Economy 7 hours - does anybody actually know for sure??

QrizB

Sparks3000 said:

Does this help ...?

Yes.

It's a SMETS1 smart meter. According to OVO the Aclara SGM1312 has a 2-amp auxiliary relay for E7 load switching. The E7 timings will (or should) have been provisioned by Shell when they took over your supply, and the clock will (or should) be automatically set.

Sparks3000

So ... since the most recent information I have from Shell,  based on the SSC no. 0151  ( although I'm not entirely clear where they got that from ),  is that my night-rate hours are 00:30 - 07:30,  assuming the clock is set correctly and adjusting for BST,  and bearing in mind that the same company told me the previous day that I should check with UK Power Networks,  give or take ten to fifteen minutes either way,  I can take this as being gospel ...?

Alnat1

Set the washer for 5am and keep your fingers crossed?

Sparks3000

Ironically,  that's exactly the situation that precipitated this.    I'd found myself doing more or less that,  and then I thought:  'wait  -  why am I guessing?   -   Why don't I just find out exactly what the night-rate hours are?   -   After all,  it can't be that difficult ... right?'.

Unfortunately,  my washing machine can only be set for 3,  6 or 9-hour delay  -  which is fine unless you forget and  'miss the window'.    It's not such a problem if it's definitely an unbroken stretch of seven hours,  but my concern was precisely what I was told the first time round  -  that there was this weird gap between 00:30 and 02:30 when it went back to the day rate.

lohr500

Something else to consider :

In my area (Yorkshire), the Off Peak period is always based on GMT and the time doesn't shift the hours to BST. This is the case with our smart meter, as it was with the old radio teleswitch meter.
So, we have to factor this into the equation when setting the delay on the washing machine and dishwasher. 

fly-catchers

For me in the Dover area it is 23.30 to 01.30 before reverting to the day rate from 01.30 to 03.30. And them night rate from 03.30 to 08.30. In the winter it is of course an hour earlier. And having checked the actual clock on the meter which is about 12 minutes fast. It actually starts at 23.17 and finishes at 08.17 for me when I check the time on my watch!

EssexHebridean

We're in East Anglia and are currently at 0111 onto night rate, 0811 back onto day rate. when the clocks change again we will be back to the slightly less user friendly 0711 finish time. That is on a non smart meter. 

SAC2334

With the old dumb meters I can be reasonably certain to say that only the person who lives in the property can be 100 % sure of exactly when the night rate switches in 

.And they can only do that by watching the meter switch over.EDIT, either when it switches on late evening /early hours or off in the early morning. Either will work 

That go s for digital and analogue meters alike although digital meters are far less likely to be more than say 4 hours out from the published day/night times for each region
I was a meter reader for 20 years and it was one of my pet subjects to inform occupiers that their mostly analogue meters were so out of kilter that the night rate was coming on at 2 pm in the afternoon and ending at 7 pm in the evening . 
With digital meters it was more of a slow drift away from the set times..

 In a meter cupboard I went to of 106 Eco 7 digital Ampy type  meters there were a few meters switching over from night rate  as late as 11 am in the morning in BST  and nearly all of them had drifted so far away from the correct 7.30 GMT ,8.30 BST  they were switching over at between 9 am and 10 am . They make a loud audible click as they switch 

I m not at all sure about smart meter Eco 7 because they can be controlled by the supplier/dcc and adjusted so even the switch from GMT to BST in late March could be taken into account .Being digital though they will slowly drift unless corrected 

SAC2334

Sparks3000 said:

By the by,  our property is configured in such a way that the energy meters are on a wall about thirty yards up the driveway  ( don't ask ).    I'm afraid that with the best will in the world I'm not going to be sitting there all night shining a torch into a meter cupboard  -  and of course it would have to be all night in order to establish that it's not switching back to the day rate at 00:30 etc.
Give or take the odd few minutes either way,  I still can't believe there isn't anyone anywhere who would simply be able to give an accurate answer to the question!

Sparks3000 said:

By the by,  our property is configured in such a way that the energy meters are on a wall about thirty yards up the driveway  ( don't ask ).    I'm afraid that with the best will in the world I'm not going to be sitting there all night shining a torch into a meter cupboard  -  and of course it would have to be all night in order to establish that it's not switching back to the day rate at 00:30 etc.
Give or take the odd few minutes either way,  I still can't believe there isn't anyone anywhere who would simply be able to give an accurate answer to the question!

you are the only one who can ascertain the true times though.
Don t waste your time asking Shell , they are the old First Utility ..hopless .They won t have a clue 
 You would nt have to sit for hours on end but you could just pop in now and again to see which display is showing , R1 or R2 . .If you went at say 11.30 pm one night , then 12 pm  etc you could track it down to a few minutes  with half a dozen visits.. 

GibbsRule_No3.

I have an old EDF meter, really should be changed and I will probably get asked to change it soon, since my HA has just had Solar Panels installed and at present any excess is not earning them anything.

I have had umpteen conversations with EDF about my E7 times, they never believe the times I know the night rate comes on, on my meter. Also had one with the SP installers as they could not believe my Night rate was live at 10:15 in the morning (@ this time of year). The times printed on the meter bear no relation to the time the night rate clocks on and off.  I am a winner, as it means when October arrives, I can warm my storage heaters at the night rate for a few hours after I wake up. So it is cheaper than me leaving it on all night, not really needed in October.

Not really looking forward to the new meters.