How to use a smart meter

Alfie2020

I've had both electric and gas smart meters today.  I was left with no information and a quick run through the displays on the monitor.  We are on Economy 7 and asked how I could check on the usage each day (this was easy with the old meter with a low and normal dial).  He didn't know.  I have tried all afternoon both phone and online chat to speak to someone at Scottish Power and I have looked online as well.  I have been unable to find anything that mentions economy 7.  I know there will be very knowledgeable people on here who will be able to help.  It's a SMETS2 meter.

macman

Make and model of your meter?
It either scrolls between registers, or you need to press certain combinations of buttons to view the different registers.
What does it display by default?

Alfie2020

It's EDMI12b.  I've tried pressing the left and right arrows on the meter itself but there only appears to be one reading section.  I have tried on the plug in monitor as well with no success.

Devongardener

If the installer didn’t leave you a manual, you should be able to find it online.

Alfie2020

Yes I have looked but the manuals all appear to be standard and don't mention economy 7.

[Deleted User]

https://octopus.energy/blog/how-to-read-your-meter/

To take two rate meter readings from your EDMI SMETS2 electricity meter:

1. Hold OK until it enters the ‘Main Menu’, you will see ‘Billing’ appear
2. Hold OK to enter the ‘Billing’ sub-menu
3. Using the arrows, scroll to ‘Advancd’ (2 pushes of the > button)
4. Hold OK to enter the ‘Advanced’ sub-menu, you will see ‘TOUmtrx’ appear
5. Hold OK to enter the ‘TOUmatrx’ sub-menu, you will see ‘RATE1’ appear
6. Use the arrows to cycle the rates you need to submit (Rate 1, Rate 2, …)

Petriix

The most useful thing is having the IHD ('plug in monitor) show you the instantaneous power your house is using. Don't worry about pounds and pence, think in terms of Watts and kWh.

As you're on E7 you should try to save your high powered appliances for the off-peak period. Otherwise just try turning a few things off and see what difference it makes.

I discovered that most of the things I leave plugged in use almost no power, but my land-line phone charging dock uses more than anything else. An old amplifier I use for some ceiling speakers was running at 30W regardless of whether music was playing or not.

Each Watt of continuous usage equates to around £3 per year, so cutting 50W off your background usage will save you £150.

For me having downloadable 30 minute data is invaluable. In combination with my solar panel and car charging data I'm able to calculate the potential for savings by adding things like batteries or load shifting from peak to off peak. 

[Deleted User]

Just to add to my previous post. Download the App BRIGHT and you will be able to see your usage in 30 minute slots. Provided the supplier has sent the correct tariff information to your meters, BRIGHT will also show your costs.

Each smart meter has 4 registers (indexes): the meter readings shown on your IHD is the total of the 4 registers fir each meter. Smart meters do not recognise day and night and there is no convention as to which register is used for an E7 tariff. 

Alfie2020

Thanks for your help.  I will have a go.  I don't use apps (phone too old).  Our economy 7 used to switch on at midnight, off for an hour between 1 and 2 and then switch to daytime at 8am.  The guy that installed the meters said this might vary but couldn't say why.  Not helpful at all.

Alfie2020

Thanks I could see the  different readings.  I would never worked that out in a million years.  It was much easier to just look up at the meter previously.  Now I just need to check the off peak times.  I don't know if it will click when it changes over like the old meters.

[Deleted User]

Alfie2020 said:

Thanks I could see the  different readings.  I would never worked that out in a million years.  It was much easier to just look up at the meter previously.  Now I just need to check the off peak times.  I don't know if it will click when it changes over like the old meters.

There is a clue in the word ‘smart’: smart meter designers never thought that consumers would routinely want to look through meter menus when there are apps and devices available to do this remotely.

For example the days of entering kWh/year into price comparison websites will soon pass into history as sites will ‘pull’ 12 months worth of actual usage data to make tariff price comparisons.

As far as I know, smart meters do not click when changing registers. You will see the tariff in use on the IHD.

PS You need to set your own budget (if you can be bothered to do so).