Certain sockets in house only work during Economy 7 hours

[Savo]

Hello,

I don't know if anyone has come across this problem before, but I have recently removed some old electric night storage heaters from my house which were wired into fused outlets on the wall. I have removed the fused outlet and replaced it with a standard plug outlet but when I plug an appliance into the socket, it will only supply power between midnight and 7am ('Economy 7' electricity hours). The people who previously lived in the house were on Economy 7 but we are just on a standard tariff so I assume that the circuit is on some sort of timer. Basically, I need to know if anyone has any idea how to get these sockets to work 24hours a day. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[big-all]

never had economy seven

but i thought it was a black meter normal
white meter economy 7
i dont know the answer but would have thought it would be
mensioned on your electricity bill!!!!!!!!!!!!
try asking your supplier what you can do

i think all the gubbins belong to the regional electricity board
not your supplyer [unless the same]

some one will probably say im wrong later

big all

 

[Savo]

I've called npower who supply my electric and the meter etc and they have said that I need to speak to an electrician to find out how to get the supply switched. Apparently they are supplying all my electric on the standard tariff, which ties in with my bill, so I'm guessing that there must be some sort of timer restricting the times when certain sockets operate, but I can't see one anywhere.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Have you looked at your meter? Does it have 2 sets of dials or counters?

More to the point, does it have 2 sets of tails feeding 2 separate CUs? Probably not, but IIRC some suppliers did used to do this, but I think now it's simply a case that if you're on an E7 tariff, all the electricity you use at night is cheaper, and circuits that are used for NSHs have timeswitches on them so that they don't charge up using expensive daytime electricity.

The fact that your sockets are displaying all the attributes of something on an Economy 7 supply, and the fact that they are on a circuit which used to supply NSHs, which are used on Economy 7, makes it seem very likely that they are, in fact, on an "Economy 7" timer

For as long as you have that time clock those sockets will only be live between midnight and 7 AM.

 

[fubar]

Depending on the age of the Eco7 installation, see if you can find a control panel. If the installation has been updated in the last 10 years or so, it will probably be a small digital control panel that looks like a digital thermostat or burglar alarm panel.

If there is a digital control panel, you will probably be able to control when each socket turns on and off on a socket by socket basis, so simply configure all the sockets to be on all the time. The panel is usually in the kitchen or the hallway.

Otherwise, see if you can find a mechanical timer - probably in the kitchen, hallway, understairs cupboard or electrical cupboard. Again, you should be able to change the settings without too much effort.

Finally, check your consumer unit (fuse box) and electrical cupboard for what looks like a total of two electric meters (they may not be next to each other, so it might look like you have an electric meter in a meter box AND one next to the consumer unit). If you have this last case, you will almost certainly need the regional electric company (rec) or an electrician to remove the box for you as there probably won't be any user settings that can be changed.

--
Michael

 

[Lectrician]

You will have two CU's, one timed one not. The rec timer or teleswitch will switch on the Night Store CU.

Ring the Rec and ask them to change your meter to a single rate one (if you have opted for normal tariff), they wil change the meter, but, usually only reconnect the 24hr CU (bung him a few quid and he will use some henlys to power both!)

 

[crystal ball]

You say you are on standard tariff, sometimes the supplier will not change the meter and time switch, they just add the readings together and apply the standard rate, this is typical of the can't be bothered attitude of most RECS

 

[crystal ball]

You say you are on standard tariff, sometimes the supplier will not change the meter and time switch, they just add the readings together and apply the standard rate, this is typical of the can't be bothered attitude of most RECS. Also the timer may be integral in the meter, I had one fitted on a job this year and I thought they had forgotten to fit the teleswitch

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You will have two CU's, one timed one not. The rec timer or teleswitch will switch on the Night Store CU.

I thought some E7 schemes simply charged less for juice at night - no separate circuits or CUs. People run their W/Ms etc during the night. The NSH circuit(s) have time switches just to stop the devices from running during the day.

 

[Lectrician]

Yea, BAS, thats right, but they still provide a switched supply for the rads. BOTH boards are cheap at night though, so put a timer on your washer/dryer......get the missus to iron past midnight

 

[ban-all-sheds]

get the missus to iron past midnight