Urgent advice needed please!!. My brother has Economy 7 for his all electric home. The problem is that the heating only comes on between 12.30am and 06.30am and is off the rest of the time! He has hot water during these times also. He phoned E-ON to try and get some help as he is 69 years old with arthritis so being freezing cold all day is not great. He spoke to two people. The first said she was going to try and put him on economy 10 but then phoned back and said she could nt. He rang again and spoke to a man who said he would need to get an electrician out or buy a new meter for £157! I phoned yesterday because I am very concerned how this lack of heat will affect his health. I was told that there must be a timer in his house, but there is not! His water is heated by an immersion heater. I honestly think there is an issue with the timer switch or the heating would not come on at all! He was up early this morning and he had to open the windows to let the heat out !! I have taken photos of the meters and there is some sort of keypad in there but not sure what it is for? I have his full permission to post this as he is very stressed about the whole situation
Problem with heating!
- Tags for this Thread
- economy 7
- night rate
- storage heaters
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Level 9120-12-23@oldlagjohn
The main purpose of E7 is to provide overnight energy at a reduced cost to charge up storage heaters which retain the heat and gradually release it during the day. If normal heaters are used instead of storage heaters then the scenario you describe is likely.
Modern storage radiators are more efficient at releasing the stored heat than models from 20 to 30 years ago, in so doing overall energy consumption is reduced.
If you can post the pictures then that would help (use the third icon from the above right when you reply.) Images of the heaters would help to identify whether they are storage radiators or not.
Since this forum is anonymous, there is no need for permissions.
How long has you brother lived in the property - is all this new to him?
There can be issues with E7 over timings and whether timer clocks match the times the cheap rate is available. Also can you give the approximate area involved .Current Eon Next customer, ex EDF, Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless. -
Level 9220-12-23@oldlagjohn
An all electric system with electric tank will have two immersion heaters. The lower one is only operated at night during the E7 times, but the upper one runs off normal power and can be used in the day, at peak rate, to give a little boost as needed.
Some E7 storage heaters have a boost feature to do the same thing, but are not so common.
Sounds like your brother's system is a simple one, and the only real way to get extra daytime heating would be to use another heater...oil fired radiator or fan heater. Not ideal, I know, but such are all electric E7 setups. Additional heating will cost a lot more to run at daytime rates.Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. I DON'T work for or on behalf of EON.Next, but am willing to try and help if I can. Not on mains gas, mobile network or mains drainage. House heated almost entirely by baby dragons. -
Level 220-12-23@meldrewreborn
Hi there thanks for replying. He has nt got any storage heaters at all. Just underfloor heating. The pictures were of the meter because Eon were saying it was nt theirs. Took a photo because there was a big EON sticker on it.He has lived there 30+ years and the house is from 60s so quite old. -
Level 220-12-23@retrotecchie
Thanks for replying. That sounds like his set up. No Radiators, No Storage just a warm floor when it is on! I thought he might have to use additional heating. I just thought wondered what the keypad was for in the meter box? Looks like he is going to have to use additional heating or get an electric blanket. Thanks You -
Level 9220-12-23@oldlagjohn
You might find a keypad on a Liberty 1xx smart meter. It allows you to manually enter a top up code if it's Pay As You Go, or access different menu options on a credit meter. Unfortunately, there's no way of changing any times or anything.
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Level 9120-12-23@oldlagjohn
Personally I don't think E7 and underfloor heating a very sensible combination. The fact that the home is too hot in the morning confirms that 1) its not the right combination) and 2) the temperature setting on the thermostat is far too high. Depending on the meter (photos please) there will be something switching the supply to the underfloor heating , which probably has its own fuse box.
He'd be better off ditching the E7, having some minimal rewiring done to run the underfloor from a single tariff feed, and setting the thermostat(s) to a level of circa 20 degree Celsius +/- a degree or so depending on his desired comfort level and finances.
It would be comparatively simple to get the supply to a single price tariff rather than E7 - they simply charge both day and night at the same rate. But if the supply to the underfloor heating (which i presume to be of comparatively recent installation) is only fed from the night register, that what would need some electrical work to correct. -
Level 221-12-23@meldrewreborn
Hi there sorry I have been so long replying. The meter he has installed is Liberty 100 which apparently is being phased out next year? Maybe thats why they wanted him to pay for a new meter. I have googled the Liberty 100 but the videos just show you how to top up which he does nt need to do as he is not on PAYG. He said before they swapped him to this meter he used to be able to push a button to boost he heating but does not know if it is possible on this one? It would have helped if he had nt been on holiday when they installed it then they could have explained things how it works to him. Appreciate your thoughts. Thank you -
Level 9121-12-23@oldlagjohn
Photos would really help you know. Particularly showing the wiring going into the bottom of the meter and fuse boxes Others here would be better able to interpret them than me though - I'm just an amateur.
I don't know of the Liberty 100 being phased out - it is a SMETS1 meter whereas all meters now should be of SMETS2 standard. A lot of SMETS 1 meters stopped working when a large number of suppliers went bust 2 years ago. When they couldn't be migrated I've heard that sometimes they were replaced, but the removed meters were refurbished /reprogrammed (to SMETS2 functionality standard) and then reinstalled in a different property.. @theunknowntech or @retrotecchie might know more. Its entirely possible that his old meter had a daytime boost function which the current meter doesn't. How long has he had it, and for that matter when was the underfloor heating installed?.
As i wrote before, I really can't see the benefit of E7 to a home with underfloor heating - its clearly not working for your brother in an economic nor a comfort fashion. If he wanted to keep E7 he'd be much better off getting some modern storage heaters install which would maximise the benefit of the lower night time price of electricity. -
Level 221-12-23@meldrewreborn
The underfloor heating was already installed when he bought the house some 30 odd years ago. The meter was installed sometime last year. I have attached some photos not sure how helpful they will be as I took them last Sunday evening!If they are no good I can ask him to take some more that are a bit clearer. Thanks for you help.
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