Any benefit from switching to Economy 7 tarrifs

[Wokman]

We recently moved into a new property which has had a new boiler A grade Worcester’s Greenstar gas boiler put in last year along with new radiators/thermostats. All the appliances we have are A star including a large American Fridge Freeze. We do our washing during the week (an A grade Bosch Washing machine).

I am wondering if there is any benefit of switching to an Economy 7 tariff. I think there is an Eco 7 meter fixed on the property, but we are on regular tariffs. We could move our washing to the weekend, but all the big energy appliances (boiler & american fridge) are on all day

Thanks in advance for the advice

 

[rebuke]

In your case, it would almost certainly work out more expensive for you to switch, as your day rate would go up. Moving your washing to the weekend wouldn't help, as with eco7 the cheap rate only applies at night (generally after midnight, but depends on the supplier as to the exact time).

Your gas boiler will use a negligible amount of electrical power, just enough to run a pump and a few control circuits, so is not worth worrying about...

 

[beinerts]

The short answer is no! E7 tariffs are normally only worth it if your heating and/or hot water are electric. The higher daytime tariff will negate any savings you make on the nighttime tariff.

 

[Wokman]

Thanks for this....Will take the advise and move to lower Online tariff rather than go down the E7 route.

Have a nice Easter

 

[ColJack]

do you mean the "eco 20-20" tariff?

it's 20% cheaper after 9 pm ( until when i don't know ) and on weekends.
( presumably when they have wind turbines still running and fewer factories to use it.. )

 

[Lectrician]

And your boiler may well use a steady flow of gas, but a minimal amount of electricity!

 

[Steve]

economy 7 was born out of a surplus of supply at night.

Traditional coal power stations cannot be turned off for the night, therefore the only way to make use of this surplus energy was to sell it. But to whom? Everybody sleeps at night. So storage heating was born.

Economy7 has seen a drop in demand, as more and more people discard storage heaters in favour of gas or oil. But there is still a night surplus. So they have come up with this 20:20 idea, to encourage us to use more electric after hours.

 

[ColJack]

don't worry, more and more supermarkets and such are staying open 24hrs and evening out the useage...

 

[Lectrician]

I was under the impression that it was the nuclear stations which could not quickly altr their demand.

 

[ColJack]

any of them that involve boiling water take time to get up to speed, so they prefer to not shut them down..

Hydro is available with about 60 seconds notice I believe...