Octopus Energy dragging feet over getting meter checked.

niktheguru

the smart readings using come within 48hrs. They tell you 2 weeks as for a few it takes longer.
You are still however able to look at the meter yourself just as you have been doing to check the readings.

Gerry1

Chrysalis said:

New meter is in, old meter is still there below it turned off.  The guy coming was aware about the issue, so maybe that's why its still there, don't know.

Sounds like he was only too well aware of the issue !

If the new meter had been wired in series with the existing meter than it would have provided solid evidence if the old meter was recording incorrectly.  I'd have insisted on that.

MattMattMattUK

Gerry1 said:

Chrysalis said:

New meter is in, old meter is still there below it turned off.  The guy coming was aware about the issue, so maybe that's why its still there, don't know.

Sounds like he was only too well aware of the issue !

If the new meter had been wired in series with the existing meter than it would have provided solid evidence if the old meter was recording incorrectly.  I'd have insisted on that.

I cannot see that working as you think it might, I also suspect that it would not meet regulatory standards.

Gerry1

MattMattMattUK said:

Gerry1 said:

Chrysalis said:

New meter is in, old meter is still there below it turned off.  The guy coming was aware about the issue, so maybe that's why its still there, don't know.

Sounds like he was only too well aware of the issue !

If the new meter had been wired in series with the existing meter than it would have provided solid evidence if the old meter was recording incorrectly.  I'd have insisted on that.

I cannot see that working as you think it might, I also suspect that it would not meet regulatory standards.

What prohibits a check meter from being installed?

MattMattMattUK

Gerry1 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Gerry1 said:

Chrysalis said:

New meter is in, old meter is still there below it turned off.  The guy coming was aware about the issue, so maybe that's why its still there, don't know.

Sounds like he was only too well aware of the issue !

If the new meter had been wired in series with the existing meter than it would have provided solid evidence if the old meter was recording incorrectly.  I'd have insisted on that.

I cannot see that working as you think it might, I also suspect that it would not meet regulatory standards.

What prohibits a check meter from being installed?

The way I read your comment it appeared that you meant two separate meters running in series, but my understanding (and I am happy to be corrected if wrong) is that meters that we have in our homes cannot operate in series (or in parallel)?

MWT

MattMattMattUK said:

...but my understanding (and I am happy to be corrected if wrong) is that meters that we have in our homes cannot operate in series (or in parallel)?

In parallel on the same phase no, in series though is perfectly normal for a check meter or a number of sub-meters for example.

Chrysalis

Gerry1 said:

Chrysalis said:

New meter is in, old meter is still there below it turned off.  The guy coming was aware about the issue, so maybe that's why its still there, don't know.

Sounds like he was only too well aware of the issue !

If the new meter had been wired in series with the existing meter than it would have provided solid evidence if the old meter was recording incorrectly.  I'd have insisted on that.

He rang me yesterday, and i did ask him then about it, he said it was on the system, but he could only do what was the job, so he couldnt do anything related to testing, just what he was told to do which was install the new meter.  I think he did a great job, and also relit my boiler behind my washing machine for me which I cannot do myself.

But because he knew I expect he might have foreseen this maybe escalating so left the old meter there to allow it to be tested at a later date, or maybe thats what he always does, no idea.

As far as I am concerned if the readings are similar, then the old meter was fine and then I arrange payment for the usage with octopus.

Chrysalis

Ok I grabbed a reading, but this will be it until the smart meter functions start working as had to hand keys back for meter cupboard.

First I made a mistake, when I locked it yesterday, I took a quick glance and looked like old meter was still there, it is actually removed, just the new one looks like 2 meters on top of each other, takes up much more space.

The usage for roughly a day, was 8 units, the last 3 measurements I took for roughly day usage on old meter was 14,10,12.  Same devices been used.  With variables like number of times kettle boiled and time lights on (all LED).

I am really waiting for the live usage feature to work, as for me 8 is still higher than what it should be unless there is lots of leakage on the wires, whilst 14 made no sense at all.  When thats working I will be doing more testing, made easier by the remote access and rapid updates, to further diagnose whats going on.

[Deleted User]

Chrysalis said:

Ok I grabbed a reading, but this will be it until the smart meter functions start working as had to hand keys back for meter cupboard.

First I made a mistake, when I locked it yesterday, I took a quick glance and looked like old meter was still there, it is actually removed, just the new one looks like 2 meters on top of each other, takes up much more space.

The usage for roughly a day, was 8 units, the last 3 measurements I took for roughly day usage on old meter was 14,10,12.  Same devices been used.  With variables like number of times kettle boiled and time lights on (all LED).

I am really waiting for the live usage feature to work, as for me 8 is still higher than what it should be unless there is lots of leakage on the wires, whilst 14 made no sense at all.  When thats working I will be doing more testing, made easier by the remote access and rapid updates, to further diagnose whats going on.

The box that sits on top of your electricity meter is the communications hub that establishes the wide area network (WAN) connection to the DCC and to your supplier, as well as the Home area network (HAN) that your in house display (IHD) connects to. 

Electricity wires do not leak. If your energy usage is high then it is because something in your home is using power. The IHD will give you an indication of your baseload which can account for a high percentage of your daily usage.

Have you signed up to 30 minute usage monitoring? If so, you can download the free App BRIGHT and get some very detailed bar charts with costs.

Chrysalis

Dolor said:

Chrysalis said:

Ok I grabbed a reading, but this will be it until the smart meter functions start working as had to hand keys back for meter cupboard.

First I made a mistake, when I locked it yesterday, I took a quick glance and looked like old meter was still there, it is actually removed, just the new one looks like 2 meters on top of each other, takes up much more space.

The usage for roughly a day, was 8 units, the last 3 measurements I took for roughly day usage on old meter was 14,10,12.  Same devices been used.  With variables like number of times kettle boiled and time lights on (all LED).

I am really waiting for the live usage feature to work, as for me 8 is still higher than what it should be unless there is lots of leakage on the wires, whilst 14 made no sense at all.  When thats working I will be doing more testing, made easier by the remote access and rapid updates, to further diagnose whats going on.

The box that sits on top of your electricity meter is the communications hub that establishes the wide area network (WAN) connection to the DCC and to your supplier, as well as the Home area network (HAN) that your in house display (IHD) connects to. 

Electricity wires do not leak. If your energy usage is high then it is because something in your home is using power. The IHD will give you an indication of your baseload which can account for a high percentage of your daily usage.

Have you signed up to 30 minute usage monitoring? If so, you can download the free App BRIGHT and get some very detailed bar charts with costs.

There is 30 minute updates I have been told will happen when this thing goes live, in addition to a live usage feature (akin to a watt meter but at the meter).

There is ways power can be lost, e.g. my PSU in my PC is only 92% efficient, so wastes power.

There is stories if you look for them where people have found weird problems in wiring and other stuff that caused high usage of electric.  What is happening is not quite clear yet as I only have one new reading, and I think this will be much easier to diagnose once that live usage feature is working.

I will checkout the app as well when its all working thanks.

From octopus side nothing has really been offered, all they say is the generic wait 14 days for it to come online, after that they update every 30 minutes.  I havent found a way to switch to one of their smart meter night time tariffs either.

Here is breakdown of devices measured and things turned off.

Immersion heater - off at trip switch nd its own switch, only on for 3 hours when tested.
Shower - off at trip switch when not used, on when used, only use for washing hair few minutes no more than once day most.  On days I was measuring 24h usage, i didnt use shower.
Cooker - rated at 2000w, usually used once for 5 days a week, other 2 days just cold food.  When used is for 20 minute period.  Not measured actual power drawn as unsure safe for watt meter.  Obviously its not drawing the 2000w for 20 minutes, will be going on/off with thermostat.  Not used on days I did 24h usage monitoring on old meter.  Was used for the 8 units in first 24h on smart meter.
TV on standby - 17w, seems inefficient.
PC and monitor and networking equipment (all measured by UPS) when used on web browsing the total combined usage is around 120w, may peak at about 170w if watching video, idles at 105w if monitor still on.  99w with monitor off.  If PC is off, networking equipment combined usage 11w.
Satellite STB, 32w.
LED Bulbs, usually bedroom light on all day when awake. rated at 8W Kitchen light on maybe 2 hours evening, bathroom light on all day (no window).  The ratings of kitchen and bathroom bulbs unknown I didnt fit them and purchase them, brightest one's I seen sold use 23W so can assume that to play safe.
Gas boiler, I assume when this is on it uses "some" electric for its pump and thermostat stuff, but this is maybe on 3-4 hours a week at most only for water.  Even in winter, I have extremely low gas usage as a result.  Was used on 8 unit measurement on smart meter, was NOT used on 24h measurements on old meter.
Phone chargers. Two phones.  The chargers are left in socket all time, but typically disconnect from phone when fully charged, my main phone charged once every 3-4 days on average, my second phone a g9 play with amazing battery, once a week at most.
Charger for smart meter monitor (obviously not used on old meter), was on for the 8 unit measurement.
Kettle - 1000w rated, measured at 820w when boiling.  Use is variable but I would say typically boiled 6-10 times a day. I deliberately used this liberally first 24h smart meter, more than 10 times.
Fridge, rated at just over 100w (exact amount I think i posted earlier in thread), only actually consumes about 76w when light is off, and another 10 or so when its on as well, the vast majority of the time it is not cooling.  I actually had a very hard time measuring it, as its not cooling most of the time.

So whats interesting? I deliberately didnt use certain electric guzzlers when doing 24h measurements on the old meter, used them on the smart meter, and compared to the best reading I got on the old meter it was 20% lower.  I even boiled my kettle a few extra times when not needing to.

As to the idea of something consuming multiple KwH a day I may have not noticed, not going to happen I am afraid, I live in a small enclosed flat and something like that I would know about.  Once I get the live usage feature on the smart meter monitor (installer told me its lags by about a minute), it will be interesting to see the effect of things like kettle and turning PC on/off has on it.  Something really curious, and I guess you are too, will it record usage, when I believe everything is turned off.  So like a creep test but without the main trip been off.

Final note I do own both an xbox series S and PS5 as well, but since I been investigating this, they have both been unplugged including on the smart meter.  When they were plugged in the PS5 was shutdown (not standby) xbox in standby, not played on either since july.