Economy 7 people-11-4

Are you using your tariff effectively?

At Ebico we offer our electricity customers two alternative tariffs; a general electricity tariff, which has the same price for a unit of electricity consumed at any time of the day or night, or an Economy 7 tariff where we charge a lower price for electricity used during the 7 hours of the night (normally from 1am until 8am, although times vary between regions and between summer and winter), and a higher pricefor electricity used during the 17 hours of the day. 

Economy 7 is a great tariff if you use night storage heaters to heat your home and even more so if you install timing devices on your key electrical appliances (e.g. washing machine, dishwasher) so they run at night.  With night storage heaters, the cheaper night time electricity is used to generate and store heat.  The during the day this heat is gradually released into the air to give day time heating to the home. This helps to save money on heating bills. 

But if the tariff isn’t managed effectively, your electricity can end up costing you significantly more than a customer on a general electricity tariff. Although over six million people in the UK are on Economy 7 tariffs , many of them do not use their energy efficiently. You should aim to use at least 50% of your energy during the cheaper hours, to make the tariff cost effective.

If you are on an Economy 7 tariff and you feel your bills are higher than expected then consider the following:

• Fit timing devices to ensure your electrical appliances, such as washing machines and tumble dryers come on at night. 
• Check that your hot water boiler and storage heaters are set on full over night, and are using as little electricity as possible during the day. 
• Keep an eye on the weather forecast.  If it is looking like a warm day tomorrow, you can alter your storage heaters accordingly.
• Keep a record periodically of your two meter readings (i.e. the reading for the day time units and that for the night time units).  This way you can keep track and, if you suddenly receive a much higher bill than normal, you can check if the meter reader confused the figures.  This way you can also monitor your own energy use and try to cut down to help the environment and to save money

If these tips do not help, and you’re at home lots in the day, then it’s worth considering changing onto our general electricity tariff.  Call 0800 458 7689 for advice on changing tariffs.