Struggling to use comparison sites for Eco 7

whatsthenews

whatsthenews said:

[Deleted User] said:

whatsthenews said:
The bill is based on 2 estimated readings and is just one unit rate of 17p. No Eco 7.

It's not an electric boiler. It's a huge hot water tank heated by cheap rate electricity overnight which then circulates through the UF heating as required,

Hi,

but you don't have a cheap rate, only 17p, no Eco 7.

Aware of that, but the system is designed to be used with Eco 7, hence the thermal store (water tank),the fixed (Summer or Winter) Eco 7 timer and the Boost switch/timer.It's not an electric boiler. Electric boilers work just like a gas boiler ie when the temp drops they fire up, heat cold water coming in from the mains and pump it around the heating system. Completely different system to a thermal store system. 

Sorry, that should have read "it's not and electric boiler. It does say that when I quote it in a reply, but not in actual forum post.

whatsthenews

Thought I'd update.
Apparently Eco 7 tariffs often work put more expensive because of the higher (than standard) rates for daytime electricity.
According to Ofgem ,Even in someone is using 40% of their electricity at  night, the savings through being on an Eco 7 tariff will be less than £50 per year. If the nightime usage is 30% or lower then Eco 7 tariffs could end up being more expensive.
Anyway, after hunting around on the internet, I discovered an article about the ASHP communal heating system at the apartments. That solved the mystery of the apparent  absence of a pipe from the hot water tank to the UFH manifold.
On again questioning the letting agent and mentioning the (huge) ASHP's at the rear of the block, it transpires that the lamdlord pays for the heating in with the annual service charges.
Be interested to know how they work that one out.

Gerry1

whatsthenews said:

A bill just arrived for "the occupier". It's for 1 month up to Jan 18th  which is before we moved in, but it's not an Eco 7 tariff, and it's not even a good price standard tariff ! Not that we'll be paying it, but curious to know how the property ended up on a non Eco 7 tariff?

That rings very loud alarm bells.

It sounds like you may have a mini District Heating scheme for heating and the usage is included in the (very expensive?) service charge, possibly just shared between all the tenants.  Doesn't sound ideal.

However, you may well be responsible for paying for all the electricity used for hot water, lighting, tumble dryer and everything except the wet underfloor heating.

IF so, and you haven't registered with SSE then you'll be on an expensive Deemed Tariff, and estimated bills will be landing on the doormat.  If you didn't read the meter when you took possession then you may be paying for someone else's previous usage as well if they didn't give a closing reading, one that was too low, or the property was unoccupied before you moved in.

Sorry to sound alarmist, but you need to establish the exact situation PDQ or things could get very messy IF big bills are clocking up and you're responsible but not paying them.

Gerry1

whatsthenews said:

It has an eco 7 timer in the cupboard where the hot water tank  and all the (complicated looking ) pipes, manifolds and pump for the UF heating live.
A bill just arrived for "the occupier". It's for 1 month up to Jan 18th  which is before we moved in, but it's not an Eco 7 tariff, and it's not even a good price standard tariff ! Not that we'll be paying it, but curious to know how the property ended up on a non Eco 7 tariff?

The Eco7 timer may be an independent local one that's nothing to do with the electricity supplier.  It would be used to supply an immersion heater, shadowing the E7 times.  You might even find that the ASHP isn't used in the summer and you'll need an immersion heater.  It's important that you fully understand the strange arrangement that you have, in particular who pays for what and how it's measured.  Making wrong assumptions now may lead to nasty problems building up later.

However, if the room heating is not clocking up on your own electricity meter then E7 might not be competitive, so that would explain why you are on a single rate tariff.  I have E7 with GCH using 22% at night: sometimes E7 is cheaper, sometimes it isn't, so I just opt for E7 or single rate each time I switch.

If you are responsible for the electricity bill, you need to establish the kWh rates and standing charges that you are paying, and to think about switching, although initially you'll have to guess your annual kWh usage.

whatsthenews

Gerry1 said:

whatsthenews said:

A bill just arrived for "the occupier". It's for 1 month up to Jan 18th  which is before we moved in, but it's not an Eco 7 tariff, and it's not even a good price standard tariff ! Not that we'll be paying it, but curious to know how the property ended up on a non Eco 7 tariff?

That rings very loud alarm bells.

It sounds like you may have a mini District Heating scheme for heating and the usage is included in the (very expensive?) service charge, possibly just shared between all the tenants.  Doesn't sound ideal.

However, you may well be responsible for paying for all the electricity used for hot water, lighting, tumble dryer and everything except the wet underfloor heating.

IF so, and you haven't registered with SSE then you'll be on an expensive Deemed Tariff, and estimated bills will be landing on the doormat.  If you didn't read the meter when you took possession then you may be paying for someone else's previous usage as well if they didn't give a closing reading, one that was too low, or the property was unoccupied before you moved in.

Sorry to sound alarmist, but you need to establish the exact situation PDQ or things could get very messy IF big bills are clocking up and you're responsible but not paying them.

The landlord pays for the UF heating  in with the service charges. The ASHP communal system never heats the domestic hot water (as far as I'm aware) We rent, so nothing to do with us, but ,yes we have to pay for the immersion (thermal store) water heating ,appliances and lighting etc. 
I think perhaps the Eco 7 timer was a throwback from when there were Eco 7 meters which aren't used now or have been changed over to ordinary ones.
We got a meter reading last Friday and submitted it to SSE and put our name on the supply and have already applied to swap supplier as the  daily SC is 30p and the rate around 18p.  We'll ask the management company to read it again in a month.

Gerry1

You need to find out whether your underfloor heating is metered.  All new build properties on heat networks are required by law to have an individual meter for each property. For older properties there may only be a meter for the building, not for each individual property.

https://heattrust.org/for-prospective-heat-network-customers

whatsthenews

Gerry1 said:

You need to find out whether your underfloor heating is metered.  All new build properties on heat networks are required by law to have an individual meter for each property. For older properties there may only be a meter for the building, not for each individual property.

https://heattrust.org/for-prospective-heat-network-customers

Why do we need to find this out?
It's a 2010-2015 property (they started building the first block in 2009, then went bust and another company took over, so not quite sure when each block was completed) and there's a heat meter in the flat  which shows the kWh reading, and you can also go back month by month and see what the usage was.

Gerry1

whatsthenews said:

Gerry1 said:

You need to find out whether your underfloor heating is metered.  All new build properties on heat networks are required by law to have an individual meter for each property. For older properties there may only be a meter for the building, not for each individual property.

https://heattrust.org/for-prospective-heat-network-customers

Why do we need to find this out?

If you turn the temperature up to tropical and forget it, you may experience a nasty case of bill shock if it turns out that the communal heat network isn't All You Can Eat...

Tallerdave

whatsthenews said:

Gerry1 said:

You need to find out whether your underfloor heating is metered.  All new build properties on heat networks are required by law to have an individual meter for each property. For older properties there may only be a meter for the building, not for each individual property.

https://heattrust.org/for-prospective-heat-network-customers

Why do we need to find this out?
It's a 2010-2015 property (they started building the first block in 2009, then went bust and another company took over, so not quite sure when each block was completed) and there's a heat meter in the flat  which shows the kWh reading, and you can also go back month by month and see what the usage was.

Why would there be a meter if it wasn't going to be read and billed?

Your landlord might be taking the hit but it's possibly worth checking the tenancy agreement to see what's written down. It might be a generic agreement that doesn't cover communal heating systems.