Economy 7 Meters - Difference between day and night rates

[Deleted User]

I'm almost certain there may be something wrong with my economy 7 meter. I'm curious to know the difference in other people's meters between the day rate and night rate. I live in a 2 bed flat with a small family so would be grateful if anyone in similar sized abodes can offer their figures so I can compare with mine and help me decide what to do? 

my rates are as follows:
day: 72738
night: 57222
difference of around 15000 between the two numbers.
That's pretty high, right? the only things that are always on/on a substantial amount of time are the fridge, internet and maybe the TV. if these numbers are normal for a 2 bed flat then cool but I'm concerned there's not a big enough gap between day time and night time. 

any guidance will be massively appreciated. many thanks

spot1034

One reading means nothing - have you even lived in the property for the whole period since the meter was put in?  If not, how do you know what the previous occupier's pattern of usage might have been? You need to take readings for usage over  a certain period and then see whether you think these make sense in terms of what appliances you've used during that time.

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.  Unfortunately, without much more information, it's a 'how long is a piece of string?' question.

Do you have gas?  What do you use for space and water heating?

Other people's usage has very little relevance: their insulation may be different, they may be at home  or out all day, they may like it tropical or cool, they may take leisurely electric showers twice per day, etc.

macman

Those figures are meaningless. The night rate should usually be higher, assuming that you have NSH's and an immersion heater, but for all you know the night rate register may already have been round the clock once.
The only figures that matter are your annual kWh usage on each register, so post those and then sensible advice can be given. Also you need to tell us how the property is heated and hot watered.
Fridge, TV and internet use a trivial amount; what matters is heating and hot water.

Talldave

The difference between readings is meaningless. Does the flat have storage heaters and immersion heater (or did it in the past)? Was the meter installed somewhere else previously (second hand meters are sometimes fitted)?

Talldave

The difference between readings is meaningless. Does the flat have storage heaters and immersion heater (or did it in the past)? Was the meter installed somewhere else previously (second hand meters are sometimes fitted)?

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

my rates are as follows:
day: 72738
night: 57222

Hi,

that appears to be your meter reading, your rates wil be in pence/unit, one for day and one for night.

What we need to know is your usage, so have you a date and start reading?

Swipe

Deleted_User said:

my rates are as follows:
day: 72738
night: 57222

The night rate has most probably clocked over at least once, if not twice

spot1034

Why should the night rate necessarily have been round more than once? I realise that with figures like that we may be talking about many years or even decades since installation possibly with several different users and patterns of usage but there are E7 tariffs today which would show a worthwhile saving on those figures, and even if that has not been the case in the past, well as we know lots of people are on a tariff which is not the right one for their circumstances and do nothing about it. 
That's assuming they both started at zero of course!

Talldave

Because all electric homes with night storage heaters and an immersion heater for water will use far more at night rate than day rate.

[Deleted User]

spot1034 said:

Why should the night rate necessarily have been round more than once? I realise that with figures like that we may be talking about many years or even decades since installation possibly with several different users and patterns of usage but there are E7 tariffs today which would show a worthwhile saving on those figures, and even if that has not been the case in the past, well as we know lots of people are on a tariff which is not the right one for their circumstances and do nothing about it. 
That's assuming they both started at zero of course!

Hi,

as Talldave said, "Because all electric homes with night storage heaters and an immersion heater for water will use far more at night rate than day rate"

Say a house has an annual day/night split of 25%-75%, so that's 3 night units to 1 day unit, so the night reading will advance 3 times quicker than day.

The tariff rate does not affect how the meter records usage.