Worth it to have Economy 7?

[MM]

I was just checking my expected electricity bill and compared Southern Electric's tariffs for standard domestic consumption (11.51p a unit in my area) against their Economy 7 Night Rate (5.06p), i.e. a lot cheaper.

So I was wondering, does it cost to have an additional meter and what could I do with the cheaper electricity? I have no night storage heaters. Are they worth getting? I do have oil-filled electric radiators for a couple of rooms just to take the chill off and they are very effective. I could get more.

I'm just thinking about the horrendous rise in domestic oil prices and trying to look for alternative methods of heating for the future, at least until I can eventually move to a house with a chimney and start burning wood.

MM

[tim....]

Nothing just to change the meter.

E7 is only of any use to you if you change at least 30% of your electricity usage to overnight.

Using it for a heating source that is on 24/7 will not reduce your bills.

tim

[ARWadsworth]

It usually needs to be nearer 40% of night usage to make a saving. You also will make no savings if you have a low electricity consumption as the standing charges are much higher.

[Maria]

Do *not* have economy 7 unless you have storage heaters - your day rate is massive. Why not get a chimney built? Be warned - even solid fuels are almost as expensive these days.

[Maria]

Not only will it not reduce the bills, it might send them sky high. This is what was making my bill so enormous.

[Dave Liquorice]

In fact it will probably make them bigger as daytime E7 rates are higher than standard tariff rates.

As for the OP trying to reduce his energy bill all sources have gone up. My lecky is 10p/kwhr, the last lot of oil was 43.5p/l or roughly

4.35p/kwHr but that's input you have to factor in boiler efficiency say 80% so thats about 5.4p/kwhr output. Heating oil is now hitting 60p/l (*) so 7.5p/kwhr output the gap is closing. In fact oil is more expensive than cheap rate E7 but is far more convient, heat when you want it and it doesn't run out if it suddenly gets cold(er).

(*) Yes, really. It's shot up from the mid 40's p/l since this cold weather started. Mostly down to demand and "difficulties in distribution" rather than underlying crude price though that has risen as well but shouldn't have come through yet.

[Ret.]

I'm fortunate to be on mains gas. Two years ago I had my conventional (30 years old!) gas boiler replaced with a modern Worcester Bosch condensing combi. The old hot water tank has gone (and the airing cupboard in the bathroom replaced with a walk-in shower) as has all the tanks and pipework in the loft.

I have been astonished at how much less gas we are now using. Despite having reduced my monthly direct debit gas payment, I have still just received a £145.00 refund because a positive balance had built up.

Only heating water when you actually turn on a hot tap - rather than heating a tank-full which you may never use, makes all the difference - as does using a more efficient boiler for the central heating.

We are over the moon at the savings we have made in fuel costs the past two years.

[Man at B&Q]

Oil *filled* radiators? They do not consume oil.

MBQ

[Jules Richardson]

We have a setup over here where any high-power electric devices[1] that don't *have* to be on all the time are on a separate meter - the power company can remotely turn power to them on and off (which they do at periods of peak demand so they can avoid having to buy in extra capacity from the grid). In return we get stupidly-cheap electricity for those devices.

[1] slab heat, storage heat, baseboard heat, water heater, clothes dryer etc.

Do any UK power companies offer that? I never heard of it when I was living in the UK - just E7 - but maybe it's something that a few of them are doing now.

We have a propane-burning furnace which (in theory) picks up the slack when the 14KW or so of 'leccy heaters are shut off. Usually our winter heating bills end up being split pretty much evenly between electric and propane, and the propane market actually seems quite volatile - there have been a times where electric heat has worked out significantly cheaper.

cheers

Jules

[AlanG]

You will end up paying higher bills. The day rate for power is much higher to compensate for the low night rate. You need to use a hell of a lot of power at night to come out ahead. We discovered that fact after 8 years here with a double meter when we managed to get a sight of someone else's bill and found our day rate was double what the were paying

Many years ago our entire estate was found to have been built with faulty flues. One of the neighbours instead of ripping the flue out just knocked a hole in the wall and ran a stove pipe out and up the outside. Then he bricked up around the pipe. Did it all himself in a weekend. Of course I don't know whether it wolud be lawful to do that today after Prescott buggered up the DIY hous maintenance business.

[AlanG]

Yes we had that problem. There was a night meter already installed when we bough this place. We were paying double the normal day rate for years until we found out what the actual rates were. They didn't take the extra meter out just added the readings together.

Welcome to rip off Britain.

Currently trying to reach the insurance company. Gutters and pipes have come off the roof. When it melts we may get flooding upstairs. I estmate at least £400 for repairs. Insurance company only puts me on hold :(

[Mike Clarke]

Not yet, but there are plans to eventually force "smart meters" onto us. In theory these could be a good thing but one can't help thinking that the power companies will leap at the opportunity to abuse them and increase revenue by imposing excessively high charges at times of high demand without giving us the benefit of lower charges in the slack periods.

[Maria]

I had a roof with no gutters for ages - nothing happened except a bit of a damp patch on a wall, which was cured as soon as the guttering was replaced. The problem with house insurance is always the same - so many people are trying to call because so many have been affected that you can't get through! Last time we lost some tiles in a high wind, I just got a roof monkey to fix it for 40 quid. Probably cheaper than claiming anyway.

[Chris J Dixon]

What is absolutely certain is that working out what is the best deal will become even more of a minefield than it is already.

Chris

[Andy Dingley]

Check the effects on your daily use too. Economy 7 usually puts the daily unit rate and the standing charges up by so much that it's not worth it, even if the night-time was free.

[Dave Liquorice]

Equipower do E7 with not standing charge, even a hidden one. Their per unit prices are above the cheapest tarrifs out there but for low users only paying for what you use is still worth while.

I'd give a guide to their E7 prices but they have broken their website by having a critical part of it done in Flash. So much for an ethical social venture company. Many people with accesabilty problems cannot use Flash.

[Mark.]

Southern Region Standard 12.78p E7 15.54p day--5.43p night, all inc Vat

p.s even Linux works perfectly with flash these days ;(

-

[tim....]

How is you failing to check the rate stated on your bill with the freely available rates elsewhere, a rip-off?

[Ret.]

Exactly my thoughts. It is hardly the fault of the energy company if Alang is too thick to check what tariff he is on when he moves into a new home...

[AlanG]

Not ours. The water gets onto the top of the wall and seeps into the brickwork. Destroys the wall paper and blows the plaster. We had this problem last year. I had new gutter fitted in February and spent a month doing the redecorating myself.

There are gutters off all over this area. An enterprising repair man has just gone round posting a quote through every door with gutter/drainpipe damage. Quite reasonable estimate too. I know since it is about what I paid in February but he has promised to double up the support brackets. This time I get to claim on insurance too.

I do that anyway for anything under the excess. We have to pay the first £150 anyway.