holidays push it up I guess but everyone uses more electric then so I am completely confused.

Will have to wait to see when Ovo finally roll out the 2nd gen smart meters that can do ECO10. In the mean time only heating during the cheap hours no matter how cold it gets.