Nightsaver - is it paying for itself?

shipship

Registered User
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Hi, for the first time ever I have a dual timer.

Discount electricity at night is great, but looking at the numbers it seems a struggle to make back the increased standing order charge.

I don't have a dishwasher, and I have an electric shower. I run the washing machine at night but that seems to be the only saving.

Does an electric shower use the hot water tank?

I'm trying to work out if it's worth leaving the water heater on timer overnight or not.
 
I'm trying to work out if it's worth leaving the water heater on timer overnight or not.
This depends on your water tank. Is it a big one which allows you to put on a bath and has dual stats ? They tend to just heat from the bottom so would heat the whole tank and would take longer but at half price at night. It would probably last you a few days of dishes and hand washes though.
 
Does an electric shower use the hot water tank?

Depends on the type of shower.
If its an 'instant' electric shower then no, it heats the water as it passes through the unit.

If its any other type of electric shower, such as a 'power shower' etc. then usually it is safe to say that yes, it will use the heated water
drawn from the hot water cylinder.

I'm trying to work out if it's worth leaving the water heater on timer overnight or not.

Depends on the above and also your usage of hot water during the day, unlikely that you would get any more, if even 24 hours of usable hot water from
a standard domestic cylinder no matter how good the insulation.

However, generally it would make sense to heat the water using the cheaper tariff.
 
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Yeah, it's just an electric shower, unfortunately.

Makes me think it's not worth heating the cylinder.
 
The night rate runs until 8am/9am so if you’re having morning showers you’re likely benefitting from the cheaper rates for them.

Any plans for solar panels? Most systems come with a battery that can be scheduled to charge during the night while electricity is cheap, then discharge back to your house during the day to fill the gaps when solar is not generating enough.

Any plans for an electric car? Significant savings if you charge it over night. You’d go from maybe €8/100km in a petrol down to €1.20/100km charging an electric over night.

Any scope for getting a storage heater or two and heating them overnight, letting the heat out during the day? Coming to the right time of year for it!
 
Only renting, so no plans for solar panels!

And no plans for a car. No real need for storage heating either, although they are in the house.

That's partly why I asked the question here, other than the washing machine I can't really see a way to move much consumption.
 
Hopefully when smart meters roll out they will also have smart pricing to encourage people to use their electricity at off peak hours without having to pay an increased standing charge.

The higher standing charge puts people off getting a night rate meter installed.
 
No real need for storage heating either, although they are in the house.

The fact there is storage heating is probably the reason the night rate meter is there. Why is there no real need for them? Time of year? Or are you using an alternative method of heating?
 
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