Eco 7 Without Storage Heaters?

Katapolt

I bought a house back in December that had had the central heating ripped out, and "energy efficient" electric radiators installed.

3 months later heating what was a shell through the coldest part of the year, and we have a very sad bill of £700.

We have an Eco 7 meter, but now i'm looking to get a better deal i cant tell if its best to opt for an Eco 7 deal, or a standard set rate deal. We don't have storage heaters, and the water heats up overnight but that's it.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Robin9

Your bill should show the split between day and night units.

For E7 to be beneficial you need to use at least 40% at night. Time to get your calculator out.

Biscuit_Tin

Robin9 wrote: »

...

For E7 to be beneficial you need to use at least 40% at night. ...

That is not correct.

OP - consult a comparison site to find your answer

House_Martin

Robin9 wrote: »

Your bill should show the split between day and night units.

For E7 to be beneficial you need to use at least 40% at night. Time to get your calculator out.

I would leave it to a comparison website to see if its beneficial to stay on Eco 7.
I know Iresa Energy are out of the game at the moment but they were charging 11.5p day, 8 p night and 21p a day sc.in my S. Yorks area
iSupply Energy were a little dearer.
At these rates virtually everyone would be better off on Eco 7 regardless of the night rate usage

Robin9

Biscuit_Tin wrote: »

That is not correct.

OP - consult a comparison site to find your answer

Just done the exercise for my house and the breakeven comes at about 35% - Biscuit Tin is correct in that you need to use a Comparison Site with your own figures.

Biscuit_Tin

Robin9 wrote: »

... Biscuit Tin is correct in that you need to use a Comparison Site with your own figures.

Thank you for admitting your previous error.

Of course, your single investigation using your supplier of choice and your own personal usage and supply region is meaningless to anyone but yourself.

I am so glad you now agree that people should consult a comparison site with their own figures.

Katapolt

I had a look into it after getting my head around the bill (im a simple creature) and it looks almost identical, so i guess we dont use enough at night.

Thanks everyone!

EachPenny

Katapolt wrote: »

I bought a house back in December that had had the central heating ripped out, and "energy efficient" electric radiators installed.

Unfortunately you need to do more than just look at a price comparison site to find the cheapest option.

Your "'energy efficient' electric radiators" are probably just electric heaters which output heat when switched on. When you use them will affect whether it is cheaper to have an E7 or standard supply, but you might also need to consider whether changing your whole heating system again would be more economic over the time you intend to live in that property. How well your house is insulated also affects the economics.

As a general rule you should try to avoid using electric heating during peak times - if you are out of the house most days you may be able to reduce your bills by running the heating more overnight and ensuring it stays off until you get home in the evening - but if your insulation is poor this may not work.

The breakeven point for different E7 tariffs will vary according to the different night and day unit prices and the standing charge. You can breakeven (or gain) by moving more of your consumption from day to night, so long as you aren't doing that by increasing your overall consumption. Do you have a washing machine or dishwasher with a timer you can run overnight rather than in the peak?

You also need to find out the exact times when your E7 starts and ends - the hours vary and might be wrong on your meter. In the area I live the end time is typically 8:30am - so people going out to work/school may be getting breakfasts cooked and showers had during off-peak times. If they delay having their electric shower until 8:31am it will cost them more

jk0

If you still have storage heater wiring, I would buy some 2nd hand storage heaters from ebay. You might even see a shadow in the paint which will tell you what sizes to buy.