Economy 7

[Chickadee]

Does anyone know what time Economy 7 runs?

I am not sure if it is 11pm - 6am or 12am - 7am or something different.

Mind you, knowing the electric companies it could be 1am to 1.05am!!!

Thanks.

[Ethel]

My economy 7 meter gains an hour every day, so I have to check it constantly.

Can't you tell by looking?

[gina32]

i remember being told by the electricity company that unless you have an awful lot of things being used during the night then economy 7 isnt worth it for the majority of people

[Ethel]

It is very easy to attach timers to your appliances that don't have them built in - then as well as heating and hot water you can run your washing machine, tumble drier and dishwasher during the night.

You could also use your slow cooker over night for super cheap cooking, and then it doesn't take much to reheat the food at meal times.

I set my breadmaker to be used during off peak too

[gina32]

but do you really use the items enough during the night to actually make it worthwhile?, you wouldnt use washer and tumbledryer everyday would you.

[ll_billym]

I spoke to my supplier and asked this and apparently it's different for different areas. So speak to them and check.

[Ethel]

Well my economy 7 works out at around 50% of my total electricity consumption, which isn't bad considering I have gas central heating - I do use the immersion heater when the heating is off.

[gina32]

and you pay more for the energy during the day so is it really worthwhile?

[TPG]

each utility company has a time list, the times are usually sent to your meter by radio waves, telling it to turn on or off, phone the company and ask them, or it may be stated on the back of a bill.

[gina32]

plus its not advisable to have goods on during the night, in case anything happens

[Ethel]

Yes, it's very worth while - I currenty pay �55 per month for my gas and electricty together.

I pay 4p per unit night rate and 15p per unit day rate. The standard rate without economy 7 is 14p.

So on standard rate 100 units would cost me �14.00
On economy 7 it costs me �9.50

I don't worry about leaving my appliance on at night - the freezer is on 24 hours a day, and at least I'm at home.

[gina32]

well if youre happy. i will not lleave any appliance, washer dryer and suchlike on over night or at all if im not in the house, i once had the tumber dryer on when i was there and it caught fire, god knows what would have happened if id have been out or in bed asleep!

[Chickadee]

Thanks for all of your answers.

I found out that my Economy 7 runs from 11.30 to 6.30.

I have Economy 7 because I have storage heaters, living in a flat with concrete flooring means pipes on show everywhere or expensive work putting them under the floor.

I used to always put my washing on a timer but stopped for some reason. I am going to start again because my bill has risen dramatically - I am all electric.

[gina32]

ethel 14p per unit, thats quite cheap, who are you with

[factor-fiction]

For economy 7 to be worthwhile you normally need at least 35-40% of your consumption to be in cheap rate time. By use of timers this can be achieved- you can set up washers and water heating to come on say between 5 and 7 and then put your tumble dryer on before 7.30. For someone like Ethel it can be effective but you have to be really disciplined. For some people it's not worth the trouble.

The hours vary and my company can't tell me my hours as another supplier fitted the meter, so told me to get up during the night at various times and see which meter was going round! to make it more complicated I have two periods -one from 12-1 and other something like 3- 7.30 . And it changes when clocks change.

I've never heard of radio waves being used to control timers-my timer is built into the meter.

[Ethel]

gina - I'm with Eon but have fixed my price plan some time ago. That was the price when I fixed, as I was considering coming off the Economy 7.

[gina32]

thanks im on eon and its slightly more than that, but im moving suppliers soon anyway so hopefully get a better deal

[BertiWooster]

.

[minkyt]

I checked 4 times with my supplier. When I went over to them in '99 I was told 12.30 - 7.30 (summer time), checked again in April 2006 as I felt my night usage was not high enough - answer given by email was the same, still not happy with that and by pure luck looked at my meter at 22.35 and the night time indicator was on. After emailing and phoning I have been told that it is from 22.30 - 0.00, 0.00 - 0.30, 2.30 - 7.30 (still confused) however I have monitored this myself (getting up during the night) and it's 22.30 - 0.30 - 2.30 - 7.30. Now arguing with the supplier as I've been putting on my appliances on at 0.00 for up to 2 hours, therefore using up to 1.5 hours of daytime units since I don't know when!!!!!