Slow Cookers on Econ 7

tootles_2

Has anyone treid using their slow cooker on economy 7? Our runs from 1am to 8am just long enough to cook a beef stew on auto.

This is the first time I have used the cooker although I have had it for a few weeks.

I did my monthly shop today and I bought 2lbs of braising steak, I browned it in a frying pan and put it in with sliced carrots, onion, leeks,crushed garlic and some herbs, pan deglazed with red wine added a bovril cube and a tin of tomato's, I have set a timer to switch the cooker on Auto at 1am, it should be cooked by the time we get up in the morning and I can use some of it with dumplings tomorrow evening the rest will go into the freezer for use later in the month.

I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow.

Curry_Queen

I've cooked stocks and soups overnight on E7 ... as well as a rice pudding that I forgot about ... but be warned, you wake up to such delicious smells that it's hard to resisit eating them for breakfast :rotfl:

Oh, and don't forget, E7 will be back to 12-7am in a couple or three weeks too when the clocks go back

squeaky

Is it really worth the effort?

I ask as a total novice in this regard.

Somehwere along the line I figure I have to PAY for using E7. Do I have to use a certain amount of "normal" power to qualify for the lower rates of E7? Do I have to use a minimum amount of E7 to qualify for it?

How many years am I going to have to pay for the installation of E7 before I get my money back?

And the biggest question of all, 'cos I'm a bit slow today... why aren't I/we asking these questions on the utililities board where I'm I'm sure they've got dozens of different answers for us?

tootles_2

When this house was built it had storage heaters in it so an economy 7 circuit was already installed for the heaters, I use the electric during the night to do the washing and also during the winter to dry clothes as well as use the bread maker anything which works on electric will use the cheaper rate during the cheap hours in our case 1am to 8am. i.e. fridge, freezer central heating clocks etc. We do use quite a bit of electricity at night and it does work our cheaper for us......You do not have to use a certain amount of heat to qualify or to use a minimum amount. We have had several houses with E7 meters in. You would have to make enquires about getting an economy meter put in, in this area you can get the meter changed but do not know about any other areas, as you say the utility board should be able to help you.

Curry_Queen

It shouldn't actually cost anything to have the meter changed over Squeaky, at least Powergen didn't charge me anyway. All it means is that I now have two readings on my electric meter - rate 1 for night time and rate 2 for daytime useage - instead of the usual one.

I didn't actually request E7, it was a c0ck-up by Powergen when they changed my meter over from token to credit meter, so I've yet to work out if it's more beneficial for me to keep considering most of my electric is used during the day unless I make a concerted effort to run appliances such as the washing machine during the night

squeaky

Fair enough as descibed so far but I know for sure that companies are NOT in the business to give money away - they're in business to MAKE money.

So I'm wondering if my normal usage costs MORE than standard rates to cover for the CHEAP stuff I can get at specific late hours?

SOMEwhere, SOMEhow, SOMEone has to pay for this, and I DON'T want it to be me.

maryb

I use econ 7 a lot and set things on timer. it does save quite a bit but part of the reason I opted for it and the reason the utility companies can make it cheaper is an environmental consideration. By running machines overnight you are using what would otherwise be surplus generating capacity and thereby reducing the number of plants needed to service demand

squeaky

That's a thought, yes

se999

When we were in a house with Economy 7 we had some plug in 'timers' so that we could delay things starting until economy 7 came on. Most of our appliances didn't have built in timers, and we found the plug in ones simpler anyway. We used this for the washing machine, but I assume you could use it for slowcookers or breadmakers if they don't have a delayed start option.

I'm wary about using things at night though, so we do have smoke alarms and test them regularly.

Edit - the timers are the same sort that you can use to plug lamps etc into when you're on holiday to make the house look occupied.

paul_h

squeaky wrote:

Fair enough as descibed so far but I know for sure that companies are NOT in the business to give money away - they're in business to MAKE money.

So I'm wondering if my normal usage costs MORE than standard rates to cover for the CHEAP stuff I can get at specific late hours?

SOMEwhere, SOMEhow, SOMEone has to pay for this, and I DON'T want it to be me.

Hi squeaky, I've been on economy 7 for many years - you pay a slightly higher standing charge (or slightly higher primary rate if your on a 'no standing charge' type tariff) and a some suppliers charge a slightly higher day rate.

In my experience, however, I found that the usual things which were running 24hrs - fridge, freezer, etc. - save enough to cover this small extra cost. Real savings can be made if you can organise power hungry devices like washing machines, tumbledryers,etc., to come on at e7 rates.

maryb is correct and makes a very sound point - The reason the electricity generators do this is that even after shutting down what capacity they can, overnight there is a surplus of electricity when people are not using it - it cannot be 'stored' and this is a constant problem for the electricity companies. The e7 tariffs were primarily to encourage people to install storage heating and to encourage more even 24hr usage.

Incidentally, now that oil and gas prices are so high, e7 storage heating is now quite an attractive proposition - the more sophisticated heaters available now are more efficient and actually work, giving heat when you need it in the evening.

Seem to have got a bit carried away there, but as an electrician with 20+ yrs experience, I worked out the numbers years ago, and you can make worthwhile savings by using the plug in timers.

Paul

squeaky

Food for thought. I'll go see what the utitlities forum has to offer on the subject shortly