Hi. Can anybody please tell me how this "superdeal" works because I have just received my bill for three months £350.00 which I think is very high. I live in sheltered housing, a small one bedroomed flat and was not told or shown how the storage heaters work. I'm not at home during the day but my one bedroom flat get very warm, I have turned down the controls - Input to 3 and the boost to the lowest. Also I have noticed that the storage heaters are being charged at different times of the day. Example, they can on at 6.30 this morning and when off at 7.30am. Sometimes they come on and off in the afternoon. Is this right. I don't have a washing machine or dryer so I am only using Fridge/Freezer, Cooker and TV and my laptop, also the water which I keep on all the time. When I rang Southern Electric they couldn't tell me how Superdeal works which I find very strange. I have asked other tenants but they don't seem to have bills as high as mine. One is on Econmy 7 and only has to charge her key £10.00 per week.

I can't answer your question about "superdeal", but I can maybe help a bit with the following info/advice:

1. There are normally two things that control when central heating come on and goes off. The first is the programmable timer. It is normal for this to be programmed to come on and off - I have mine to come on for 30 mins in the morning and then switch off, and then come back on in the evening until bed-time. The second thing that controls the central heating is the thermostat, which is normally in one room and is often not properly calibrated. However, once you find the temperature you like, adjust it until it just "clicks", and leave it there, or even a bit lower if you want to save a bit more as long as it is still comfortable.

2. Regarding the hot water, I think this is what is costing you all the money. You say you keep it on all the time! Wow, that seems far too much. I have mine on for only 50 minutes for the whole day (in the morning, before I shower). That does me for the whole day. You could have it on for another 30 mins in the evening if you want piping hot water then too. On my system, the same programmable timer controls separately the hot water and the central heating.

Thanks Vaughan but thats the problem, I don't have a programmable timer or thermostat which I can programme. The storage heaters seem to have a mind of there own as they are heating up at all different times of the day.. I will try turning my water heater off and one as you suggested, but I still think that its the storage heaters which are costing too much.

Mine is a combined system, so I have what appears to be one hot water storage tank for both central heating and hot water. I don't understand your system. I'm shocked that there is no way you can programme it to come on and off at certain times, or control the room temperature. I'll leave this thread for someone who is familiar with your type of system.

Your electricity tariff and storage heaters work as follows... The electricity company set different prices for daytime electricty and night electricity so that energy is cheaper when they have a lot of spare enery (for example at night when everyone is asleep). They send a signal to your meter at off peak times (these will vary depending on where you are in the county but will include overnight and may include the a couple of hours in the afternoon).

Your storage heaters (and hot water tank) will turn on when the cheap energy comes on - and they charge up. The storage heaters charge up bricks inside. Once the cheap energy goes off the bricks remain hot and their heat is slowly released throughout the day.

If your flat is too hot then turn down the input to the heaters. This will have the effect of reducing the amount of heat put into the bricks - and hence it will release less heat the next day. Don't forget that any changes you make to the input won't be felt until tomorrow so turn it down a little bit each day as if you go too far it will be very cold and you'll have to wait another day for it to heat up again. The output knob dictates how the stored heat is released. The lower the number the longer the heat takes to come out. If you are only around in the evening then you want a low number for a late boost but if you are around all day then you might want a slightly higher number. If you go too high all the heat will be released early on and it might leave you cold later in the day.

With storage heaters you are best of making small adjustments to the controls until you are happy with the result - and then leave them alone. I have them in my flat and they are fine once you get the hang of them.