The majority of flats in the Bow Quarter have night storage heating, which is most cost-effective when run on the Economy 7 tariff. This tariff gives you seven hours of cheap electricity during the night, but is slightly more expensive during the day.
Storage heaters are designed to heat up overnight on the cheap-rate electricity and store that heat, to be dissipated slowly throughout the day. They usually have an additional boost function on the front. This is a basic convection heater which can be switched on at any time.
The hot water tank should also be heated up overnight to take advantage of cheap rate electricity. Three hours should be long enough to heat a tank-full of water.
Your electricity meter is actually 2 meters combined: one for the nighttime cheap rate and one for the daytime standard rate.
It is very important to make sure that both your heater and your hot water timers are set to come on only during the Economy 7 period. The times vary from flat to flat but are usually 11:30 PM to 6:30 PM GMT. You should check with your electricity supplier to get the exact times. Also note that the timings are not particularly accurate!
Storage heaters are designed to heat up overnight on the cheap-rate electricity and store that heat, to be dissipated slowly throughout the day. They usually have an additional boost function on the front. This is a basic convection heater which can be switched on at any time.
The hot water tank should also be heated up overnight to take advantage of cheap rate electricity. Three hours should be long enough to heat a tank-full of water.
Your electricity meter is actually 2 meters combined: one for the nighttime cheap rate and one for the daytime standard rate.
It is very important to make sure that both your heater and your hot water timers are set to come on only during the Economy 7 period. The times vary from flat to flat but are usually 11:30 PM to 6:30 PM GMT. You should check with your electricity supplier to get the exact times. Also note that the timings are not particularly accurate!
*Please see below for further information on Economy 7 timings.
Please note: most meters do not adjust for British Summer Time, and therefore the timings are an hour later during BST.
There are separate timers for the hot water tank and each storage heater.
Storage heaters have an additional electricity supply which is not on a timer, to supply the convector heater.
Water heaters will have a boost button which can be used to top the heat up during the day at standard rate. This will normally run for one hour but generally 30 minutes is enough to heat enough water to run a shower.
You can also take advantage of the cheap rate to run washing machines and tumble driers, etc. during the night.
Links:
* From MoneySavingExpert.com:
If you have E7 and you have a bill handy, then you can cross reference the 'supply number' on the bill to a little list I have, and see if that helps. You need the 'MTC' code from the supply number.
First find the supply number - it's a little box with a big S on the left, then a whole bunch of numbers in a little grid. The MTC is the 3 digit number in the middle box on the top row. Please note that the bottom row of your S number is confidential. Please do not post it, as it could allow someone to maliciously change your supplier.
Look up the 3 digit code in the following list:
Code Time
500 Single rate
501 Single rate
801 Single rate
802 Single rate
803 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:30 clock time
804 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:30 clock time
805 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:30 GMT
806 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:300 GMT
807 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
808 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
809 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
810 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
811 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
812 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
813 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 clock time
814 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
815 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
816 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 clock time
817 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 clock time
830 Cheap: 01:00 – 08:00 clock time
831 Cheap: 01:00 – 08:00 clock time
These are only the most common national codes, so if your code isn't listed you'll have to contact your supplier.
First find the supply number - it's a little box with a big S on the left, then a whole bunch of numbers in a little grid. The MTC is the 3 digit number in the middle box on the top row. Please note that the bottom row of your S number is confidential. Please do not post it, as it could allow someone to maliciously change your supplier.
Look up the 3 digit code in the following list:
Code Time
500 Single rate
501 Single rate
801 Single rate
802 Single rate
803 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:30 clock time
804 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:30 clock time
805 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:30 GMT
806 Cheap: 23:30 – 06:300 GMT
807 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
808 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
809 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
810 Cheap: Midnight – 0700 GMT
811 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
812 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
813 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 clock time
814 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
815 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 GMT
816 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 clock time
817 Cheap: 00:30 – 07:30 clock time
830 Cheap: 01:00 – 08:00 clock time
831 Cheap: 01:00 – 08:00 clock time
These are only the most common national codes, so if your code isn't listed you'll have to contact your supplier.