Economy 10 Electricity Heating Tariff Explained
Everyone has heard of Economy 7, but there’s also an Economy 10 tariff that can be used for cheaper electricity. Here’s what it’s all about.
What is Economy 10 Electricity?
The traditional Economy 7 tariff is installed in hundreds of thousands of homes in the UK. It simply means that there are seven hours of off-peak electricity that you can use during the night time on a much reduced rate. Many people have this activated if all they can get in their home is electricity and use it with a storage heating system. But there’s a tariff that goes one stage further and that’s Economy 10, which as you can imagine, provides 10 hours of off-peak electricity usage.
What are the Hours for Economy 10?
The hours for the Economy 10 tariff are split on usage into three tariff periods (rather than two with Economy 7) as follows:
- 3 hours in the afternoon
- 2 hours in the evening
- 5 hours overnight
And as with Economy 7, the actual designated times when this tariff is effective varies from supplier to supplier. If you want to investigate this tariff, then it’s best to check with your provider to a) see if they can provide it for you, and b) what the times for the reduced rates are.
Not a Common Option, But it’s Still Available
Economy 10 is often referred to as a Heatwise tariff and is only available if you have an Economy 10 meter fitted. These meters are not common, but they are available to be installed. You may be charged for the installation by your supplier.
There only appear to be a couple of energy companies that still offer this tariff, being E-ON and EDF energy. You’ll also not likely to see these tariffs on price comparison websites or even on the companies we’ve just mentioned. So if you’re already on this tariff or want to find more about it, then go to those websites for further information or give them a call.
With the introduction of new Smart Meter tariffs over the coming years, it’s also unlikely that new Economy 10 tariffs will be launched. The tariffs may be phased out completely depending on what happens in the marketplace once more data is collected from your usage patterns and new smart tariffs are introduced.
Certainly nPower stopped their Economy 10 tariff before 2009 because of lack of demand. So if you’re already on Economy 10 you should always look to see if there are cheaper tariffs out there either with Economy 7 or even discounted standard tariffs.