Economy 7-How does it work, will I save money?

kiwichick

Hi All,

Bit of a daft question for you all

I am from NZ and have not come across economy 7 before now, can anybody tell me how it works, will I save money etc.

We are moving to a 3 bed semi in dec and I know it will cost more to run, also getting a tumble dryer for the winter. Am wondering how it works so I can do it all the cheapest way poss.

Ta,
Al.

Rikki

On Economy 7 you have two tarrif charges. Day time is the most expensive to use electric. Night time is considerably cheaper and the best time to use electrical appliences such as washing machines, dish washers and tumble dryers etc. Put them on timers.

Hope this helps

black-saturn

Thanks for that but does anyone know what the time frame is? Is it something like 11pm to 7pm? I try to do as many electrical things as I can at night but living in a small house you can't really have the washing machine on at night because it keeps you awake. I have done a stew in a slow cooker overnight though.

Rikki

I think its 1am till 6am I'll have a check. It did alter a few years back.

pattycake

I have this in my house. In summer the cheap electricity is from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. This changes when the clocks go back, ie. midnight to 7 a.m.

I heat my water overnight on a timer. Run my dishwasher and washing machine also on timers.

Works well enough for me.

The daytime rate is higher than a 24 hour tariff. I did do a comparison to see if it would be cheaper to change and I was better off with the Economy 7.

Robert5988

You really need to do your homework on this, to find out if it will pay for you to be on E7.

Tariffs vary not only by Utility provider but by the district you live in.

Your useage at night to achieve a 'break even' point can vary between 0% and 40%.

If you have Gas it is still cheaper to use that to heat water than E7 in almost all cases.

helen21_2

I thought you had to have electric heating to qualify having economy 7 tariffs? Didnt think everyone could just choose to have it?

Rikki

helen21 wrote:

I thought you had to have electric heating to qualify having economy 7 tariffs? Didnt think everyone could just choose to have it?

I believe they just called it economy 7 and it was mainly for charging up storage heaters at night when the tarrif was cheaper. But as far as I am aware it is avaliable to anybody who requests it.

paul_h

helen21 wrote:

I thought you had to have electric heating to qualify having economy 7 tariffs? Didnt think everyone could just choose to have it?

Anyone can be on the economy7 tariffs, they've always worked out cheaper for me

Make sure you're with a supplier who encourages economy7 use with good rates - some suppliers do not want this business as there is less profit to be made and reflect this in their pricing.

As robert5988 says though, if you're on mains gas, forget e7 for heating your water - gas will always be cheaper.

helen21_2

So if you heat by gas, cook by gas you can still get economy 7 tariff?
When i enquired about it (a few years ago mind) i was told you had to meet a certain criteria to get it!

Rikki

Find out what the criteria is? I'm sure there is no reason why you can't have it if you wanted.

Ecomony 7 is fitted as standard on most new builds.
The day time charge for the electric is more expensive then the 24 hour standard charge but the night time is under half that cost.