economy 7 heating and showers?

[jack99]

I have just moved into a flat that has economy 7 heating and I am wanting to fit the most powerful, but most cost effecient to run shower. I have a hot water tank with a cold water storage tank attached to it. Is it going to be better to fit a 10.5kw electric shower, or would I be able to have a thermostatic mixer shower fitted? Any advice would be most appreciated.

[Ethel]

It all depends what time you want to shower, and when you have cheap electricity.

[tamborine]

Have just had a power shower replaced at �350 for shower & �150 labour - horrific price!

[buildersmate]

Economy7 runs at night - typically from say 11 until 5am.
Unless you are accustomed to having very early morning showers, I don't see how the power shower solution minimises your costs.
Have you checked that the DHW immersion heater is wired to run off the Economy7 circuit anyway? - many are not.

[buildersmate]

It was an approximation but you are probably right, given the clue is in the name of the tariff.
Without wishing to seem picky, your second para surely contradicts your third. Your third para is correct and is the whole point - the Economy7 only generally feeds the rads - other electrical usage at night is often charged at normal tariff, unless the house is wired to switch some or all the circuits over to E7.

[Ethel]

I have two meters, one economy 7 night rate and one day rate, but no electric heating. I run my washing machine, dishwaher, tumble dryer, immersion heater on cheap rate electricity, and my oven and slow cooker when practical.

So, unless you have storage heaters you should consider coming off Economy 7. It is not usually practical to run these appliances during the night in a flat because of the noise and you pay more for daytime electricity.

[annie0000]

I would say that unless you need hot water for anything else, I would go with the electric shower - otherwise you are heating a tank of water that you are not using. Way nack in my single days, I had a flat with night storage heaters and I did as ethel does and ran my washing machine through the night and if I did need a tank of water, I heating it at night as well. Otherwise I didn't bother with hot water, used an electric shower and bolied the kettle for the few dishes I used - usually heated a tank at the weekend to do the cleaning and to treat myself to a bath.