Economy 10 is the name of a tariff provided by

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

suppliers created in 2004. It is named because the corresponding electricity plan offers ten hours of off-peak access during each 24-hour period. It was designed to reduce the electricity costs of overnight

electric heating Electric heating is a process in which electrical energy is converted directly to heat energy. Common applications include space heating, cooking, water heating and industrial processes. An electric heater is an electricity, electrical device t ...

and serves a similar purpose to similar to

Economy 7 Economy 7 is a differential tariff provided by United Kingdom electricity suppliers that uses base load generation to provide cheap off-peak electricity during the night. Houses using the Economy 7 tariff require a special electricity meter which ...

. The specific ten hour period varies between locations and electricity suppliers, and generally includes a combination of afternoon, evening and off-peak hours. In contrast to Economy 7, which only provides off-peak electricity during nighttime hours, Economy 10 tariffs provide ten hours of off-peak heating split between night, afternoon and evening. The advantage of this scheme is that by matching the storage periods better to the times when heat is required, less heat needs to be stored during the day, when there may be no demand for heating. The afternoon and evening periods also provide a top-up to heating systems at off-peak prices. Off-peak electricity costs can be half of the peak prices, but many Economy 10 tariffs levy an increased standing daily charge. The structure of the ten off-peak hours is determined by the local

distribution network operator A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution netwo ...

rather than the electricity supply company and they vary across the fourteen regions in the UK. Times are switched automatically, and it is common for the switching times to be locked to either GMT or BST when the meter is installed. Some metering systems use a

radio teleswitch A radio teleswitch is a device used in the United Kingdom primarily to allow electricity suppliers to switch large numbers of electricity meters between different tariff rates, by broadcasting an embedded signal in broadcast radio signals. Radio ...

controlled by the supplier to vary switching times, and effect the daylight saving time switchover twice a year. Economy 10 thus requires a special multi-tariff meter, different from an Economy 7 meter. For example, customers in central Scotland (within the Scottish Power Energy Networks DNO area) are on the following times: * 3 hours in the afternoon (1:30 pm - 4:30 pm) * 4 hours in the evening (8:30 pm - 12:30 am) * 3 hours in early morning (4:30 am - 7:30 am) Another set of times (West Midlands) are: * 3 hours in the afternoon (1 pm - 4 pm) * 2 hours in the evening (8 pm - 10 pm) * 5 hours overnight (Midnight - 5 am)

References

Electric power in the United Kingdom 2004 introductions 2004 establishments in the United Kingdom {{energy-stub

See also

References