Economy 7 Off Peak hours

aj9648

That maybe true actually - it does have 2 elements so I will try replacing one

Is it an easy job to replace? or do I need to get someone in?

espresso

aj9648 wrote: »

That maybe true actually - it does have 2 elements so I will try replacing one

Is it an easy job to replace? or do I need to get someone in?

Well I would replace it myself but it obviously depends on your capabilities. See this thread here

maxmycardagain

Economy 7 Nightmare....

In a property for 6 months, bill lands --- £777 :mad:

Then I find BG didnt have us on E7, so they had to calculate a rebate, as having NSR (AKA leccy-gobblers) you must be on a cheap night tariff - or just dont use

THEN, after much head scratching i discovered (by switching the whole NSR circuit off and back on 48 hours later when they were cold) that they were getting leccy at 5.30pm, at 12p a unit, not in the "E7 zone" at 5p/unit

The old Horsmann mechanical timer was faulty, BG sent onstream to check the meter and timer, in fact they ripped it all out and put a new digital unit in

Im still out of pocket but no-one accepts responsibility, as onstream disposed of the old unit without testing, but BG have agreed that come february they will compare my bill then with the last winter bill and refund if there is any major difference, the last winter one had high day useage (due to the timer switching on at 5.30pm) and also night useage (i suspect once ON it wasnt going OFF till the end of the E& period.

If you have 1 of the old mechanical time-switches i suggest you check exactly what its doing as they are all way past thier sell-by dates.

Ref "boost" switches, a sparky told me yesterday that unless there are TWO leads upto your immersion its unlikely you have TWO elements and "boost" just bypasses the timer

Haarlem

maxmycardagain wrote: »

Economy 7 Nightmare....


THEN, after much head scratching i discovered (by switching the whole NSR circuit off and back on 48 hours later when they were cold) that they were getting leccy at 5.30pm, at 12p a unit, not in the "E7 zone" at 5p/unit

If the night storage heater circuits are installed correctly they should be controlled by the timeswich that also controls the meter swicting to the lower rate. The night storage heater circuits should be dead when the meter is recording the higher rate.

This means the heaters only charge up at the lower rate, and it is impossible to charge them at the higher rate.

maxmycardagain

Haarlem wrote: »

If the night storage heater circuits are installed correctly they should be controlled by the timeswich that also controls the meter swicting to the lower rate. The night storage heater circuits should be dead when the meter is recording the higher rate.

This means the heaters only charge up at the lower rate, and it is impossible to charge them at the higher rate.[/QUOTE]

Except if the timer is faulty and switching the supply through to the NSR circuit at 5.30pm, as was happening

3 NSR at 3kwh on a 6 hours a day x 146 days billing at 9p/unit over the cheap rate

i make that a lot of money

Haarlem

maxmycardagain wrote: »

Haarlem wrote: »

If the night storage heater circuits are installed correctly they should be controlled by the timeswich that also controls the meter swicting to the lower rate. The night storage heater circuits should be dead when the meter is recording the higher rate.

This means the heaters only charge up at the lower rate, and it is impossible to charge them at the higher rate.[/QUOTE]

Except if the timer is faulty and switching the supply through to the NSR circuit at 5.30pm, as was happening

3 NSR at 3kwh on a 6 hours a day x 146 days billing at 9p/unit over the cheap rate

i make that a lot of money

I stand by what I posted. If the wiring is correct, it is impossible to charge the storage heaters at the higher rate. The meter and circuits are switched at the same time. I was involved for 20 years installing storage heaters.

If the circuits were not installed in the correct way, and in line with the requirements then you have a problem.

maxmycardagain

ok, so why (with the old TIMER) did the heaters warm up at 5.30pm, and once the new TIMER was fitted they didnt get warmed up (i.e. start "charging") till E7 started?

the wiring in the property/to the NSR switch box wasnt altered

the TIMER was faulty feeding DAY rate electric to the NIGHT storage heaters, or did Bgas fit the new TIMER for fun?...

maxmycardagain

it is impossible to charge the storage heaters at the higher rate

no it isnt, not if the FAULTY TIMER feeds them 5 hours early

think about it

maxmycardagain

its quite simple, but can be quite baffling till the penny drops

a property without NSRs probably wont have economy 7, nor a 2 rate meter

if you have NSRs, due to thier combined high consumption, a 2 rate meter (rate 1 and rate 2) is fitted

during the day/high rate. the NSR ring main isnt fed with a supply, only the day rate reading should be increase

at the start of the Economy 7 rate period, a TIMER allows a supply to the NSR ring main, supplying it with CHEAP RATE electric

in modern digital combined meter-timers all this is in one unit

the old mechanical timers (seperate to the meter) did the job via cogs and clockwork motors, with "tabs" controlling the "on" and "off" switching (to the NSR ring main, via thier own seperate "NSR only switchboard"

the problems arise when the 40 year old mechanical ON/OFF switches succumb to the ravages of time and go gaga....and allow PEAK rate electric onto the CHEAP rate circuit for the NSRs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_7

Timing and switchover

Economy 7 Meter and Teleswitcher

The wiring in the house must be changed unless the wiring was installed with Economy 7 in mind, or devices have individual timers. The night storage heaters and hot water boilers are generally on a separate circuit which is only switched on when the night rate is activated. But any electrical appliance on an ordinary circuit during this period also runs at the lower rate of billing, such as a dish washer or washing machine set to start using a timing device. Some such machines have timers built-in partly for this purpose, for example Bosch dishwashers.[1]
In newer houses, a digital meter automatically switches to record both ranges. The wiring in the house is rarely different for Economy 7. Many consumers will however choose to set devices such as storage heaters and water heaters, to turn on during the hours of Economy 7 to save money. Few houses now have devices controlled solely by the timer on the electricity meter itself.

no, and i know why.....

maxmycardagain

I would advise any E7 customer (especially those with NSRs) who still have the old mechanical timers fitted (and even those who do not maybe) to take readings daily once they start using the NSRs

the first day they are back on, switch the spurs or switchboard on at 5pm, check hourly to see when they start warming up

if NSRS get day rate electric its THREE times the cost of cheap rate