Rental property - electric radiator

rick.p85

Morning all,

I've recently moved into a rented property with 2 storage heaters in the living room and wall mounted electric radiators in the bedrooms.

The storage heaters are pretty straight forward (on & off peak plugs, charge overnight, etc). The electric radiators in the bedrooms only have on peak plugs and no option for using the cheaper overnight off peak tariff?

I only use the bedroom radiators overnight to keep the bedroom warm. Am I being charged on peak prices for off peak times because of the lack of off peak plug? Would I be better off buying an electric radiator I can use on a normal outlet?

Thanks in advance.

jaybeetoo

rick.p85 wrote: »

The electric radiators in the bedrooms only have on peak plugs and no option for using the cheaper overnight off peak tariff?

Do you mean they have a standard 13amp plug on them? If so, they will be using normal rate electricity.

Would I be better off buying an electric radiator I can use on a normal outlet?

Isn’t that what you’ve already got?

rick.p85

They are build in radiators that are hard wired into the wall. Much the same as an oven, etc.

They are electric, but the plug says On Peak only, it's not a standard plug socket. I don't know how else to explain it.

jk0

If your tariff is Economy 7, all energy consumed during the night will be at the cheaper night rate.

jaybeetoo

rick.p85 wrote: »

They are build in radiators that are hard wired into the wall. Much the same as an oven, etc.

They are electric, but the plug says On Peak only, it's not a standard plug socket. I don't know how else to explain it.

I understand now. I think on peak only just means it is on all the time and not on a supply that only comes on only during off-peak hours (which the storage heaters are on).

Buying a new heater will not save you any money.

All electricity (whichever plug is used) should be off-peak overnight.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

jk0 wrote: »

If your tariff is Economy 7, all energy consumed during the night will be at the cheaper night rate.

agree with above.


Do you need a warm bedroom, just leave doors open and heat will circulate.


If bedroom heaters are hard wired then there should be an off switch on the heater.

jbuchanangb

If your tariff is Economy 7, all energy consumed during the night will be at the cheaper night rate.

This is not necessarily true. Some properties have two wiring circuits, one connected to an off-peak Economy 7 meter, and the other to a standard tariff meter. I remember my daughter's first flat where the heaters were a combination of storage and convection, taking two input feeds, one from the Economy 7 circuit for the storage part, and one from the normal circuit for the convection.

That sounds like the arrangement in use here. It would be worth a bit of investigation to find out whether all the "normal" circuits actually clock up on the off-peak meter during the off-peak hours (typically midnight to 7am)

rick.p85

jbuchanangb that sounds exactly the same as our flat. Same heaters, etc. I'm worried I'm spending a fortune on keeping the bedroom warm at night, which is a necessity at the moment due to having a new born.

cranford

If you can record the E7 and Day time meter readings before you go to bed and when you get up and try to do it one night with the heaters on and one off. If the Day time units have moved about the same on both nights or just by a few units then it is almost certain you are on E7 for the heaters. The difference will be due to 10pm to 7.30 am being more than 7 hours so at least for two hours the heaters will be using day time rate electricity.
It is possible that your E7 hours don't end until later that 7.30am as it is regional.
All of my electricity during the E7 hours is at the cheap rate but my hours are split 11.30pm to 1.30 am and 3.30 am to 8.30am winter and 1 hour earlier in the summer.

pooch

jbuchanangb wrote: »

This is not necessarily true. ...

It is necessarily true for anyone on an E7 tariff.
It matters not how many circuits you might have and whether or bot some are only live at low rate.
An E7 meter is only capable of registering consumption on 1 register at any given time. So either nornal rate or low rate. Not both.

jk0 is 100% correct.

jbuchanangb

I am old enough to remember when places had two separate meters, the night time meter being often referred to as a White Meter, due to its colour.
It was on a separate circuit which only fed the storage heaters, and it was activated by a sealed time switch. I am sure some properties are still so equipped.

So all appliances not on that circuit would be charged at normal rate 24 hours per day.

I know that modern properties have single meter with two measurements, which are switched by remote control by the electricity distribution company.

To give the best advice to the OP in this thread, we need to know which set up they have.