| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Behemoth |
Economy Seven electricityIf you don't heat your house with electricity is it worth it, given the rate in the day is marginally higher than the night rate.The only think I can think of that could run at night is the washing machine or the tumble dryer (one load in each over night). Fridge freezer would benefit as they are on all the time. Hot water is on demand from a combi. Is that enough to make the change worth it? From this I don't think so: http://www.uswitch.com/Energy/Economy7.html Anybody use it and if so, how? |
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| Northern_Lad |
Nope, 'tis a stupid system unless you get up at 4am, leave the house at 10am, get home around 10pm and go straight to bed. All the heat is produced when you don't need it so your house is nice and warm for the 37 seconds you're awake and there in the morning, but the 4 hours you're there in the evening are stone cold. | ||
| Mrs Fiddlesticks |
we have two versions here. We're pure electrickery and have storage heaters to heat the home. There is an economy 7 of sorts for that which works overnight and has a one hour boost in the afternoon which is great for cold nights and evenings. So that is a great use for it.
The other one is concerned with putting the dishwasher and washing machine on over night and we do put things on timers to do that though I think we've got out of the habit somewhat since the kitchen has been done. It means we can't swap to a green tariff as no one else can cope with our 3 meters.. 
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| Blue Sky |
'Heures creuse' here which is much the same thing. I must say that really the only thing that benefits from it is the hot water tank.  Probably not worth having it for us as the tanks are so efficient we could really leave it heating all the time.
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| dougal |
Re: Economy Seven electricity
1/ Peak rate only "marginally higher"? After getting standing charge out of the way, E7 is just half the price of peak rate here. 2/ I don't believe either the standing charge or the peak rate unit cost is higher for being on an E7 tariff. Which means its a no-lose option. Any power used overnight is cheaper. Its cheap because no-one much is using it, and power stations mostly take a long time to start or stop. Hydro and gas startup/shutdown quickest. Nuclear and coal are things to keep going, cos you need more than 7 hours to start or stop the things properly. Wind blows whenever it cares to... 3/ The piece on uswitch probably was written by a "teenage scribbler". Its just a bit daft. For example, there's the confusion between an E7 tariff and the use of "storage radiators". Any base load you have, like freezers, will run more cheaply on an E7 tariff. Similarly E7 can be useful to 'top-up' the heat in a tank principally heated by solar and/or wood. And there you run smack into one of the important truths about energy storage: Storage is only really worthwhile if your energy leakage is pretty minimal. Obvious really, you'd never dream of heating a draughty barn with a storage radiator... BUT few seem to think of the other side of the coin - the better your insulation, the better your energy storage scheme is going to work. If you have a small, badly insulated tank, it will lose its heat rapidly. (The smaller the tank, the larger the surface area, and thus heat loss, in proportion to the volume, and the quantity of heat, stored.) A larger, better insulated tank can lose not just a lower proportion of its energy, but actually lose less total energy than a small and poorly-insulated tank. The same goes for house insulation. The worse it is the less sensible energy storage is... I've always stressed that a heat pump needs to have its house well insulated... ... a heat pump, with a high thermal mass underfloor system, is a great candidate for significant use of E7. Same for an electric car, recharged overnight. But its still usefully cheaper for fridge, freezer, security lights, any overnight use of washer, dryer, or dishwasher, charging phones, laptops, leaving the telly on standby.... 
Storage rads in a super-well-insulated house, aren't that bad an option for older folks (in all day, need it warm) living away from the possibility of mains gas. There are comparison tables in The Housebuilders' Bible, IIRC. Incidentally, in some regions (not here it seems) there is an E10 rate, which is for heating kit wired onto an E10 circuit. IIRC, it has afternoon and evening heating as well as overnight. I've wondered whether it'd be worthwhile using a timeswitch to switch *off* the chest freezer for an hour or so, immediately before E7 kicks in, so that any cooling demand would be postponed into the E7 period. An hour's powercut isn't a problem with defrosting, so I just wondered... ... similarly, running a well-directed fan inside the freezer for half an hour or so before E7 finishes should ensure that the whole thing is fully chilled *before* peak rate kicks in... |
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| lottie |
To be honest I think it depends what rates your possible providers use---we were on a cheaper night rate when we moved here but we've gone back to standard as the day rate which we use more was considerably more expensive. | ||
| pookie |
same here |