Providing the water tank is properly lagged then it should be okay as long as you don't keep using the boost and of course it is set to timer. The tank should be large enough to usually last all day on the overnight charge otherwise it is too small.
never use the boost and water does last all day, the issue I have is it is set to timer (as in pic above) but I don't know what the times are - have tried finding somewhere that gives me an on/off time/s but cannot find anything.
Will keep things turned off and not use the electric heaters to see if that works
I don't know if this has anything to do with the hot water and when it's heated up.
Also, I took a meter reading this morning about 9.30/10am (when E7 low rate should have stopped - EDF say theirs stops at 8am and I wasn't even awake at that time), then just looked again just now and the low reading has gone up by 4 units. How would that happen?
The day reading has gone up by 8 units since this morning - bearing in mind I do work from home, is that normal? I'll take another reading about the same time tomorrow to get a full 24 hours reading to see how many units were used.
We're with Southern Electric and they told us that the savings we were getting on E7 wernt covering the charge to be on it ,put a single tariff meter in.We only had timers for washing machine and dishwashers heating and water by gas.Ring your suppliers customer service for advice
To me that looks like the timed power to storage heater consumer unit.It may be set incorrectly and metering your use incorrectly.Is the time set correctly ,it may be sealed by your provider and not adjustable by yourself.We had to take meter readings at different times of day and night for the customer service people to help,it turned out the E7 and been registered as day and day registered E7 but as they had made mistake wrote the excess charges off.Thats why we were glad to go on a single tariff
Sorry looked at your timer picture and I think you should have two cables feeding it,one from your E7 supply live between 0100 and 0800 and the other one constantly live from your regular consumer unit for if you need to top up albeit at a higher cost.You usually have two immersion elements,top one for the boost and bottom one for E7
Today I basically took a reading and worked out my electric at £603.74 - that's usage on both tariffs plus the standing charge. Thats since 20 November 2012. Minus what we have in credit - £176 thats about £400 and something owing. We're not ridiculous about heaters and usually only have one on in the evening, we have a tumble dryer but it's not used that much - hang stuff on clothes horse, I'm worried that if with the meter reading issue with edf if I get them involved they're going to bump up my monthly payments by a ridiculous amount. The 2nd pic I posted, the cover doesn't open so im assuming
Sorry on phone and couldn't edit above post. I'm assuming that edf will have to come take a look if I'm querying an issue when the e7 is getting charged. I hate this, it's ridiculous :-(
Looking at your setup, your water heater timer will switch on at the same time your main time clock switches onto the low rate. This time clock situated next to your meter, does 2 things - first it switches your meter onto the low rate and second it switches on the power supply to any off-peak outlets (usually this is what storage heaters are hooked up to) and, in this case, what your water heater switch is connected to. This time clock should come on between 11pm and midnight and go off between 7 and 8am.
Thanks. My water heater switch thing in the kitchen - first photo I posted - has a light on it which regularly comes on and then goes off during the day - shouldn't that light just be on when the water is being heated, which as you say, should just be at night. I also have an on/off switch next to the water tank
I know some companies are different with their low usage times - edf is come on at midnight and off at 8am, so how do they know it's right if its what looks like a manual meter (2nd pic) next to the main meter
Thanks. My water heater switch thing in the kitchen - first photo I posted - has a light on it which regularly comes on and then goes off during the day - shouldn't that light just be on when the water is being heated, which as you say, should just be at night. I also have an on/off switch next to the water tank
In your setup, the cheap rate is determined by the time clock situated next to your meter. The fixed plastic lug on the time clock should match up with the current time of day (give or take an hour depending on whether we're on GMT or BST). Check this out, as it's quite common for these electro-mechanical time clocks to lose time.
Ok, just checked the clock next to the meter - there is a white arrow that says time on it and thats pointing at 17.30 ish - which is completely wrong! I can see two metal tags - one saying on and one saying off. On is set at 23, off is set at 7.45 ish. I'm guessing that may be part of my issue?
Ok, just checked the clock next to the meter - there is a white arrow that says time on it and thats pointing at 17.30 ish - which is completely wrong! I can see two metal tags - one saying on and one saying off. On is set at 23, off is set at 7.45 ish. I'm guessing that may be part of my issue?
Yes. The on and off times are correct, but the time clock has obviously lost time through the years. If you want this sorted then call your electricity supplier to come and replace the time clock as it's their responsibility.
Have a think about it before you do that though, as in your situation you "might" be better off leaving it as it is.
It sounds like your time clock is running about 5 hours slow. If this is the case then that means that your meter is on the low rate from approximately 4am until 12:45pm. This could be to your advantage as you are getting cheap rate electricity during the day, when you shouldn't be. How much this benefits you will depend on your particular circumstances.
Yes. The on and off times are correct, but the time clock has obviously lost time through the years. If you want this sorted then call your electricity supplier to come and replace the time clock as it's their responsibility.
Have a think about it before you do that though, as in your situation you "might" be better off leaving it as it is.
It sounds like your time clock is running about 5 hours slow. If this is the case then that means that your meter is on the low rate from approximately 4am until 12:45pm. This could be to your advantage as you are getting cheap rate electricity during the day, when you shouldn't be. How much this benefits you will depend on your particular circumstances.
Interesting - I do work from home but have been doing things about midnight like washing / tumble drying which I thought was cheap rate but might have balanced out while I've been home working. Still confused as to the amount of electric since end of Nov - that's about £5 a day - is this normal now? (excuse my ignorance with this as I've always had gas heating in previous properties)
Sorry - another quick question, the switch next to my water tank, I'm assuming that is an immersion heater? Does this switch need to be kept switch on ALL the time?
If the switch is for an independent immersion then all the time it is switched on then the water will be heated .....until the preset temp is reached , and will continue to cut in and out to maintain the temperature .
You could try switching it off and seeing if you still get hot water being produced during the Econ 7 hours. It could be that you only need to switch it on if you need to boost the hot water - via the timer you described in your initaial post(s) .
So switching off the immersion has reduced my usage from 22kWh to 9kWh over a 24 hour period! Wow! Haven't noticed any difference to the hot water which is good :-)
Comments
never use the boost and water does last all day, the issue I have is it is set to timer (as in pic above) but I don't know what the times are - have tried finding somewhere that gives me an on/off time/s but cannot find anything.
Will keep things turned off and not use the electric heaters to see if that works
thanks for the reply
I don't know if this has anything to do with the hot water and when it's heated up.
Also, I took a meter reading this morning about 9.30/10am (when E7 low rate should have stopped - EDF say theirs stops at 8am and I wasn't even awake at that time), then just looked again just now and the low reading has gone up by 4 units. How would that happen?
The day reading has gone up by 8 units since this morning - bearing in mind I do work from home, is that normal? I'll take another reading about the same time tomorrow to get a full 24 hours reading to see how many units were used.
To me that looks like the timed power to storage heater consumer unit.It may be set incorrectly and metering your use incorrectly.Is the time set correctly ,it may be sealed by your provider and not adjustable by yourself.We had to take meter readings at different times of day and night for the customer service people to help,it turned out the E7 and been registered as day and day registered E7 but as they had made mistake wrote the excess charges off.Thats why we were glad to go on a single tariff
In your setup, the cheap rate is determined by the time clock situated next to your meter. The fixed plastic lug on the time clock should match up with the current time of day (give or take an hour depending on whether we're on GMT or BST). Check this out, as it's quite common for these electro-mechanical time clocks to lose time.
Yes. The on and off times are correct, but the time clock has obviously lost time through the years. If you want this sorted then call your electricity supplier to come and replace the time clock as it's their responsibility.
Have a think about it before you do that though, as in your situation you "might" be better off leaving it as it is.
It sounds like your time clock is running about 5 hours slow. If this is the case then that means that your meter is on the low rate from approximately 4am until 12:45pm. This could be to your advantage as you are getting cheap rate electricity during the day, when you shouldn't be. How much this benefits you will depend on your particular circumstances.
Interesting - I do work from home but have been doing things about midnight like washing / tumble drying which I thought was cheap rate but might have balanced out while I've been home working. Still confused as to the amount of electric since end of Nov - that's about £5 a day - is this normal now? (excuse my ignorance with this as I've always had gas heating in previous properties)
You could try switching it off and seeing if you still get hot water being produced during the Econ 7 hours. It could be that you only need to switch it on if you need to boost the hot water - via the timer you described in your initaial post(s) .
Thanks everyone - I'll get to the bottom of these big bills eventually
Thanks for all your advice and help
bab
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