Time on pre-payment meter

Jami74

I have an Economy 7 pre-payment meter with EDF.

I've been monitoring the meter quite closely over the last few months to see where I can save. Recently I noticed I am using more energy on the day rate and less on the night rate than before. Looking closer the time is out by about 3 hours. The timings are clearly set out in the yearly statement I get sent so I know what they should be and try to make use of the night rate for using the washing machine, charging things and heating the water.

I called EDF to tell them and they told me the time on the meter is always wrong and not to worry about it, the meter automatically turns to the other rate at the correct times regardless of the time on the meter and it does so for everyone in the area so mine can't be different. I came away feeling a bit silly for questioning it.

However, I've been checking the meter at different times of the day and it says it's on day rate from about 4am when it should still be on night rate, the time my water heater usually comes on and it says it's on night rate at 8pm when it should still be on the day rate.

I emailed the complaints address to tell them this and they've just replied that they can't change the time on my meter as times are set by the area and referred me back to the original number I called.

Are they right and the actual numbers and times and rates on the meter don't mean anything? Is there any other way I can check what rate I'm on at any given time?

Robin9

Are you getting 7 hours at the low rate?

This time switch could actually be to your benefit - if the night rate is going off at 0400 it is coming on at 2100 ie at the time you posted.

[Deleted User]

The meter will be governed by the time it shows IMO. At this time of year it is one hour late anyway .The meter is displaying GMT time when we are still in BST
.Even so if its only 2 hours adrift it is just in tolerance .What you lose in the evening you gain in the morning
All digital meters with an internal timeswitch are the same unless governed by a Radio Teleswitch timer

spiro

Jami74 wrote: »

I emailed the complaints address to tell them this and they've just replied that they can't change the time on my meter as times are set by the area and referred me back to the original number I called.

The switching times are set for an area, but the time on the meter is not the same thing. So if you meter is 3 hours out it means the meter is not switching when it is supposed to switch. There will always be slight differences especially as meter is always in GMT. I would write back again saying you aren't asking for the switching time to be changed just for the meter to switch at the correct times ae stated on your bill.

nick74

In the days of mechanical E7 time switches it was not uncommon for them to be out by a couple of hours or more. In my parents' old house the time on the E7 timeswitch was so far out that they got their 7 hours cheap rate electricity throughout the evening, which was great for them!

Rather than complaining I would work with the times on the meter as it sounds like it's working to your advantage. Note the times when it's actually on the cheap rate and set your appliances to come on then.

Insisting on having the meter reset to the correct time could be cutting your nose off to spite your face. The correct E7 times are usually around 0.00 to 7.00am, or 1.00 to 8am (depending on whether GMT or BST) which are the least convenient times to have cheap electricity for most people.

Jami74

spiro wrote: »

I would write back again saying you aren't asking for the switching time to be changed just for the meter to switch at the correct times as stated on your bill.

Thank-you so much for this! I will try what you have suggested. That is all I want, to get my E7 hours when I'm supposed to get them.

nick74 wrote: »

Insisting on having the meter reset to the correct time could be cutting your nose off to spite your face.

I'm not sure the meter being out is to my advantage. I should get cheap rate between 22:30 - 00:30 and 02:30 - 07:30. I do showers, water heating, charging and lots of kettle boiling etc between 6 and 7.30am so the morning hours at cheap rate would help me more rather than going on to day rate at 4.30.

Bark01

EDF used to have a complex meter team not sure if they still do. Although you don't have a complex meter the complex meter team will be more used to dealing with this kind of query than a normal customer service bod, so try speaking to them. Their number is on this page :
https://my.edfenergy.com/gas-electricity/tariff-information-labels

It sounds like you have what is known as clock drift, the meter thinks the current time is 3 hours later than it is, although that won't factor in gmt changes. The legal tolerance for clock drift on non smart meters is large, I can't remember how large but is definitely a few hours.

Edf may be within in rights to say tough, but I doubt they would in any normal situation. But with smart rollout things aren't normal. An engineer will need to visit and possibly replace the meter. There is no guarantee you will get a legacy meter with the same time pattern. You could end up with something different. Stocks of legacy meters are really low especially prepayment ones, so you would just get what ever the engineer had on his van. Most of not all e7 time patterns would give you off peak around 6-7 so it may not be an issue for you, but it's something to be aware of.

The tolerance for clock drift on smart meters is 30 seconds. I believe EDF are one of the most advanced suppliers in prepay smart so it may be worth asking them if you can get one yet. You may also be allowed to change your time pattern. On a non smart meter your time pattern is fixed on the meter and set by you local meter operator. In smart it's controlled by your actual supplier and can changed remotely so you 'should' have a lot more flexibility in the near future.

[Deleted User]

spiro wrote: »

The switching times are set for an area, but the time on the meter is not the same thing. So if you meter is 3 hours out it means the meter is not switching when it is supposed to switch. There will always be slight differences especially as meter is always in GMT. I would write back again saying you aren't asking for the switching time to be changed just for the meter to switch at the correct times ae stated on your bill.

The suppliers do not have to send out an engineer to be pedantic and get the switchover times operating to the second. It is too expensive and I would expect that its not set in stone in the T and Cs that they have to maintain the timings. . Of all the suppliers I work for meter reading only Scottish Power ask us to check Eco7 times and report it back only if it is more than 2 hours out, GMT .
The rest, including British Gas are unconcerned and feel it is not their responsibility to be a clockmaker and constantly adjust drifting timer switches which were never installed by them in the first place but by the local DNOs .Suppliers have only ever installed their own electric meters since the smart meter roll out started, so the timer switch is not their problem.
So long as the occupier gets a full 7 hours cheap rate then that is it fulfilling its purpose. Possibly if the occupier was in need of it operating to the exact guidance time of the area switchover then they could pay for the work themselves..Would be approx £65 ! at least.
You would think that eco7/10 digital meters are fairly accurate but they are far from it.
I visit a large meter room ( in Goole East Yorks ) of 65 digital Eco 7 meters to read many of them once a quarter for BG. Only a few of them are anywhere near the correct time, the rest of them the night rate is changing round at various times from 9 pm up to as far as 12 pm. The times have drifted. Time drift is very common surprisingly
Anyone complaining about Eco 7 timer switch can expect the supplier to replace the meter with a smart meter

Talldave

Houbara wrote: »

.....
Anyone complaining about Eco 7 timer switch can expect the supplier to replace the meter with a smart meter

Which is the quickest and easiest way to solve the problem and get the timing right.

[Deleted User]

Talldave wrote: »

Which is the quickest and easiest way to solve the problem and get the timing right.

I`d say get an eco 7 smart meter asap. I can t imagine small suppliers such as the late lamented Eversmart and their ilk ever coming out to fix anything...ever..
I ve known Scottish Power send a man out to adjust the old analogue 24 hr timers..With a digital meter it will be an exchange to a smart meter , unless you refuse one, and then they could fit one with the comms disabled

Jami74

Thank-you everyone for your interesting replies.

To be honest, I don't really mind which 7 hours I get at the cheaper rate as long as I know approximately what they are so I can adapt my usage.

I find it odd that the man on the phone said my meter would be switching at the times on the statement yet the meter shows something different.

I'd be happy with a Smart Meter. I think the 'checked' date written on a sticker on the meter is 2008. And if I had to pay towards it then that would be okay if it was going to save me money over the long run.