Economy 7 or not

jdot1969

Hi guys I’m in a bit of a dilemma at the moment I have an economy 7 tariff which I know I’m not making the most of night rates. That being said I’ve just stripped out my old ceiling heating and deciding to get storage heaters or regular convection heaters fitted. What do you think the best option would be considering fuel prices are going up. Am I better sticking to economy 7 and installing storage heaters? Many thanks in advance for your helpful replies. 

MattMattMattUK

jdot1969 said:

Hi guys I’m in a bit of a dilemma at the moment I have an economy 7 tariff which I know I’m not making the most of night rates. That being said I’ve just stripped out my old ceiling heating and deciding to get storage heaters or regular convection heaters fitted. What do you think the best option would be considering fuel prices are going up. Am I better sticking to economy 7 and installing storage heaters? Many thanks in advance for your helpful replies. 

You need to work out how much of your usage is, or could be shifted to night use (storage heaters, heating water at night) and how much your day rate consumption will be. You can then run the numbers on an E7 tariff and a standard tariff and see if you will be better or worse off. 

EssexHebridean

E7 and storage heaters all the way IMO if you're going to be replacing the heaters anyway and don't have the option to switch to gas.

But you also need to work to really make the most of that night rate - if you're spending money on other heating during the day time because you don't have your storage heaters set right, or are using anything else that you could run overnight on the pricey day rate, then you're essentially burning money. (Remember the day rate on  7 is pitched above the standard rate on a single rate tariff)

lohr500

It is hard to be precise without understanding your property size, lifestyle, number of years you plan to stay at the existing property, if there is already any other heating system installed, if you have access to mains gas, etc.

But in isolation, although the upfront cost of buying storage heaters will be more expensive than convection heaters, their ongoing running cost on an Eco 7 tariff will be cheaper. Peak rate electric heaters are generally the most expensive way to keep warm   

You need to factor in how you heat your hot water as well. If that runs on Eco 7, then it will also cost you more if you move to a single rate tariff. 

If you do have an Eco 7 tariff then the trade off is usually a higher peak rate electricity cost. So the trick is to push as much consumption as you can into the off peak time window. So run washing machines/tumble driers/dish washers whilst the off peak rate is available.

Edit. Looks like EssexHebridean beat me to it with a reply!!
  

EssexHebridean

I'm quick like that...  

Caveat to running stuff overnight - the Fire Service warn against running appliances unattended. We have a washer drier which only rarely gets the drier part used anyway BUT when we are running this we always make sure it finishes as close to the end of the night rate as we can, ensuring that it runs during the part of the night we both tend to be less deeply asleep, and we test smoke alarms regularly. I cheerfully run a wash and the dishwasher overnight though, we also make sure that the hot water heats on cheap rate, and set our one Quantum heater to ensure that its "on" time doesn't overlap its "store" time too much, if at all. We manage close to 70% night usage which is on the higher side of what is expected. 

Gerry1

Modern storage heaters ideally need both an E7 supply for charging up and a 24h supply for the fan, controller and top-up convector.  This arrangement ensures that you can never charge up at the day rate.  However, some such as Dimplex Quantum can be programmed to work with a single 24h supply.  If you choose this option it's critically important to make sure you know when your meter switches over and to understand and program the NSHs yourself.

If you rely on websites or other people instead of watching the meter switch over, you'll be the one paying unnecessarily high bills if they get it wrong, e.g. if the E7 day rate kicks in from 0030 to 0230 but you didn't program the NSHs to allow for this.