Old electric storage heater and EC7

phildamb

Hi All,

First post in this section as Ive just moved to a new place. I inherited scottish power on an economy 7 tariff (which I didnt know until today) and I have a very old storage heater attached to the wall (a Creda 79167C) Ive asked the land lord if they will replace it with a newer more efficient one. The problem I have is that I think economy 7 is completely incompatible with the way I would need to live. Im switching to EON but have to wait the 28 days (10 days left) and I will be on teh ElectricyOnline extra saver 6 tariff and according to uswitch should be £19 a year cheaper. Now have I done the right thing or should I wait and see if the landlord will change the heater as I dont like the idea of needing to know the day before if Im going to be cold. At the moment using a 1.2kw flat panel oil radiator which seems to use about 2 units after being on for 3-4 hours on full.

Im willing to listen to all recommendations and as I dont know how much my electricity is going to cost me monthly Im willing to take any advice to make sure I dont get a shock and cant afford to heat the place that I rent.

Cheers

Garz

We dont live your lifestyle so your the better judge, but if you can provide any extra details the members will give you more helpful advice. Regarding the E7, some say you only need 10% of usage to be consumed in the OP hours to benefit from this setup. The more appliances you can run in these hours the better you can make use of it.

I doubt the L'L will change your heater(s) just because you want a more efficient model. My advice is to watch your usage day and night to see your activity periods over say a week. Then try as much of your normal usage to come on night rate and compare.

phildamb

Garz wrote: »

We dont live your lifestyle so your the better judge, but if you can provide any extra details the members will give you more helpful advice. Regarding the E7, some say you only need 10% of usage to be consumed in the OP hours to benefit from this setup. The more appliances you can run in these hours the better you can make use of it.

I doubt the L'L will change your heater(s) just because you want a more efficient model. My advice is to watch your usage day and night to see your activity periods over say a week. Then try as much of your normal usage to come on night rate and compare.

Sorry what I meant by lifestyle..I would only need to consume most of my energy after 6 or 7 pm. For example washing clothes I cant do it during the nigth period when its cheapest as im not allowed to make any audible noise after 11pm on my tennancy. Ive replaced all the light bulbs with energy saving highest wattage is now 11W. I use the microwave convection cooker rather than the electric oven provided. So the way I feel is that I will never be able to use the electricy during the cheapest period Im not even sure if the walls to this flat are insulated...

Cardew

The break even point where E7 becomes viable varies between as low as 10% (I have heard) and 30% of total consumption on E7.

The factors that affect it are where you live, Company and tariff you have, amount you use.

However with storage heating it really is a 'no brainer' you stay on E7, but as stated above try to maximise consumption at night, immersion heater, appliances.

If you do decide to not use the storage heater, it becomes a far more difficult decision - I wouldn't advise not using storage heater though, just get it working properly.

JP86

Hi everybody,

I'm having a bit of trouble with EON. I'm a student and live in a two bedroom flat. Everythings electric as we have no gas supply and we are on economy 7 with EON. We have storage heaters.

We have a storage heater in the hallway, living room and bedroom 1.
Bedroom 2 has a weird heater but we never use that.
Bathroom has a fan heater
Kitchen has a plinth heater (also electric appliances, fridge and freezer)
Living room also has a fireplace (electric)

For the quarter ending 22/12/07 the bill came to £227:eek: . In this quarter we used everything as and when we wanted. All the heaters on, we even left them over the weekend when we went home so it wouldnt be cold when we got back.

After the bill came for £227, as students we decided we needed to make some serious cut backs!

We know don't use the storage heaters at all, as we figured these cost a bomb. We only leave the bedroom one on, and thats turned down to one.
The bathroom heaters on for about 5-10mins daily (about 2kw). The plinth heater about the same (about 2kw). In the living room we use a halogen heater (400/800W) which is used on 400W for quite a while. Nothings left on over the weekend not even the water heater. But our bill on 26/03/2008 came to £260:eek: . I have checked my meater readings and all seems to be in order!!! is someone hacking my meter.

I am really confused! We are student and therefore do not have huge expense accounts, i don't understand where the extra moneys gone. Is this about right for our dwellings. We played with idea of changing but were waiting for all companies to change. We don't have a phone line either and calling 0845 from a mobile is financial suicide. LOL.

PS we live in coventry under east midlands electricity.
Any help would be much appreciated :beer: ,

Thank You JP

JP86

Hi everybody,

I'm having a bit of trouble with EON. I'm a student and live in a two bedroom flat. Everythings electric as we have no gas supply and we are on economy 7 with EON. We have storage heaters.

We have a storage heater in the hallway, living room and bedroom 1.
Bedroom 2 has a weird heater but we never use that.
Bathroom has a fan heater
Kitchen has a plinth heater (also electric appliances, fridge and freezer)
Living room also has a fireplace (electric)

For the quarter ending 22/12/07 the bill came to £227:eek: . In this quarter we used everything as and when we wanted. All the heaters on, we even left them over the weekend when we went home so it wouldnt be cold when we got back.

After the bill came for £227, as students we decided we needed to make some serious cut backs!

We know don't use the storage heaters at all, as we figured these cost a bomb. We only leave the bedroom one on, and thats turned down to one.
The bathroom heaters on for about 5-10mins daily (about 2kw). The plinth heater about the same (about 2kw). In the living room we use a halogen heater (400/800W) which is used on 400W for quite a while. Nothings left on over the weekend not even the water heater. But our bill on 26/03/2008 came to £260:eek: . I have checked my meater readings and all seems to be in order!!! is someone hacking my meter.

I am really confused! We are student and therefore do not have huge expense accounts, i don't understand where the extra moneys gone. Is this about right for our dwellings. We played with idea of changing but were waiting for all companies to change. We don't have a phone line either and calling 0845 from a mobile is financial suicide. LOL.

PS we live in coventry under east midlands electricity.
Any help would be much appreciated :beer: ,

Thank You JP

mute_posting

Hi JP

are your bills from readings or estimates?

Also do you know how many units you have used and the price of those units (including any standing charges etc)?

MP

Garz

Hi JP, phil might not want you hijacking his thread but its too late now

I take it as students you will be on a prepayment meter, it may be worth checking out the debt rates as often in them accomodations you could be still on the previous tennants tariff which could be extortionate.

BTW theres no point in being cold, the storage heaters draw the electric on the cheaper rate and slowly release it over the day. If you try to heat up the property in the day you will be paying more so dont overlook them.

For comparisons sake it may not be that bad. I basically have gas and electric in a 2 bed house, if I add both gas and electric for the month they combine to £70 roughly. As you rely purely on electric which is a tad dearer than gas it seems not far off the money.

Dont panic just start reducing wasteful habits like leaving lights on, standby appliances etc.

Helen819

Hi,just read your thread about storage heaters ,my parents,both just under 60,have had there latest bill in yesterday and its a massive,£725 quid.Now when my mother picked herself up of the floor,finished her crying,and screaming,had a good look at it and all seems right.they live in a 2 bed flat,not a big one,they have no gas at all.1 heater in the front room,1 in b/room.one on landing thats it.Now they have had it on sometimes but they are very very careful,there are just the two of them there.My mother doesnt know wot the wheather is gonna be like a day in advance thats why mainly they dont use it.ive told her to ring them up which she has and they comming to check the system itself.b4 this her highest bill was £280,so there is quite a margin.these storage heaters are a nightmare for my parents,now my father is gonna insist that they dont have them on at all,so this leaves poor mother freezing all day while father is at work in a nice office keeping warm.My mother gets incapacity benefit due to her not being able to work ,father just gets a few quid for a few hours work that is available.So they dont have much money.I say abolish the storage heaters.

mute_posting

Helen819 wrote: »

I say abolish the storage heaters.

Admittedly, Electric heating is probably THE most expensive way going to heat a home. However, if it is operated correctly on the correct tarrif, it can work out reasonable when no other options are available.

Have you folks made sure that they havn't (inadvertantly) got any boost switched on during peak hours?

Is the bill from a reading or an estimate? are they on the most suitable tarrif (at least Economy 7, but if possible heatwise or economy 10)?

MP

high-rise_andrew

I'm in agreement about abolishing storage heaters. But only the type I have, OVER 20yrs old. Th rooms are warm in the morning but the heaters are cool around 6pm when you really need the warmth. We do have concrete walls but a Scottish Power recommended improvement of "Dryline Walls" for around £390 whatever they are, there is no way on benefit I could ever save that amount of money from benefit using the Credit Union. Am I the only one who thinks that energy measures costing a fortune is folk talking out their own rectums??