Goodbye Economy 7 - let the savings begin

["Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just rang British Gas and changed back from Economy Seven to single
tier
electricity.

Been on Economy 7 for many years but over time usage has changed
dramatically.

When I first went on Economy 7 I used to run the Dishwasher, Washing
Machine
and Tumble drier in the early hours of the morning as there was just Me and
Sharon in the house so you could run the washing machine one night and
tumble dry the stuff the following night.

This was also before lots of things like Tivo, SKY+ and Freeview boxes
running 24/7. We just had a VCR and Pace Satellite receiver.

For the first few years about 33% of electricity usage was at cheap rate.

Since the kids came along, the washing machine and tumble drier get used
MUCH more and we now have all the Digiboxes, Freeview, Tivo etc and PC's
which are on for long periods through the day. Looking at the last few
bills
it became apparent that only 20% of usage was at cheap rate and the day
rate
was far more than when I first changed over.

I rang up and asked what the single tarrif rates were and if I could still
keep my prices capped until 2010.
I was told that I could. I worked out what my last bill would have been at
the single tarrif and it worked out £30 cheaper. I should now be
saving
about £3 per week...which is nice :)

The "standing charge" which no longer appears on the bills is
actualy built
into the first 2.4 units per day

Even nicer is that I have found out that my new frozen rates are quite a
bit
cheaper than the current "Today" rate.

4p less for the "standing charge" units, and 2.5p less for the
normal units
so a double saving.

Result :)

Keith