Economy 7 is a tariff that is generally offered to those with storage heaters. It offers electricity at night for around half the price of units offered on tariffs without Economy 7.

Storage heaters are special radiators that you ‘charge’ up over night with heat. This heat is then gradually released throughout the day. This means that cheaper electricity at night is beneficial.

However, you don’t need to have storage heaters to benefit from an Economy 7 tariff. If you run a lot of appliances at night (such as dishwashers and washing machines) then this tariff may save you some money.

Those on Economy 7 tariffs generally pay slightly more for their day units. Therefore, you would need to work out if the saving to be made would be significant enough to cover the increased day unit rate. To do this you could speak to your current energy company and ask them what percentage of your usage is overnight and whether you would benefit from economy 7.

If you don’t use any units overnight and are currently on an economy 7 tariff, you would be better off switching to a standard tariff.

If you wanted to be on economy 7 and make use of the cheaper night rate, bear in mind when it starts and when it finishes. Some companies offer the cheaper rates from midnight to 7am.

Also, to make the most of the tariff, you could invest in some plug timers. This way you could set them to turn on the power to the washing machine or dishwasher at any time within the cheaper period so you could make use of even more cheap energy.

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