Getting rid of Economy 7, sort of....

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Afternoon.

Have 2 fuse boxes, one normal, one economy 7 that was supplying an immersion heater and a storage heater. Electricity supply is billed as one standard rate now. The storage heater is no longer with us and I'm in the process of replacing it with a convection heater.

Am I right in thinking that the economy 7 fuse box will still be timed, i.e. only live when the economy 7 times kick in? Because after a little testing this seems to be the case, either that or I have more serious problems.

If this is the case is there anyway of getting it changed so it’s live all the time?

Cheers
 
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Benway said:
If this is the case is there anyway of getting it changed so it’s live all the time?

Cheers

run everything from the un-timed CU. the whole point in economy 7 is that you use it at certain times
 
andy said:
run everything from the un-timed CU. the whole point in economy 7 is that you use it at certain times

Be nice, but there are already cables in place that are on the econmy 7 fuse box. It would be possible to run new cables but then I hit Part P and all that.
 
you could put both consumer units on the non-timed supply but that would also be notifiable work AND would involve pulling the company fuse to isolate (which is not something we would advise diyers to do although many here have done it)
 
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Try telling the PES that you want the old economy 7 stuff removed. They may well do it FOC. Or you could ask them what they'd charge to move the tails into a block (You'd have to buy tails and block).

a couple if times mine didn't charge for pulling the fuse and connecting tails when I told them I wanted to fit (and later replace) an RCD, they also tested the disconnect time and current for me, seemed very fair (I am just a householder)
 
plugwash said:
you could put both consumer units on the non-timed supply but that would also be notifiable work AND would involve pulling the company fuse to isolate (which is not something we would advise diyers to do although many here have done it)

On a 'being a bad boy' scale from 1 to 10 how bad would it be to move the tails and not tell anyone, even my mother? Going to have a look at the meter box tomorrow anyway, see what's in there. I'm hoping there will be some connector blocks between the meter and fuse boxes. If not going to have to think of a plan B.

Think I'll give the electricity company a ring too, if I can ever work out which one actually owns the meter these days....
 
The "bad boy" scale of having two live tails flopping about while you work is quite high, the maximum penalty is not one you'd want to pay.


the electricity supplier you contact is the one that sends you bills, even though they (and all the others) may sub-contract Meter work to another company.
 
JohnD said:
The "bad boy" scale of having two live tails flopping about while you work is quite high, the maximum penalty is not one you'd want to pay.

But would probably still be less stressful than trying to explain to a foreign call centre all about economy 7, meter tails and fuse boxes. Suppose I will find out tomorrow. Dialling a number seems preferable to messing with meter tails at the moment.
 
You may be right. A quick death wouldn't be stressful for long. And it might be Rayleigh that you call, or Bury.
 
Benway said:
plugwash said:
you could put both consumer units on the non-timed supply but that would also be notifiable work AND would involve pulling the company fuse to isolate (which is not something we would advise diyers to do although many here have done it)

On a 'being a bad boy' scale from 1 to 10 how bad would it be to move the tails and not tell anyone, even my mother? Going to have a look at the meter box tomorrow anyway, see what's in there. I'm hoping there will be some connector blocks between the meter and fuse boxes. If not going to have to think of a plan B.
service connector blocks and tails are easilly availible so thats not a problem.

if you do decide to do it yourself then DO NOT try and do it live. and make sure all consumer units are off when removing/reinserting the service fuse and do not touch the service fuse if it appears in any way damaged. whilst you aren't technically supposed to break the seals i don't think the recs/dnos/whoevers in charge of that kit nowadays care too much anymore.
 

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