Electric radiator and economy7

Sarah54D

Hey all,

I am in the need of advice regarding electric heating system options. I have recently moved into a 2 bed all electric flat with an economy 7 meter. I had a VonHaus 2000W glass panel heater in one of the rooms which suddenly stopped working. Electrician advised me to buy a replacement. I am unsure whether to replace it with another panel heater. This time a 1500w as according to some online calculators I only need 1122w to heat up the room. This should hopefully help in reducing my bill slightly ?

Is it worth installing a storage heater or just stick to another panel heater? I have kept the VonHaus 2000w panel heater in the other room, along with a smaller one in the corridor.

Whilst considering the above I am also thinking of switching to a single rate tariff. I don’t have an economy 7 water immersion heater. Previous owner removed the water cyclinder and installed a galaxy unvented instant hot water heater and a Dafi instant hot water. (Which only seems to produce hot water for a few minutes a day if that- so I need to replace this too).

I just moved from EDF to bulb to try to save some money. I do use most of my electricity during the day (well after 7pm weekdays) so I am thinking of switching to the single tariff but I worked out it will only be a few pounds cheaper a month.

Current rates and usage for last bill covering 36 days
Bulb rates
Day rate 15.29 per kWh used 765kwh £116.97
Night rate 7.46 per KWH 210 KWH £15.67
Standing charge 20.44p per day £7.36
Total usage 975KWH so only 22% usage at night
I estimate £116.67 bill for 30 days

I estimate the above usage would cost me about £111.83 single rate tariff (13.0095p per KWH and 20.4435 standing charge).

They also have smart meter which has 3 rates which I estimated would be £107.20 for above usage over 30 days. (12.19p per KWH during off peak, 29.75p per KWH during peak time and overnight rate of 7.45p per kWh. Standing charge 20.44pm). Peak rate is during 4pm to 7pm and I am never home at this time unless at the weekend. My housemate is sometimes home by 6pm so I have factored a few hours usage during the peak time. Most of my usage will be during off peak time 7am to 4pm and 7pm to 11pm or during the overnight rate 11pm to 7am.

I am thinking of giving it another month before possibly switching to the single tariff rate or the smart meter.

Would appreciate your thoughts. I am new to this and have spent the better part of this weekend scrolling through the forum. I have learnt soo much!

Gerry1

You have a setup that will be extremely expensive to run. Getting rid of the tank was a bad idea because you'll have to pay full price rates for hot water.

Get gas if you possibly can. It will be far cheaper to run, it will increase the value of your property and make it easier to sell.

If gas is not an option, consider well insulated storage heaters with clever controls (e.g. Dimplex Quantum) on E7 topped up occasionally at peak rate if necessary. You might want to use storage only on Friday and Saturday nights, and just use the peak rate top up in the week: you'll have to keep a close eye on the meter registers and do the sums to devise a strategy that's best for you.

Don't get rid of the E7 meter: if you want single rate (slightly cheaper than peak rate E7) many suppliers will happily just add the two readings together. Always get price comparison website quotations for E7 and single rate.

Whether you buy storage heaters rather than cheap plug-in devices also depends on how long you intend to stay there.