Economy 7 electricity for heaters

Night storage heaters utilize cheap electricity at night. Economy 7 electricity works for 7 hours at night between 12-7am. If you don’t have Economy 7, it can be requested free of charge from your electricity provider for heating your home. Economy 7 costs about 4p per unit. You will either have one meter with two readings or two separate meters. A two tariff electric meter records separately the electricity used during off peak times so it can be billed at low rate. If there are two, one meter controls on peak daytime electricity and the other controls your night time economy 7 electricity.

economy 7 meter Two-tariff electricity meter which records separately electricity used during off-peak periods so that it can be billed at a lower rate.

Why is economy 7 electricity so cheap?

Economy 7 electricity is cheap for heating mainly because power stations can't be turned off at night, they need to keep generating electricity even when nobody is consuming it.

How does Economy 7 work?

Economy 7 is an electricity tariff in UK that provides cheap night time electricity. The cost is around 4p per unit compared with on peak electricity which is more expensive at around 10 to 15p per unit.

Economy 7 has different pricing depending on the time of day. During a 7 hour period at night the electricity is a cheap off peak rate.

Homes with Economy 7 electricity tariff need a meter which give two readings. One for the day and another for the night.

Economy 7 can also be used to heat water, run washing machines and dishwashers using timers to make the most of cheap rate electricity.