Time on pre-payment meter

Jami74

Well I've had another reply stating this:

"the time on the meter has nothing to do with when the meter switches between rates as it is sent electronically"

So that suggests I should go by the times on my statement and not the meter.

I wonder if the units on the meter have anything to do with how much I've actually used or do they have nothing to do with my actual usage. If they don't represent the electricity I'm using I might as well stop reading and recording them.

I'm feeling really stupid for not understanding. If the numbers on the meter don't represent what they are supposed to represent, then what is their point? And how can I find out how much electricity I'm using?

Talldave

The figures on the meter reflect your consumption. Does it not show on the display which rate is active? E.g "R1" or "R2"? If so, just check it at regular intervals and see when it changes.

Jami74

Talldave wrote: »

The figures on the meter reflect your consumption. Does it not show on the display which rate is active? E.g "R1" or "R2"? If so, just check it at regular intervals and see when it changes.

Yes it does! But EDF have told me three times now that the time and the rate on the meter don't matter because they have nothing to do with the time or when the rates switch or what rate the meter says is active.

Talldave

Jami74 wrote: »

Yes it does! But EDF have told me three times now that the time and the rate on the meter don't matter because they have nothing to do with the time or when the rates switch or what rate the meter says is active.

If it's a teleswitch meter (switching controlled by radio signals) then the time is irrelevant. The active rate indicates which rate usage is being added to so it does matter!

Just monitor the rate indication to work out when each one is active. If you read the meter several times a day, you'll see the totals increasing too. And it's those totals you get billed on - you'll even be able to confirm that day & night rates are getting billed the right way around.

[Deleted User]

Jami74 wrote: »

Yes it does! But EDF have told me three times now that the time and the rate on the meter don't matter because they have nothing to do with the time or when the rates switch or what rate the meter says is active.

I think what EDF say is factually correct. I work for them as a meter reader and they are one of the more clued up suppliers when it comes to Eco7 timings, unlike BG or Scot Power who are hopeless.
I have been in an Eco 7 property where rate 1 is day rate and a few doors down rate 2 is day rate. In my area in South Yorks it was never set in stone which rate is day and night on digital meters and we can get it either way.
On our handheld computers low/night has the number 1 next to it with number 2 next to norm/day, so no wonder we get the readings transposed constantly because generally rate 1 is day rate ( but not always )
We never had any problems with transposed Eco 7 rates with the old analogue meters where the readings at the top were night and labelled "low or night " , and the lower reading "norm or day ".
As soon as cheaper to make digital meters started appearing then so did transposed day and night readings by all suppliers.
The only surefire way to establish the cheap 7 hours is by the occupier working out over a few days which rate is the low 7 hours by watching for it starting and stopping

Jami74

Talldave wrote: »

If it's a teleswitch meter (switching controlled by radio signals) then the time is irrelevant. The active rate indicates which rate usage is being added to so it does matter!

Ah, I assumed that if it said eg 5pm R1 then it would be the KWh numbers on the rate 1 that would be increasing. I'll watch for actual number movement when I check it.

Houbara wrote: »

I think what EDF say is factually correct. I work for them as a meter reader and they are one of the more clued up suppliers when it comes to Eco7 timings.

The only surefire way to establish the cheap 7 hours is by the occupier working out over a few days which rate is the low 7 hours by watching for it starting and stopping

Good to know that they are on the ball!

R1 is charged at nearly 3 times the rate of R2 as per both the meter and my statement, so (again assuming) R2 must be the night rate.

I've just been outside to check the meter and it says the time is 11:18 (as opposed to 08.23) and R1 is active. I documented all of the numbers, ran inside to boil the kettle and returned to see that the the R1 units were increasing from XXXXX.14 - XXXXX.18. The R2 units did not change.

I'll do this again at about 8pm tonight when I should still be on R1 but the meter will think it's 11pm and will show R2.

Thank-you for your help.

Talldave

Jami74 wrote: »

Ah, I assumed that if it said eg 5pm R1 then it would be the KWh numbers on the rate 1 that would be increasing. I'll watch for actual number movement when I check it.

Yes - we're agreeing with each other. But the clock on the meter is irrelevant and meaningless - just stop looking at it. All that matters is R1 or R2.

Although your neighbours might think you're weird, start going outside and staring at the meter at the times you think you might catch it switching, e.g just before midnight, just before 00:30, just before 01:00, 01:30 etc. Eventually, you'll see the R1/R2 change. As we're on BST it might be 01:30 at the moment. You can do the same thing in the morning for the R2/R1 switch, probably 08:30 if your E7 comes in one chunk.

When we switch to GMT repeat the process and you'll then know the precise times for the whole year.

Jami74

Talldave wrote: »

Eventually, you'll see the R1/R2 change. .

Our E7 hours are 22:30-00:30 and 02:30-07:30

At 19:24 the meter said 22:19 R1 and when the kettle was turned on the R1 units increased and the R2 units remained stationary.
At 19:34 the meter clicked, the time on the meter then said 22:30 R2. The R1 units stopped increasing and the R2 units started increasing.

I was surprised at the big click/clunk sound when the clock and rate changed.

Carrot007

Jami74 wrote: »

Our E7 hours are 22:30-00:30 and 02:30-07:30

At 19:24 the meter said 22:19 R1 and when the kettle was turned on the R1 units increased and the R2 units remained stationary.
At 19:34 the meter clicked, the time on the meter then said 22:30 R2. The R1 units stopped increasing and the R2 units started increasing.

I was surprised at the big click/clunk sound when the clock and rate changed.

So you are saying you are timeswitched rather than t he old teleswitched and therefore teh time on the meter is all important?


Though why would it jump forward around 3 hours?


E7 is annoying unless you know what you are dealing with! So many different setups out there.


As always (although people seem too paranoid these days!) If you want to PM me the meter info I can look up what you should have. And in the case of teleswitched it is only indicative. But the more you know.


Just glad I have gas myself. Much cheaper and simpler on the billing. If the government want to ban gas (and they will eventually (and it is a good thing)) they need some much different electric billing that that have to actually plan out unlike any of the requirement to the companies lately! So no time soon then.

Jami74

Carrot007 wrote: »

So you are saying you are timeswitched rather than the old teleswitched and therefore teh time on the meter is all important?

Though why would it jump forward around 3 hours?

As always (although people seem too paranoid these days!) If you want to PM me the meter info I can look up what you should have. And in the case of teleswitched it is only indicative. But the more you know.

I'm not sure what timeswitched instead of teleswitched means. EDF have told me both by phone and email that the time on the meter makes no difference and the rate changes based on the real time not the meter time for everyone in the area electronically.

I'm not sure it has suddenly jumped forward, I have only started paying attention to it in the last few months. It's the same meter as when I moved in 13 years ago.

I'm not particularly paranoid. What meter info should I send you? I can send you a picture? I mostly want to know how to persuade EDF that I'm being charged at the wrong times.