Economy 7 with underfloor heating

[Howardhouse]

Hi. We have moved into a new build house in Feb this year that has infrared underfloor heating and an economy 7 tariff. For info we also have solar panels (obvs useless in the winter when we use the UFH). Our electric bill was huge and we are trying to work out how best to use the economy 7 with the UFH. Is it best to warm at night at a lower electric rate and hope it stays warm until the evening, when we home from work? (I wfh a couple of days a week) from feb we only had the UFH switched on a timer for a few hours in the evening in one open plan living/kitchen room (no heat in bedrooms or bathrooms, so minimal useage imo) but found it took a long time to get warm/warm the house. suggestions please!

 

[littlespark]

Thanks for starting a new thread for this.

Electric UFH shouldn’t be used on E7. As mentioned on the other thread, the floor would be warm during the night and cool in day, when you need it

it’s the bricks in storage heaters that heat up during the night and release during the day

 

[Howardhouse]

Thanks for replying @littlespark. The builder has installed an economy 7 meter so we really have no choice. My question is how can we best economically heat the house? Switching the heating on for a few hours when we were home in the evening was expensive and took a long time to heat up. Are we better off leaving the thermostat on low 24/7? Is it worth paying to switch to a standard meter (if that's even possible) or what would be the most economical way to keep the house warm. Looking for advice
Thanks

 

[littlespark]

Is there other heating that works off the E7? Storage heaters or water heater?
the builder should have given you a handover visit, to go over all these things, or at least a folder containing the manuals for all equipment?

when you say the bill was huge, how huge?

 

[Howardhouse]

Is there other heating that works off the E7? Storage heaters or water heater?
the builder should have given you a handover visit, to go over all these things, or at least a folder containing the manuals for all equipment?

when you say the bill was huge, how the water is heated

Is there other heating that works off the E7? Storage heaters or water heater?
the builder should have given you a handover visit, to go over all these things, or at least a folder containing the manuals for all equipment?

when you say the bill was huge, how huge?

The economy 7 heats our water from 4-6am over night. The bill was higher than our previous 4 adult occupancy large home so now reduced by half. The builder was vague and not very knowledgeable. We have manuals but they dont tell us how to efficiently manage the system between the economy 7 and the UFH. Thanks

 

[Resu]

As littlespark has said, if you have no form of traditional style of storage heaters then there is absolutely no benefit to being on an economy rate.

As it's a modern house and presumably insulated properly, you should be able to leave it on 24/7 and let it regulate itself through the thermostat.

I'd be looking to change to a standard rate ASAP. It'd be down to yourself to do that, assuming you're the bill payer. It shouldn't cost you to change but if you are tied into a contract you may have to stay with the same supplier.

There may be a need to involve an electrician to make adjustments after the meter change. A few pictures of the consumer unit/meter setup would be useful & a description of your hot water setup too.