Immersion Heater Bills

JoshWarren33

Hello all,

I currently have an immersion heater and all hot water runs off electric, there is no gas in my property. Im looking to do my electricity renewal and was wondering if anybody knows if it beneficial for me to take a tariff where the electricity is more exepensive in the day but cheaper through the night, or if it’s just easier for me to stay on a tariff where it’s the same rate for both day and night? 

Mark_d

Immersion heaters are expensive to run but in all likelihood it would make sense for you to get a 2-rate tariff and heat your water overnight.

FlorayG

Is your room heating electric? If so do you have storage heaters? If not and you have heaters that consume during the day then they will cost a fortune to run on a night time cheap rate tariff as you will be using them mostly during the top rate periods

JoshWarren33

tFlorayG said:

Is your room heating electric? If so do you have storage heaters? If not and you have heaters that consume during the day then they will cost a fortune to run on a night time cheap rate tariff as you will be using them mostly during the top rate periods

Dont use the storage heaters at all due to said astronomical cost so this is purely just for our water which heats up overnight on economy 7 tariff currently 

Gerry1

So what do you use for space heating?

Bendo

If you have SMETS2 smart meters then Tomato Lifestyle probably makes sense for you, although how long they last is anyones guess.

Scot_39

You cannot so easily decouple the 2 most major for many costs - hot water heating - and space hesting - from the choice of tariff.

Whilst my hw tank plus 1 shower around 50% of my summer daily bills - just for the tank occassional use and shower - and just over a quarter of my annual. 

In my case shower not always off peak rate.

Over the year hot water alone at off peak rates wouldn't quite make it worth while for me to be on e7.

But add a second shower using off peak - say 2 rather than 1 occupant , or occassional baths -  1-2 per week might push it over.

Off peak use would have to be c35-40% of total on a typical e7 price scheme at the moderately aggressive differential end - say like region at top of edf table. Other suppliers have less p/kWh difference between Day and Night others more.

On my more expensive e10 it's nearer -just over sone quarters - 50% to break even vs regional single rate - but it suits my heaters better and gives me off peak in afternoon and evening not just overnight  - so not using plug in at day premium rate to top up if run out of charge

A near zero day and sub zero night like yesterday / today oftem works out 90% plus typically off peak.

But with heating and hot water - and washing machine and when can other heavy standard usage -  like shower when can - billed off peak for my 10 hours a day on legacy e10 - I regularly hit 75-80% average off peak use.

[Some here on e7 year round have often suggested the ideal would be flat rate in summer and economy 7 for storage heating in coldest say 4 or 5m of winter - and with a smart meter that's maybe just a new over the air update if can find a willing supplier - but that's a lot of work  a couple of times a year to research select and then check billing for many.]

 

I have seen modern flats with tanks with timers for e7 and standard papnel heaters  - its certainly possible to break even.



But I also don't use that much energy - about half my next door neighbours according to one comparison tool.  And I suspect alot of that is running lower temperature in my rooms.  Like 14-16C  not 16-18C like some of my friends.

A heavy space heating bill etc would push balance the other way if using day rate plugins or panels but make e7 even cheaper on average across total cf single rate if storage based.

But with any sort of storage heating - even if used to heat only partially and topped up a bit with plug ins in evenings etc if out all day - it's normally pretty easy to benefit from a good e7 type deal.

As above we need to know more about how you do heat and whether you have storage as an option - some do but never use.

Do you have restricted e7 circuits - or just a timer on the hw tank.

And what tariff are you on / meter type smart  ?

JoshWarren33

Hi guys thanks for the comments, we use one single plug in heater to heat the rooms, this is usually used in the living room for no more than an hour total a day, we use a heated clothes airer for drying clothes in the colder months and this will usually be left on a lot longer say 6 hours 

QrizB

On your latest electricity bill, it should have an estimated annual consumption for each of day and night rate. Can you tell us what these estimated consumption figures are?

Based on the split between day and night, we might be able to suggest whether you'd save money on a single rate tariff or whether you should stick with E7 (or a smarter tariff).

Do you have a smart meter?

QrizB

JoshWarren33 said:

I’ve attached some info from my latest bill, let me know if any of that helps.

Yes, that's a great help. thank you.

You're estimated to use ~2340kWh/yr of Day rate electricity, and ~2300kWh/yr of Night rate electricity. However you're currently on a single-rate tariff where the Day rate and the Night rate are both the same, 24.201p/kWh+VAT.

4640kWh of electricity at a single rate of 24.201p/kWh + 5% VAT is £1179 a year.

If you were to switch to an Economy 7 type tariff, you could save money. I don't know your region but EON Next are offering me their "Next Fixed 18m v14" at 30.56p/kWh Day, 13.15p/kWh Night. For your consumption this would work out as £1018 a year. That's a saving of £161 a year compared to your current tariff.

You might be able to save more than that by switching away from EON Next. You can put your details into a comparison site and see what you get. MSE's comparison tool is here:
https://clubs.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

Also, if you move to a tariff where nightime electricity is cheaper you might want to try those storge heaters again. Moving heating costs from Day to Night could save you money while still giving a more comfortable flat (depending on exctly how everything balances out).

JoshWarren33 said:
dont have a smart meter as we are 3rd floor flat so last I was told, the connection from our electric meter/box downstairs to the flat won’t work 

From your bills it seems you do have a smart meter - your meter readings are labeled "smart meter reading"!

However what you don't have (as the distance is too far) is an in-home display, the little box with the pretty coloured dials and gauges that show you how much electricity you're using.

Edited for typos when I re-read the post.

Edited a second time to note that the post with the OP's bills has been deleted, presumably bexcause it was full of PII. There are enough non-personal details in my calculations above that this doesn't really matter, but might seem confusing to anyone reading the thread at a later date.

JoshWarren33

You absolute legend! Thanks so much 😊