How do I check my actual E7 meter timings

flanpie

I've an economy 7 meter & tariff. It's a 5196d digital meter.

I suspect there's something up with the time settings - the immersion heater is the main load which is set from 0300-0500, but the meter says that most usage is peak rate.

How can I check when the meter is recording peak or off-peak rates, or what the time settings are? The meter is on the outside wall, so it's not easy to keep a constant watch on. This afternoon I noticed that the '2' for rate 2 was blinking - does the number blink for the rate when it's active?

Can't find a manual on the web, so any help v. welcome.

macman

Yes, the blinking indicates the register that is active.
Is your meter teleswitched, or fitted with a clockwork timer? If the latter, then the times should be visible on it,and may be hours out. If the former, the times are controlled by the DNO and cannot be altered. If you phone them then they will tell you the times.
I suggest that you have a quick look during the night to see if the meter has switched to register one (between say 1 and 5am).
If you are on E7 then do you not heat the property using NSH's? That would be the main power drain (in the heating season), as well as your immersion heater. An immersion heater alone is unlikely to use enough power to make E7 economic for you; typically you need to use 33% on cheap rate over the year to make it pay , but it does depend on usage, region and tariff. What is your annual kWh usage on each register?

Gloomendoom

When ours switches (radio) it makes a loud click, so it's easy to confirm the times.

flanpie

Many thanks macman. We're in the Sourh East region, so I think the off-peak times are 22:30-00:30 and 02:30-07:30. I'll call the DNO to check. I expect I'll need to spend a night popping out into the front garden in the dark to check the meter!!

(Btw our heating is oil-fired, and we're away quite a lot, so that's why I expected the immersion would be a significant part of the load. Will keep checking - I've an energy monitor somewhere I can try to set up - not sure it'll cope with the split off-peak period though.)

Bark01

flanpie wrote: »

Many thanks macman. We're in the Sourh East region, so I think the off-peak times are 22:30-00:30 and 02:30-07:30. I'll call the DNO to check. I expect I'll need to spend a night popping out into the front garden in the dark to check the meter!!

(Btw our heating is oil-fired, and we're away quite a lot, so that's why I expected the immersion would be a significant part of the load. Will keep checking - I've an energy monitor somewhere I can try to set up - not sure it'll cope with the split off-peak period though.)

Meter timings are not region specific, they can vary street to street. They are based on SSC and TPR values, so you may need to get these before speaking to the DNO. They might be able to figure this out, but your supplier can tell you them. They may be somewhere on your bill (possibly in you supply number), but I doubt it.

flanpie

Thanks - EDF "had a look at their spreadsheet" and tell me that my off-peak is 00:30-07:30.

SwanJon

If you really want to be sure, take a reading every hour and see when one stops going up and the other one starts.

Some times can slip, so you may want to double check.

[Deleted User]

flanpie wrote: »

Thanks - EDF "had a look at their spreadsheet" and tell me that my off-peak is 00:30-07:30.

in BST that will now be 1.30 -8.30 am...I believe all eco 7 timings stick to GMT

Bark01

One more note on this, once SMART meters are rolled out the register timings will be controlled by suppliers not MOP so they will start to become a little more standardised

flanpie

Turns out my offpeak timing is currently running at 21:45- 04:45 GMT or thereabouts.

(Discovered that a black box I'd been ignoring was a Vennor mechanical timeswitch, mounted side on. Managed to read it by dint of photos with my mobile as the space is very tight.)

macman

So your mechanical switching is running nearly 3 hours ahead. That's quite an advantage if you want to get some boost late in the evening. Just make sure the immersion is well lagged and completes it's heating cycle before 4,45am.