Economy 7 Off Peak hours

Haarlem

The time switch, if the circuits are wired correctly switches both the storeage heater circuits on, and the meter to record on the low rate.

If it was switching at 5.00pm you were winning, as all your electricity useage of all appliances were being recorded at the low rate at 5.00pm and you are loosing out now.

I will accept that if your circuits are wired incorrectly then you are right

maxmycardagain

christ almighty.........

ALL THE WIRING WAS FINE

the METER wasnt switching at 5pm, the TIMER was though, the meter knew the correct time (for rate 1/rate 2)

the timer is BETWEEN the meter and night switchboard, it doesnt/didnt switch the meter

the house "cheap rate ring main" (NSR) was fine

i didnt do 5 years electrical apprenticeship not to understand a basic item like a meter and (seperate) timing device, pity i didnt check BEFORE the big bill

should i draw a schematic wiring diagram?

the (fine) "NSR" circuit was being fed "DAY" electric which became cheap rate at the start of the correct E7 period

maxmycardagain

This the system with the old mechanical timeswitch

if the timer allows peak rate electricity through to the NSR circuit then your bill to use them treble

maxmycardagain

in this example, you can see the incoming supply (2 grey wires bottom left, from the 2 mains fuses) going to the meter (you can see "LOW" and "NORMAL" rates on the METER

the TIMESWITCH" in this case is radio set "ECONOMY 7 RADIO TELESWITCH" and FOUR grey wires run below it, 2 to the standard RCD/Appliand board in the popert and 2 to the NSR switchboard


if that timer/teleswitch allowed peak rate leccy thru the NSR circuit would be live at 12p/unit not the 5p/unit charged after 11.30pm (ish)

maxmycardagain

my replaced timeswitch was a EMEB installation

The East Midlands Electricity Board (or EMEB) was formed in 1947, one of the 12 area electricity boards specified under the Electricity Act 1947.

Haarlem

What a coincidence, I worked for EMEB which became Powergen and finally Eon for 37 years, 20 of these directly involved in off peak installations - White Meter - RHT 1, 2, 3 and E7.

Your very clear diagram shows the original installation was wrong and the timeswitch should have a connection to the meter to control its recording status in line with the NSR being switched on. It clearly does not conform with the supply regulations for controlling multi rate meters and their associated circuits from a Distribution Company angle.

In the picture you posted you can see the connection from the time switch to the meter which would switch from high to low rate when the NSRs were swiched on by the timeswitch. This does not appear in your diagram so I can only assume your original installation was wrong.

How did the meter switch between the high and low rate? There is only one time switch, changing the meter and switching on the off peak circuits. You appear to have a good case to get a refund for as many years as you can.

The timeswitch, whether mecanical or teleswitch has always controlled both the off peak circuits and the switching of the meter to record high and low rates. One reason for this was to ensure you were not charged at the high rate when the storeage heaters were charging up, even if the mechanical time switch was not set to the correct time. This would prevent disputes like yours.

Its a pity that you live in an area where the low rate starts at 11.30, as this will finish at 06.30. Teleswitch switching is very accurate to the minute. I live in the East Midlands where the low rate is 01.00 to 08.00 if you have a tleswitch all the year round so I benefit for 2 hours using all my electrical appliances at the cheap rate, getting up around 06.00 and leaving the house at 08.30. I have gas central heating, but my low rate consumtion is 40% in summer and 30% in winter giving me a nice little saving being on E7. When smart meters are rolled out, I hope to take advantage of the many more cheaper time periods that will be offered to customers.

maxmycardagain

im glad you mention the times for peak and off-peak (cant call em cheap)

BritGas, when asked, couldnt tell me!

they tried googling it!

in my case Powergen decide locally (as the local generator), but id have thought BG (as my supplier) would have known

after taking readings and watching the meter, it seems "day rate" starts at 08.30 (winter) meaning it must end at 01.30, of course our meter thinks its winter now as the clock on it doesnt change, in winter the clock and the rate times will coincide (for 6 months...)

ive a energy monitor on my desk now, its showing 3-4p an hour (£2/day total, without the NSRs live)

The bit that hurt was when the BG operator got me switched (finally) to websaver9 and said "everyone in our office is on that, youd have saved £60 of your last bill"

wouldnt it work out better for them to make all rates the same/lowest and easy to work out and just save on the required staff figure to have people ringing to sort out the mess all the tariffs and other things cause?

maxmycardagain

BG had to give me a rebate on the lack of E7 tarrifs off my £770 (feb) bill and another £46 last week as they hadnt requested my old installation be tested back at on-stream, then again, they arent short of a few bob

ive now got the washer on a timer, and am doing away with a fridge we run with not much in it, then we need a shower to cut down on immersion useage for baths, or just stop washing....then cooking and the bill will be lower, maybe feed the NSRs from a wind turbine too...

rmoxford

Good picture of the Radio Teleswitch.

It's worth noting if you have one of these radio controlled timers that in some areas they just guarantee 7hrs off-peak in 24hr. Now its usually in the middle of the night but doesn't have to be. I'm lucky most weekends it moves to a more civilised 0430-1130 slot so I get to cook my sunday fry up and do all my washing on a cheap tariff!

But this could catch you out if you are using separate plug top timers on say your dishwasher, washing machine or even the specialist timers sold for use with your immersion heater.

Premier_2

rmoxford wrote: »

Go...I'm lucky most weekends it moves to a more civilised 0430-1130 ...

Where do you live?

Whilst the switching times vary slightly (imagine the surge if all storage heaters came on exactly at midnight) and sometimes it's not even one continuous 7 hour period, I've not come across teleswitching of the times you suggest.