Change my electricity meter

waraf

Hi all,

I'm due to change my car early next year and I'm seriously considering going electric with the Nissan Leaf.

From my online research it seems that charging it at night to avail of cheaper night time electricity is the way to go.

The problem is that my electricity meter doesn't have a separate read out for day and night, it simply has one number for 24 hour electricity.

I assume that it's possible to get it swapped out. Has anyone had this done? Is it expensive or even worth doing?

Thanks

KCross

Just call your provider and tell them you want to go on a dual tariff and they should organise the new meter to be installed. I dont believe there is a charge for the install.

You will pay a higher monthly standing charge for having it but it will pay for itself if you increase your night rate usage.

You need to be using, at least, 20-30% of your electricity at night to make it worthwhile. If you buy an EV you will easily hit that target and just try to run your appliances (dryer, dishwashher etc) at night as well.

waraf

KCross wrote: »

Just call your provider and tell them you want to go on a dual tariff and they should organise the new meter to be installed. I dont believe there is a charge for the install.

You will pay a higher monthly standing charge for having it but it will pay for itself if you increase your night rate usage.

You need to be using, at least, 20-30% of your electricity at night to make it worthwhile. If you buy an EV you will easily hit that target and just try to run your appliances (dryer, dishwashher etc) at night as well.

Brilliant. Thanks a mill KCross

BoatMad

There is no charge for the installation , there is a charge if you want it removed :

Standing charges go up by about €5 a month , data rates per unit go up a little

we discovered that our washing machine and dishwasher were consuming about half our daily amount of units , so by pushing these into the night rate, we effectively have a electricity bill almost the same as before the EV, yet we are charging the EV every night

waraf

BoatMad wrote: »

There is no charge for the installation , there is a charge if you want it removed :

Standing charges go up by about €5 a month , data rates per unit go up a little

we discovered that our washing machine and dishwasher were consuming about half our daily amount of units , so by pushing these into the night rate, we effectively have a electricity bill almost the same as before the EV, yet we are charging the EV every night

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by "data rate per unit"?

Thanks

BoatMad

waraf wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by "data rate per unit"?

Thanks

sorry , predictive spelling

day unit cost goes up a little

waraf

BoatMad wrote: »

sorry , predictive spelling

day unit cost goes up a little

ahh ok. That makes more sense alright. Thanks

My day units went down with Bord Gais, I pay 17 Cent day and 8.4 Cent night all on level pay.

Standing charge for the whole year is paid back in less than a week for me with the savings V petrol/diesel and being able to use the washing machine/dryer, and immersion on off peak electricity, not all of the appliances can be used all the time off peak.

k123456

In terms of timers etc, what is the best way to get dishwasher , WM etc etc to kick in on night rates

There is no delay or timers built into my devices

KCross

k123456 wrote: »

In terms of timers etc, what is the best way to get dishwasher , WM etc etc to kick in on night rates

There is no delay or timers built into my devices

I dont think there is way around that. Any timers you could put on the mains feed would not work I'd say as the machine would likely initialise itself when the timer kicked in and not turn on.

Stay up late or get up early before night rate finishes or buy new appliances are the only options I'd say!

BoatMad

k123456 wrote: »

In terms of timers etc, what is the best way to get dishwasher , WM etc etc to kick in on night rates

There is no delay or timers built into my devices

It will depend on the age of the devices, dishwashers etc that have mechanical timers and a simple on off will work when connected to a simple timer on the plug

anything with an electronic setup , will not work , but nearly all these have delayed starts these days

webels

If you have the modern meter with a digital readout. No actual need to change the meter just a settings change to display day and night readings. The esb tech sets this up when your provider arranges the tech visit.

sgalvin

Check your overall numbers very carefully.

With the Car 25,000km/year and house, we use 10,000 kWh per year.

Energia standard rate is 19c
Nightsaver adds €40 standing charge
Day rate rises to 21c nightrate drops to 10c

Assuming a 40/60 split
6000 unit rise by 2c €120 extra
4000 units fall by 9c €360 saved

So that's €240 saving less the €40 standing charge. €200

However as a big domestic user on renewal I got 26% off list so saving would only be €140/year.

On the other side I plug in the car whenever at home so is always ready to use in place of our petrol car at 10c/km.
So if you drive 2,000 km/year extra electric Kms over petrol there is no saving in nightrate.

I can also use any appliance when suits me as driers, dishwashers, washers are used more than once a day here and I don't have to empty all these first thing in the morning when all I want is a coffee!

It may be worth it for you but factor in actual saving and the restrictions that go with.

webels wrote: »

If you have the modern meter with a digital readout. No actual need to change the meter just a settings change to display day and night readings. The esb tech sets this up when your provider arranges the tech visit.

heliguyheliguy

Pretty much the same for me.

Do your math carefully and make sure its worth it for you and your family, who normally uses the washer and dryer and will they be ok with the changes needed to make it worthwhile.

It seems like a lot of hassle to save very little if anything.

sgalvin wrote: »

Check your overall numbers very carefully.

With the Car 25,000km/year and house, we use 10,000 kWh per year.

Energia standard rate is 19c
Nightsaver adds €40 standing charge
Day rate rises to 21c nightrate drops to 10c

Assuming a 40/60 split
6000 unit rise by 2c €120 extra
4000 units fall by 9c €360 saved

So that's €240 saving less the €40 standing charge. €200

However as a big domestic user on renewal I got 26% off list so saving would only be €140/year.

On the other side I plug in the car whenever at home so is always ready to use in place of our petrol car at 10c/km.
So if you drive 2,000 km/year extra electric Kms over petrol there is no saving in nightrate.

I can also use any appliance when suits me as driers, dishwashers, washers are used more than once a day here and I don't have to empty all these first thing in the morning when all I want is a coffee!

It may be worth it for you but factor in actual saving and the restrictions that go with.

stesaurus

The maths doesn't work for us either. We both work from home most of the week so our usage is pretty flat between day/night.
I'd also be very wary of using dishwashers/dryers at night. Too many horror stories and seeing first hand what happened at my parent's in laws. I'd much rather be awake and able to act quicker than wake up to a smoke alarm.

Washing machines and dishwashers are pretty safe these days, reputable brands probably especially rather than brands that use cheap dirt components. I've never had a single issue with home appliances.

Probably have more of a chance getting struck by lightning than your washing machine or dishwasher causing your house to go on fire.

The only thing I would say is that if you put something into the dryer that's not supposed to be in there then you're asking for trouble.

MY day rate Kwh cost went down on bord gais not up !

oinkely

Similar for us mad lad,

changed electricity supplier and the standard unit rate went down a lot. Then changed to a night rate meter and run the dishwasher, washing machine and bread maker at night. Wake up to clean dishes, clean clothes and a delicious smell of fresh baked bread every morning. Don't have a drier but do run the dehumidifier at night as well if it is needed to dry clothes quickly.

Was up early this morning so also got dinner made on night rate too, bonus. In fact double bonus as no cooking do do after work!

Charge the (2) electric cars at night now too. One on the Rolec wall point and the other on the granny cable. It has definitely been worth it for us to change to night rate.

KCross

oinkely wrote: »

Charge the (2) electric cars at night now too. One on the Rolec wall point and the other on the granny cable. It has definitely been worth it for us to change to night rate.

Wow! You are fully bought into the EV idea! I wont be ditching the diesel for a while but I am enjoying the EV.

Is it 2 LEAF's you have?

oinkely

Yep, a lovely 141 in grey and 132 in blue now to add to it. The kids want to keep the blue one, they prefer the colour, I want to keep both (and the van for caravan towing duties) and my wife will never go back to ICE, though she thinks 3 vehicles for two drivers is a bit overkill.

Have the 132 up for sale, but not too pushed it it doesn't sell, happy to drive it for the work commute at the moment and leave the van at home. I vary from driving like a hooligan in it to seeing just how low i can get the energy consumption for my commute. Strangely find both very satisfying.

BoatMad

we save 20.00 a month on night rate before we add the car, by pushing the dishwasher and washer dryer into the night rate tariff over the standard 24 hours tariff

thats 15.00 after increase in standing charge or approx 190 per year

with an EV added is a complete no brainer , charging at 1.40 per night as against 4.50