Using dishwasher at night 'could cut bills'

Householders could benefit from reduced energy bills if they agree to run their washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers in the middle of the night.

The proposal is part of a £6 billion British Gas plan, backed by rival energy companies, to change the way people use their appliances and run their gas meters.

The company calculated that if people used their tumble dryers, washing machines and other energy-hungry appliances in the middle of the night, it could save 1,000 megawatts or almost two per cent of the country's total energy usage.

This is because, in effect, it takes two power stations simply to cope with the surge at peak times, such as 6pm - when people come home from work, turn on the television and oven and put on a load of washing.

British Gas and the other companies want to offer consumers a more sophisticated version of Economy Seven, a tariff pioneered in the 1980s that is still popular.

Economy Seven gives householders a discount for running their boiler in the middle of the night. Energy companies could offer similar discounts to customers for using appliances during late mornings or mid-afternoon, when most people are at work.

However, they could offer these discount schemes only if the Government approves so-called "smart meters" to replace existing gas and electricity meters.

These would allow the energy companies to more closely monitor how much energy each family is using, and scrap the need for a meter reader to call at homes.

Instead the reading would be sent electronically to the organisation's headquarters.

This should save the companies millions of pounds - enough, they say, to eventually fund the £6 billion needed to provide the meters without consumers having to pay a penny.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is in favour of the scheme but has yet to agree with Ofgem, the industry regulator, how to make the meters available across the country at minimal cost.

As part of the plan to persuade the Government to approve the scheme, British Gas has commissioned research to show how much energy could be saved by people using their appliances at off-peak times of the day.

It estimated that smart metering could save each household £2.50 per year. Those opting for an off-peak tariff should enjoy far greater savings.

Any pricing, however, has yet to be decided as the meters are not likely to be introduced until 2010 at the earliest.

There are fears that if different companies, British Gas and Powergen, for example, installed meters in the same area, the cost of each sending an engineer to the same street could wipe out any saving to consumers.

A British Gas spokesman said: "This is our chance to really revolutionise the metering industry.

"If it is done properly, it could give the UK billions of pounds of benefits through cuts in energy use and better customer service."
By Harry Wallop
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