Scottish power domestic and off peak A meters

PeterGr

What tariff are you on? How many meter readings appear on your bill?


From your initial post I imagined that you had a timer / programmer to control your immersion heaters, and that the times would be set during the off-peak period.


The settings on your 'Smart' heaters can result in switching them off during the off peak period. Storage heaters in general don't give you the immediate response of say gas central heating. Your heaters have additional elements in them which use peak rate energy to raise the temperature, but at a cost. (They will not work during the charging period)

alice's_mum

Hi I’m on the tarriff I listed in my heading domestic and off peak a. My storage heaters work just like old fashioned ones they charge overnight and give off heat during the day. It’s just a bit more sophisticated as I can set low or high by the hour on a programme or via the app on my phone but in effect they are on trickling out heat all day. My heaters are set to charge between 12:30 and 4:30 and usually they charge for 2 of those hour according to the app and then they stop as they have enough charge for use.

Richie-from-the-Boro

alice's_mum wrote: »

Oh and my immersion isn’t in the off peak meter it’s on the day rate meter so that’s irrelevant. I have a 3 and a 2 kWh heater.

Its THE MOST relevant, the space heaters are on [E7 I assume] night rate. Avoid at all cost the Dynamic Fan Assisted Storage Heater which is the fan @ day rate. Are yours SSH [I assume] or HHR's ?.

You get 7 hours of input, forget which hours/when its out of your control and a distraction. You get 24 yours of output which is an unnecessary extravagance if the system was initially designed properly. Certainly with a 16 bricker [2600w] in your living area.

Output is not needed unless you are in the room at the time - general rule = radiated heat is good, convected heat warms the flat upstairs or seagulls feet.

The 365 days of water heating however is on day[core] rate at 3 times(ish) the price per kWh of the off peak. Crazy and unacceptable which is outside PartL building code. Your water cylinder should have two heavy cables (1) to the top of the tank and (2) to the bottom of the tank, controlled by a water controller.





- I hope the helps your understanding

PeterGr

The Off-Peak A is a "preserved tariff" that gave 8 hours off peak storage heating, Monday - Friday and 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Domestic is a single rate for everything else, and then a shared standing charge. Suggest you discuss with SP to see whether it is practical /advantageous to transfer to the ComfortPlus White Meter Tariff. https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/pdf/tariffs/2017/Supply_Area.pdf

In Manweb area Off-Peak A supplies of electricity at off-peak rates made available for approximately 10 hours at ScottishPower’s discretion between 19:00 and 07:00 (GMT) and for a further 2 hours between 13:30 and 15:30 (GMT). On-peak means at all other times.



Also your domestic use for hot water and the balanced heating elements in your storage heaters can use significant amounts of electricity, so I would repeat my suggestion that you monitor the consumption of Domestic and Off-Peak kWh.

alice's_mum

Thanks Peter I’m now even more confused. The flat was all required before I bought it and there are two circuit boards one just has the storage heaters on. Yes mine are the Elnur ssh storage heaters and the other one had everything else on including the immersion but the immersion has a control not disimar to the one you’ve posted but more digital than analogue if that makes sense. See below

The heaters are set at the low setting during the day at 5 which is keeping the flat at about 13 and of an evening they are higher just as we come home. Am I doing that wrong? I really don’t understand them at all. I just know I can’t sustain £800 a quarter bills.

The off peak and domestic thing is driving me mad as it’s so uncontrollable it’s cold here tonight and I can’t change the setting until about 10pm so it’s blankets and woolies for us.

http://https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Images/Products/size_3/SMTRTD7.JPG

alice's_mum

Oh I’ve just seen your link off peak a does not give 24 hours of weekend electricity I wish it did ! I’m going to download that document and see if I can make sense of it. I’m seriously thinking economy 7 would be better for us.

PeterGr

Your water heater controller is what you would use with an off-peak supply, but from what you have described it is taking its supply from the domestic board, so you are paying that kWh rate. The timer just gives you the convenience. My reading of the Off-Peak A would be that it only applies to your heaters, and they have timers in them which define the off peak period.


Your storage heaters have extra heating elements in them which should come on if its cold. Its not very economical but should be noticeable. (A heating symbol should appear on the LCD display) Have you been through the settings on your heaters?


Remember that only 2 of the next 6 months is going to require your heating to be on, so your bill for the next 2 quarters should be lower.

alice's_mum

Thanks Peter I’ve been through my manual back to front it’s fallong apart I’ve referred to it so much. The problem is if it’s not a time Scottish power are giving me off peak power the lcd screen is dead and I can’t makr any alterations to it at all. It’s ridiculous and makes the fact that I can co trip them from my phone pointless.

These are the heaters I’ve got. I was told they were just standard storage heaters but with better controllability They have no fans or anything like that. Thank you for taking the time to keep helping me.

http://https://www.elnur.co.uk/products/smart-storage-heaters/ecombi-ssh-digital-smart-storage-heater/

Richie-from-the-Boro

The UP08 parameter [adjustment ON/OFF of the UP08 parameter is indicated by the vertical wavy lines UP08 parameter. Do you have the 'Heating On Indicator' of vertical lines in your APP display ?



Being a 'werrit' over SP times is as already stated, pointless, assuming you are on an E7 tariff you get 7 hours cheap rate ONLY between the hours depending on supply area.

For example myself on SP E7 North East area 15 is either 00:00 - 07:00 or 00:30 - 07:30 It would make no difference to me if my 'timer' was set to 7 or/10 or /20 hours I would still get ONLY 7 hours. You I assume are area 21 South Wales or 22 South West.

Your bigger cost problem is the shonky water heating at full day rate, do you have two thick cables each going to a [usually] top and bottom heating element ?



Headspace :

E7 type domestic heating is CAC÷12=DD.

Calculated annual consumption ÷ by 12 month direct debit means you will never be underpaid or overpaid providing YOU supply your own accurate meter reads to SP every 6 weeks. Best of luck.

PeterGr

The storage heaters should have 2 supplies. An off-peak for the main heating elements and a 24 hr supply for the controls and the secondary heating element. Check back to the circuit board that the circuit on the domestic board is on, as well as local switches and the switch that is on the heater.


The controls are meant to be always on, and your app settings will be having little or no effect if they are off during the day. You may need to get an electrician to check them, and also advise you about the metering.