Octopus Energy - Smart Meter Economy 7 times

danmed

I'm currently in an argument with Octopus energy regarding when my Economy 7 times are...

Their website says 

"Your smart meter will have a fixed off-peak 7 hour period from 00:30 to 07:30. This time period takes place according to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), so during British Summer Time (BST) the 7 hour period will take place between 01:30 and 08:30. This may differ from your existing off-peak period on your current non-smart meter."

Which totally makes sense and lines up (i believe) with when my immersion water heater kicks in.. However their staff on support keep telling me that this isn't true and that it's 00:30 to 07:30 regardless of BST...

Does anyone have any annecdotal evidence that would support either side of this answer?

QrizB

Do you have a working smart meter? You haven't said.

danmed

QrizB said:

Do you have a working smart meter? You haven't said.

Yes i do.

ispookie666

Just check the meter when it switches from Day to Night rate or vice versa. 
Yes, I have a smart meter and Yes I'm on E7 with octopus as of 3 days 😂

QrizB

danmed said:

QrizB said:

Do you have a working smart meter? You haven't said.

Yes i do.

Thanks.

As ispookie666 says, the E7 times are what they are. If your meter switches at 0130 and 0830, that's the time it switches - and whatever it says on Octopus's website, or you are told by their CS team, is irrelevant.

I'm on their Go tariff. That is aways cheaper from 0030-0430, whether GMT or BST.

Oscarmax

I have a severe brain injury, I am a bit confused can some one help.

I have a SMET1 smart meter, I have an Apple iPhone, i have solar panels and battery, I have a Podpoint EV charger.

Recently I changed to Octopus ECO7, Octopus online information shows 12.00 - 07.00, another Octopus site states state 00.30 - 07.30, my in house display shows 00.30 -07.30, I emailed Octopus they confirm this is correct, were I am confused is the British Summer Time, do I need to reset all my appliance ?

EssexHebridean

Oscarmax said:

I have a severe brain injury, I am a bit confused can some one help.

I have a SMET1 smart meter, I have an Apple iPhone, i have solar panels and battery, I have a Podpoint EV charger.

Recently I changed to Octopus ECO7, Octopus online information shows 12.00 - 07.00, another Octopus site states state 00.30 - 07.30, my in house display shows 00.30 -07.30, I emailed Octopus they confirm this is correct, were I am confused is the British Summer Time, do I need to reset all my appliance ?

Hi Oscarmax - the best way of being 100% certain about your own E7 times is to line yourself up by the meter and watch what happens at the times in question - but allowing that you have a pretty good rough idea of the area you're looking at, it might prove more straightforward just to time the things that you want to use the off-peak rates for within those times, maybe 0045 - 0650? You would also need to check when BST kicks in in a few weeks whether that has altered the timings, or not.

Historically suppliers aren't the best at accurately confirming E7 times - this isn't limited to Octopus as we've regularly seen on here! Don't trust the IHD either - that simply shows you what the person who programmed it initially tells it to - and it may well be set to a default. 

Oscarmax

I have a SMET 1 smart meter

Raxiel

I'm with Octopus I have a smart meter configured for E7 (installed by a previous supplier, replacing a mechanical meter with a radio switch)

My IHD gives a countdown to the rate change with an hours notice.

My E7 times are 12:30 AM to 7:30 AM GMT, and 1:30AM to 8:30AM BST.

So even though the time on the meter and IHD update with BST, the E7 period doesn't move with it and instead shifts 1 hour on the clock.

Oscarmax

Raxiel said:

I'm with Octopus I have a smart meter configured for E7 (installed by a previous supplier, replacing a mechanical meter with a radio switch)

My IHD gives a countdown to the rate change with an hours notice.

My E7 times are 12:30 AM to 7:30 AM GMT, and 1:30AM to 8:30AM BST.

So even though the time on the meter and IHD update with BST, the E7 period doesn't move with it and instead shifts 1 hour on the clock.

Thank you for your help on the 26th March 2023 BST I will reset my EV charger and solar battery too 01.30 -08.30, that is until Octopus Flux comes online.

Ryan_Holden

What the heck? I didn't realise these times changed. I have SMET2 recently installed, how would I check if the times had changed?

This is a reasonably big deal for me as I time my appliances around it, particularly around getting an hour in the tumble drier 06:30 - 07:30 GMT where it's only 16p rather than 44p.