Go! With Electricity

[Semitrad]

Anyone remember that old slogan? Reading another thread reminded me that I'm on a split tariff at home (used to be called white meter ) where my off peak rate is 3.8 pence per unit. Is this available to boaters? if not why not? Can marinas get this rate or do they already and not pass it on or do they just not bother.

[bottle]

Hi

 

Have you checked what your 'day' rate is you will find it is greater than the 'normal' rate.

 

Savings can only be made on the 'split tariff' (economy seven) if you can definitely use electricity between the hours of (usually) 00.00hrs to 07.00 hrs and not use it at any other time.

 

Split rate is only suitable if you have night storage heaters and personally I would not give them house room.

 

Edit: Just found this on the 'u-switch' site

 

Be aware that some Economy 7 tariffs may charge you almost double the standard rate for any energy you use during the day, which can quickly cancel out any savings you've made through using Economy 7 at night.

Edited February 10, 2007 by bottle

[Guest]

Hi

 

Have you checked what your 'day' rate is you will find it is greater than the 'normal' rate.

 

Savings can only be made on the 'split tariff' (white meter) if you can definitely use electricity between the hours of (usually) 23.00hrs to 07.00 hrs the next morning and not use it at any other time.

 

Split rate is only suitable if you have night storage heaters and personally I would not give them house room.

I agree that the day rate was slightly higher at the time when I worked for the electricity board. I am not sure if that is still the case. It was called "economy 7" in those days.

Storage heaters I hate. I have assembled thousands and have the hernia to prove it.

Just saw your edit Bottle, it must have gone up considerably to double during the day. It is about eighteen years since I did such work.

Edited February 10, 2007 by Guest

[DHutch]

Yeah, we're on an 'economy 7' system at home.

- Our whole house is heated with underfloor electric heating, hotwater is night storage, and we always run the dishwasher/washing machine at night so it makes sence.

 

However on a boat, unless you heat with night storage elec (underfloor cables in ballest...?) i cant see it working out to be a saving.

- Also, its going to be almost impossable meter.

- Most 'shorelines' all run though the same meter, with or without subsequent meters.

- If you where going to have eco7 every boat would need a dualmeter and timeclock, and i just cant see it being viable really.

 

 

 

Daniel

[bottle]

Hi Catweasel

 

Sorry it took so long to edit

 

I too fitted them but that was thirty years ago, when they first started to get promoted by the electricity boards.

 

Although I then worked for one of the boards, if I was asked for advice about fitting them I would always advise the use of gas, more controllable and the heat was available when required.

[anhar]

Hi Catweasel

 

Sorry it took so long to edit

 

I too fitted them but that was thirty years ago, when they first started to get promoted by the electricity boards.

 

Although I then worked for one of the boards, if I was asked for advice about fitting them I would always advise the use of gas, more controllable and the heat was available when required.

Hello Keith

 

The whole marketing of storage heaters was little more than an outright con. They were useless compared with gas ch, as you say. Uncontrollable monstrous things which didn't even give out adequate heat. I recall in the seventies buying a house which had a ducted fanned air central heating system with the heat being produced by a single large storage unit. By the early evening, there was no heat left in it so we had to resort to various stand alone electric heaters. I would never have bought storage heaters having long realised that they were a racket perpertrated by the electricity companies on the gullible public, but this house which we otherwise liked came with it. We soon ripped it all out and installed a normal c/h gas system.

 

What really annoyed me about those sad times is that there was little denunciation of the con, and the electricity "boards" as they used to be called were permitted to get away with taking peoples' money knowing that they were ripping them off, often the most vulnerable like the elderly and people with little money.

 

regards

Steve

[carlt]

Hello Keith

 

The whole marketing of storage heaters was little more than an outright con. They were useless compared with gas ch, as you say. Uncontrollable monstrous things which didn't even give out adequate heat. I recall in the seventies buying a house which had a ducted fanned air central heating system with the heat being produced by a single large storage unit. By the early evening, there was no heat left in it so we had to resort to various stand alone electric heaters. I would never have bought storage heaters having long realised that they were a racket perpertrated by the electricity companies on the gullible public, but this house which we otherwise liked came with it. We soon ripped it all out and installed a normal c/h gas system.

 

What really annoyed me about those sad times is that there was little denunciation of the con, and the electricity "boards" as they used to be called were permitted to get away with taking peoples' money knowing that they were ripping them off, often the most vulnerable like the elderly and people with little money.

 

regards

Steve

I've had storage heaters in a few houses and have always been quite happy with them. Gas central heating is a horrible necessity (when you live with a nesh southern wimp). I'd much rather have a solid fuel open fire.

 

Storage heaters don't seem such a con when you live in a remote village which doesn't have gas, way cheaper than LPG and less smelly and unreliable than oil.

 

Ducted air heating is another matter altogether though, which might have jaded your view.

Edited February 11, 2007 by carlt

[DHutch]

Storage heaters don't seem such a con when you live in a remote village which doesn't have gas, way cheaper than LPG and less smelly and unreliable than oil.

Yeah, we are very happy with our underfloor electric heating. Very simple, very effective, and you get warm floors to walk on as well!

- We used to a complicated "weather watcher" controler, but it never worked very well, so now we just use a bog standard imersion heater timer, and select which elements we want on using the disboard.

- Each room has separte coils, all the major rooms having two diffrently sized coils, all adding up to around 30kilowatts for a well insulated four bedroom house.

 

The lights certainly get a bit dimmer when the relay comes across. My plugin 'power meter' thing records a voltage drop of about 10volts with them all on!

 

 

Daniel

[carlt]

Yeah, we are very happy with our underfloor electric heating. Very simple, very effective, and you get warm floors to walk on as well!

 

Daniel

Sounds like a good idea if I lived alone but my feet are antisocial enough without warming them up artificially. I think swmbo would definitely leave (or insist on a double amputation).

[bottle]

Hi

 

Steve (Anhar)

 

You took the words right out of my mouth, it was the biggest con, the boards, allegedly, thought of the idea so as to keep their generating stations running for the full 24 hrs, supposed to be cheaper than stopping and starting them.

 

 

Daniel, Carl,

 

Underfloor heating is probably the best form of heating.

 

As to which, electricity (elements) or water (however heated), is the best/most economical I have not researched.

[Guest]

Hi

 

Steve (Anhar)

 

You took the words right out of my mouth, it was the biggest con, the boards, allegedly, thought of the idea so as to keep their generating stations running for the full 24 hrs, supposed to be cheaper than stopping and starting them.

Daniel, Carl,

 

Underfloor heating is probably the best form of heating.

 

As to which, electricity (elements) or water (however heated), is the best/most economical I have not researched.

Can only agree with Bottle and steve that electric storage heaters are dross. They might just be better than nothing in areas without gas. Even though I made my living fitting them, I would not recommend them to anybody. Electricity Boards were con merchants, and they went worse on privatisation in my experience, again ripping off the elderly and the vulnerable. I was bloody glad to get sacked.

[alan_fincher]

Have you checked what your 'day' rate is you will find it is greater than the 'normal' rate.

 

Savings can only be made on the 'split tariff' (economy seven) if you can definitely use electricity between the hours of (usually) 00.00hrs to 07.00 hrs and not use it at any other time.

 

Split rate is only suitable if you have night storage heaters and personally I would not give them house room.

 

Edit: Just found this on the 'u-switch' site

 

Be aware that some Economy 7 tariffs may charge you almost double the standard rate for any energy you use during the day, which can quickly cancel out any savings you've made through using Economy 7 at night.

 

If anyone is still interested in the situation using "Economy 7" at home without night storage heaters......

 

At home, (big house, hard to educate family, big energy bills, [sorry Carrie ], we have tried hard for years to make use of overnight rates for washing, (clothes and crockery), drying, etc., with appliances on time-switches. However, I find that only just over 20% of or electricity is now used in that way, (it was 25% once, but daytime usage is up, without night-time having fallen ).

 

I therefore expected to find it was costing me money to still be on Economy 7. However use of 'uSwitch' and similar web-sites, (plus a call to Powergen), seem to say that I'm still just about at the break even point on costs.

 

Apparently this is heavily dependent on the REGION you are in, and this can make more difference than supplier or tariff in use. (Yes, I was surprised!).

 

So basically if it's an option, or you are on it, but not space heating with overnight electricity, you need to check your situation.

 

Unfortunately we discover something like a £200 price hike for each built in kitchen appliance that include a time delay switch. So when the kitchen gets upgraded shortly, I can see us coming off it, (and not having to care about when we use it). A shame really, as we were trying to use generating capacity at a time when it's least in demand.