Advice on Tariffs

TroubledTarts

When you were paying £66 per month what year was that?

There is a general lack of knowledge out there of energy hungry devices such as non heat storage wall heaters and expensive electric showers.

I would also suggest in some instances landlords cheap out but also they don't have the knowledge either as to what is a good or bad solution with so much misselling of products and how good they are.

One quick money saving tip if you can, shower in the economy 7 period.

WiserMiser

The Horstmann E7 controller is OK as far as it goes, but beware of some potentially very expensive problems because it's so ancient.

• It's electromechanical, which means that a power cut will knock it out of sync, so you could end up being billed at peak rate when you expected it to be at cheap rate. If you weren't at home and awake during the cut you might not notice that the timer has suddenly started to switch at the wrong times.
• It's unlikely to be shadowing your meter's switching times accurately: you can't set the time of day accurately, and you can't program the switching times to the minute. Similarly, forget the switching times that are supposed to apply in your region, all that counts is when your meter actually switches over. The only way to be certain is to look at the meter on the wall and see when it switches over and back. Remember that there may be a gap in the middle of the night, e.g. cheap rate 2230 - 0030 and 0230 - 0730.
• Might be cost effective to replace the old timer? Modern electronic timers are much more accurate and aren't affected by power cuts, so it'll probably pay for itself relatively soon. (Best get a qualified electrician to install it if you're not familiar with mains safety precautions.) Perhaps the landlord might share the costs?
• If the tank has two immersion heaters, the upper one should be left switched off. It's only for expensive emergency top-up use if you run out of hot water during the day.

Here are the programming instructions. But see the electrical safety warning above.

BlissfulPanda74

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82052850#Comment_82052850

Yeah that did occur to me this morning if this could be a culprit. I'll have a go and see if I can do anything. Might also see if I can fork out for an electrician to come and see if everything is working as it should.

Did a meter reading before I had a 10 min shower this morning, went from 31885 to 31887. Will do another check later after dinner and other half has showered to see what's going on. Short form plan is to monitor usage manually by checking the meter display. May seem like a waste of time, but since I've not got anything else going on right now it will help to more conscious of how much is being used.

Some news this morning, estate agent has said it's ok to get a smart meter in future.

BlissfulPanda74

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82052538#Comment_82052538

That was back when we first moved in in 2008. Can't remember when it first increased and don't have bills dating back then unless I email EDF and see if they can send over any bills from the first 5 years of moving in.

I'll try showering before the night rate finishes and the day rate starts to see if that makes any difference. Partner can't ideally shift his showering because he comes back smelling like a polecat's a*se (his words not mine). On top of that, he's up at 6:30am so the time frame is quite bleak for him. I can certainly try and shift my own usage and see what difference that makes in a month.

QrizB

That was back when we first moved in in 2008.

I don't recall the exact dates, but I do remember paying about 12p/kWh for electricity a decade or so ago.

Electricity prices have doubled since then.