Prepayment

dave_mc_2

Seam to be using sometimes £17 per day on prepayment we are on e7 with electric storage heaters
I try to only use washing machine at the cheap rate time 
We only have 2 of the heaters on 
Any ideas scottish power don't want to know my usage is around £25 more a week than my neibours 
They won't let me change to a standered meter due to a debt on the account which is being paid back but is not getting any lower

[Deleted User]

Hi welcome. I am not sure what you expect your supplier to do? Energy use comparisons between homes is not something that will get a supplier’s attention.

The first thing to check is whether you have any constant mains draw such as an immersion heater. It is also worth confirming your actual offpeak times as meters do drift.

if you think that your meter is faulty then you can ask your supplier for an independent meter test. They will fit a check meter alongside your existing meter. If the meter is found to be serviceable then there will be a charge - sorry.

pochase

What are your current day and night rates? 

What is the use in KWh for day and night on the high cost days? How many KW do the two heaters you charge have? Did you use additional heating during the recent cold snaps when the usage was £17?

Are the storage heater on a separate circuit so they are only powered by E7?

Gerry1

Apologies for a silly question, but are you sure they're really genuine Night Storage Heaters, not panel heaters from Fischer or Rointe etc?

If they are modern High Heat Retention NSHs such as Dimplex Quantum or Elnur, make sure they're programmed correctly and not left on default values.  If not programmed appropriately they can top up in the afternoon at expensive day rates.

Even worse, if they have only one 24h supply (as opposed to a 24h supply and an E7 switched supply) they can charge at peak rates if there is a variance between the programmed E7 switching times and the meter's actual times

dave_mc_2

We have 3 night storage heaters old type full of bricks
They store thrugh the night between 1230am and 730am and our water is heated during that time 
There are 3 panel heaters but we don't have those turned on 
We have a box in kitchen which has a swich with off or timed We have that on timed so it comes on at cheap rate time 

EssexHebridean

The box will be a Horstmann or similar control I assume - so that is just for the water? If so then it sounds like the heaters don't have any timers themselves so are only powered when the E7  circuit activates - in which case you should be "safe" from them being able to charge on the peak rate. 

Can you confirm that the "output" settings on the heaters are closed pretty much right down to encourage heat release slowly during the day? If they are left "open" then that can mean a lot more cost involved in the charging process as they will be releasing the heat as it is being stored. 

At what rate is the debt being reclaimed, do you know? 

macman

This doesn't make any sense: If the debt is 'not getting any lower', then you are clearly not paying it back.
How much is the total debt, and how much is being deducted as debt each time you top up?
Switching to a credit meter is not the issue here, pricing is currently very similar to having a PPM.
You can't compare bills to your neighbours as they may have completely different heating and usage.