That's Cloud Coming Over The Hill!

Yes it has been overcast today, but to see the clouds rolling over Snowdonia is a lovely sight.

I have been mostly watching NasaTV today as the shuttle departs from the ISS. It's been a good mission and hopefully landing will go well. It's good to have construction resuming. With my shiny new t'interweb connection I shall enjoy watching all of these events as they unfold.

Family history research - now there's something you thought I'd forgotten about. Normal service is in the process of being resumed. Two distant cousins have been found whilst I've been away and there is quite some research to be done.

My computer is crashing randomly whilst on the internet, so if I disappear from a chat with anyone, please forgive me.

Right, to the topic of todays post. Electricity bills.

My current "Energy Provider" is Manweb, or to give it its full name, Scottish Power-Manweb. As with all electricity companies their prices have risen recently and Anglesey has been no exception - a 10% rise no less.

Somehow this quarter I have run up a bill of £270. That's using 3kW every hour. Assuming a kettle uses 1kW to boil, that means 3 kettle fulls an hour. I can get four cups of tea out of my kettle, so that's twelve cups of tea per hour. That's a 24/7 average. Ridiculous! I know we British are meant to like our tea - but twelve cups an hour is a bit much!

Anyway, my point is that I was under the impression that my electricity was on an Economy7 pricing scheme. It wasn't. As a result, my bill is twice what it should have been.

It won't come as much of a suprise to learn that I went in search of a list of pricing schemes from Manweb. It took nearly an hour to track down a list of tarriffs. In total, the list contains 24 different electricity rates. Some of which are repeated and some of which only apply if you pay by ceratin methods at certain frequencies. So, all in all, I was confused to buggery (which may have been the intention).

So I sat down and did the maths. I worked out the costs for my exhorbitant use of electricity over the last quarter (which won't be repeated) and I also calculated for a more reasonable volume of electricity usage. The cheapest option was the same for both usage levels and I wanted to let the world know which one this was for their future reference.

First of all, you'll want to have the 'standing charge' option (unless you use pitiful amounts of electricity). Then you'll want the 'Premier Plus' package. The rate is called 'Economy 7'. So that's the Economy 7 rate, on the Premier Plus package with the standing charge.

Still with me? Then you'll be wanting to know about economy 7. First of all look here. You'll need to get your house set up with a timer controlled water tank and possibly storage heaters too. But the key bit is having a meter (or meters) that can cope with day and night rates of electricity. You'll need to contact your supplier regarding this. They'll probably charge, so bear in mind that you could easily save £100 per year (on average).

My head hurts now, so I'll be off. I hope I've explained things well, but when it's made overcomplicated by other people, it aint'nt easy.