economy 7 meters

dallam20

I am just wondering if anyone knows anything about these meters?
I wondered if I can just request one is fitted (with british gas at present).
I have background heating 24/7 in a studio at the bottom fo the garden and I would use the dishwwasher, washing machine & tumble dryer during the specified hours.
Would I save any money???

Dawn

Plushchris

You would need to look into exactly how much you would be putting onto the cheap rate on the Eco 7 meter, if you make a point of putting things on to take advantage of the cheap rate (usually 11pm to 6am but can vary between providers) then it can make a difference, however because of the very low night rate on Eco 7 you will find the day rate slightly higher than a normal (non Eco7 tariff)

And you should be able to request any company to fit a new meter for you, they may charge or ask you to stay with them for a set period if they set a new meter, depends on the supplier.

Sunnyday

dallam20 wrote: »

I am just wondering if anyone knows anything about these meters?
I wondered if I can just request one is fitted (with british gas at present).
I have background heating 24/7 in a studio at the bottom fo the garden and I would use the dishwwasher, washing machine & tumble dryer during the specified hours.
Would I save any money???

Dawn

Hi there
we have an economy 7 meter and it was already in the house when we moved in, we didn`t even know about it and considered having it taken out at first.
We are with scottish power and at the moment the hours are 1120pm until 620 am. i think it should be 1200 until 7am but the clock on the meter is a bit out, when the clocks change you will need to remember that the e7 time will change too, ours will start an hour later in spring but as you actually hear the meter click over it`s not a problem ours has a red light on during cheap rate too.
I did some research and found that to break even we needed to use 15% of our electricity at night.
We use the dishwasher, washing machine, breadmaker, etc at night and also set the coffee maker to come on using a timer as we`re early risers and it`s ready for when we wake up (smells lovely).
Our new dishwasher has a timer as does the bread maker. The gas boiler heats our water BUT we are going to buy a timer for the old immersion heater and use this too.
We make considerable savings but you need to get into a routine on when you do things, after the first few times you do it automatically without thinking though.
HTH
SD

Cardew

The 'break even' point for E7 to be finacially viable varies by company and area of the country in which you live.

I am a little surprised that the poster above has a break even point as low as 15%(although I am not doubting this) the general rule is between 25%-30% of your total electricity used in the 7 hour night period.

It is quite difficult to make E7 worthwhile unless you use electricity for heating - but by no means impossible.

Two further things to consider are firstly the noise of dishwasher/w/machine coming on in the middle of the night; it is banned in some flats.

Secondly I was finding that the appliances like dishwasher were put on overnight when they weren't full, they could have taken all the breakfast dishes.

Lastly depending on the price you get gas and the efficiency of your gas boiler, it is often still cheaper to use gas to heat hot water than Economy 7 - almost always if you have a modern condensing gas boiler.

Sunnyday

I understand that the break even point will vary from area to area (i hadn`t thought about it originally) but different things work for different people and it really depends on the circumstances. Our break even point came from information from our supplier.
We are shift workers so are in bed at weird times and they vary a lot.
We don`t have a new boiler it`s a back boiler so the efficiency is not known to us as it was in the house when we bought it, it will however be staying there until it dies
We have both options for water the boiler which we use in winter when the heating is on and the immersion heater we don`t bother much in summer as we have an electric shower which is used during the e7 times.
The noise from appliances depends on the house/flat layout, ours is an open plan kitchen and the stairs are right next to it with no doorway to block noise and we sleep with the bedroom door open so that the dogs can come and go as they please, however the DW and WM are both new types and are extremely quiet unlike some of the ones we have had in the past.
I would suggest the OP contacts the supplier and find out what their break even point is, consider what times of day they will be using the most appliances and look back at their past usage, the suppliers are usually very helpful, if a charge is to be made for fitting the meter then it might take an age to make any savings so choosing this option may not be the best idea.
It works well for us but could be a big no-no for others.
Did you have E7 then go back to an ordinary meter Cardew?
SD

ps our dw is always rammed, the breakfast pots simply wait until the night wash, wouldn`t dream of using it without every inch of space being used

dallam20

Thanks so much for everyones advice. It's so nice how everyone on here takes the time to reply :T I will contact British Gas and see what they say. Thanks again

Dawn