Meter Time Wrong 24 January at 4:24PM in Energy 11 replies 271 views

ElectricShock136

My energy usage over the last month has been much higher than usual. I am on Economy 7 with EDF.

After checking the meter yesterday, I noticed that the time is a few hours out. EDF claim that this will not effect my costs but using storage heaters etc I am sceptical and worried I am being charged higher rates than I should be. 

I've pushed for an engineer to come out but EDF are very reluctant to do so. Any advice? 

Dolor

Are you talking about the time in a smart meter or the time switch often used in E7 installations?

Jonboy_1984

How are your heaters wired - are they on dedicated breakers in a small group on one side (or level) of your consumer unit (fuse board), or controlled with timers/controllers on the heaters themselves?

Does your meter have 2 or 4 cables sticking out the bottom.

(Pictures of consumer unit and meter may help here)

SnakePlissken

ElectricShock136 said:

My energy usage over the last month has been much higher than usual. I am on Economy 7 with EDF.

After checking the meter yesterday, I noticed that the time is a few hours out. EDF claim that this will not effect my costs but using storage heaters etc I am sceptical and worried I am being charged higher rates than I should be. 

I've pushed for an engineer to come out but EDF are very reluctant to do so. Any advice? 

If your storage heaters and water heater are on a seperate circuit that kicks in when E7 is on it should not  make a difference to cost. Just means they will charge at a different time.

Only thing it would affect is using dishwasher etc if you run them on a timer.

If you check meter you should be able to see if units are still being used on E7 rate.

I have an anolgue meter with a timer clock and a meter with 2 rates. Meter indicates which one is active on it. 


How far out is the time is it constant or is time changing constantly?

Power cuts can put clock out. It may even work in your favour.

I had a clock that went fruitloops, only noticed when imersion heater was coming on at various time in day over a few months. Was runing fast or slow i think and looped round 24 clock over a month or 2.

I let distributer know and they sent an engineer who swapped out with refurbed kit. 

Robin9

Are you saying that the heating goes off at say 1100 instead of 0700 ?   But what time do they go on ?

dunstonh

After checking the meter yesterday, I noticed that the time is a few hours out.

That happens quite a lot but the impact will vary. 

Those that are on timers need to make sure their timers match the meter time.   
Those that have circuit switching don't have to worry about it as the heating will start drawing when the circuit switches.

Also, it can depend on what you mean by a few hours.

Currently, we are GMT but a portion of the year we are on BST.   That can account for one hour difference.  Meters rarely adjust for BST.  Then you have local variations on the start and end time and even then, the time it switches over may vary between houses and systems.

For reference, I am on a digital meter (not smart).  The time on the meter changes every 5-6 months.   So, once a month, when I read the meter, I check the time on the meter and make sure any timed devices match that time.  It only moved 4 minutes last month after no changes for 8 months but it moved 5 hours at that point.  Currently, my off peak time is 8.50am to 3.50pm because the clock is wrong.   As 8.50am -3.50pm suits me down to the ground, I keep quiet about it.      I mentioned it to my supplier a number of years ago when the previous meter did the same and they changed it.  The new one repeated the same problem.  I regret telling them as I would probably have my evening use on off peak now if I had kept quiet.    I did the same with my water meter.   That was only working when the water table was low.  When the water table was higher and the meter was under water, the counter stopped working.  I should have kept quiet on that too!!

ElectricShock136

Robin9 said:

Are you saying that the heating goes off at say 1100 instead of 0700 ?   But what time do they go on ?

I have no control on time heating comes on/goes off. It's wired into the mains with no controls but usually charges at night. 

ElectricShock136

Dolor said:

Are you talking about the time in a smart meter or the time switch often used in E7 installations?

I don't have a smart meter, just a standard meter with two rates.

Jonboy_1984 said:

How are your heaters wired - are they on dedicated breakers in a small group on one side (or level) of your consumer unit (fuse board), or controlled with timers/controllers on the heaters themselves?

Does your meter have 2 or 4 cables sticking out the bottom.

(Pictures of consumer unit and meter may help here)

They don't have any timers or controllers, they are wired to a switch which only allows me to turn them on or off.

I'm not home at the minute but the meter has at least 4 cables coming out of the bottom of it.

SnakePlissken said:

ElectricShock136 said:

My energy usage over the last month has been much higher than usual. I am on Economy 7 with EDF.

After checking the meter yesterday, I noticed that the time is a few hours out. EDF claim that this will not effect my costs but using storage heaters etc I am sceptical and worried I am being charged higher rates than I should be. 

I've pushed for an engineer to come out but EDF are very reluctant to do so. Any advice? 

If your storage heaters and water heater are on a seperate circuit that kicks in when E7 is on it should not  make a difference to cost. Just means they will charge at a different time.

Only thing it would affect is using dishwasher etc if you run them on a timer.

If you check meter you should be able to see if units are still being used on E7 rate.

I have an anolgue meter with a timer clock and a meter with 2 rates. Meter indicates which one is active on it. 


How far out is the time is it constant or is time changing constantly?

Power cuts can put clock out. It may even work in your favour.

I had a clock that went fruitloops, only noticed when imersion heater was coming on at various time in day over a few months. Was runing fast or slow i think and looped round 24 clock over a month or 2.

I let distributer know and they sent an engineer who swapped out with refurbed kit. 

The time is 2 hours or so out. I've only noticed as I've been setting the dishwasher etc to finish at 7.30 or so for the morning and the day usage has been much higher than normal. How can I tell if the storage heaters on a separate circuit? Would it be as simple as checking the unit at 12.30 when e7 is supposed to kick in?

SnakePlissken

ElectricShock136 said:

Dolor said:

Are you talking about the time in a smart meter or the time switch often used in E7 installations?

I don't have a smart meter, just a standard meter with two rates.

Jonboy_1984 said:

How are your heaters wired - are they on dedicated breakers in a small group on one side (or level) of your consumer unit (fuse board), or controlled with timers/controllers on the heaters themselves?

Does your meter have 2 or 4 cables sticking out the bottom.

(Pictures of consumer unit and meter may help here)

They don't have any timers or controllers, they are wired to a switch which only allows me to turn them on or off.

I'm not home at the minute but the meter has at least 4 cables coming out of the bottom of it.

SnakePlissken said:

ElectricShock136 said:

My energy usage over the last month has been much higher than usual. I am on Economy 7 with EDF.

After checking the meter yesterday, I noticed that the time is a few hours out. EDF claim that this will not effect my costs but using storage heaters etc I am sceptical and worried I am being charged higher rates than I should be. 

I've pushed for an engineer to come out but EDF are very reluctant to do so. Any advice? 

If your storage heaters and water heater are on a seperate circuit that kicks in when E7 is on it should not  make a difference to cost. Just means they will charge at a different time.

Only thing it would affect is using dishwasher etc if you run them on a timer.

If you check meter you should be able to see if units are still being used on E7 rate.

I have an anolgue meter with a timer clock and a meter with 2 rates. Meter indicates which one is active on it. 


How far out is the time is it constant or is time changing constantly?

Power cuts can put clock out. It may even work in your favour.

I had a clock that went fruitloops, only noticed when imersion heater was coming on at various time in day over a few months. Was runing fast or slow i think and looped round 24 clock over a month or 2.

I let distributer know and they sent an engineer who swapped out with refurbed kit. 

The time is 2 hours or so out. I've only noticed as I've been setting the dishwasher etc to finish at 7.30 or so for the morning and the day usage has been much higher than normal. How can I tell if the storage heaters on a separate circuit? Would it be as simple as checking the unit at 12.30 when e7 is supposed to kick in?

An easy way to check is see if light for imersion comes on or checking meter.

Or check meter for if day or night is on.



Do you  have a seperate clock next to your meter like this.. 

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSFAfJMyz-5A_2iohsQQSoKJjas2hXYfdNG3A&usqp=CAU

Or this..

(

ElectricShock136

SnakePlissken said:

ElectricShock136 said:

Dolor said:

Are you talking about the time in a smart meter or the time switch often used in E7 installations?

I don't have a smart meter, just a standard meter with two rates.

Jonboy_1984 said:

How are your heaters wired - are they on dedicated breakers in a small group on one side (or level) of your consumer unit (fuse board), or controlled with timers/controllers on the heaters themselves?

Does your meter have 2 or 4 cables sticking out the bottom.

(Pictures of consumer unit and meter may help here)

They don't have any timers or controllers, they are wired to a switch which only allows me to turn them on or off.

I'm not home at the minute but the meter has at least 4 cables coming out of the bottom of it.

SnakePlissken said:

ElectricShock136 said:

My energy usage over the last month has been much higher than usual. I am on Economy 7 with EDF.

After checking the meter yesterday, I noticed that the time is a few hours out. EDF claim that this will not effect my costs but using storage heaters etc I am sceptical and worried I am being charged higher rates than I should be. 

I've pushed for an engineer to come out but EDF are very reluctant to do so. Any advice? 

If your storage heaters and water heater are on a seperate circuit that kicks in when E7 is on it should not  make a difference to cost. Just means they will charge at a different time.

Only thing it would affect is using dishwasher etc if you run them on a timer.

If you check meter you should be able to see if units are still being used on E7 rate.

I have an anolgue meter with a timer clock and a meter with 2 rates. Meter indicates which one is active on it. 


How far out is the time is it constant or is time changing constantly?

Power cuts can put clock out. It may even work in your favour.

I had a clock that went fruitloops, only noticed when imersion heater was coming on at various time in day over a few months. Was runing fast or slow i think and looped round 24 clock over a month or 2.

I let distributer know and they sent an engineer who swapped out with refurbed kit. 

The time is 2 hours or so out. I've only noticed as I've been setting the dishwasher etc to finish at 7.30 or so for the morning and the day usage has been much higher than normal. How can I tell if the storage heaters on a separate circuit? Would it be as simple as checking the unit at 12.30 when e7 is supposed to kick in?

An easy way to check is see if light for imersion comes on or checking meter.

Or check meter for if day or night is

(

Meter looks like this. Ill keep an eye out for immersion light later!

SnakePlissken

ElectricShock136 said:

SnakePlissken said:

ElectricShock136 said:

Dolor said:

Are you talking about the time in a smart meter or the time switch often used in E7 installations?

I don't have a smart meter, just a standard meter with two rates.

Jonboy_1984 said:

How are your heaters wired - are they on dedicated breakers in a small group on one side (or level) of your consumer unit (fuse board), or controlled with timers/controllers on the heaters themselves?

Does your meter have 2 or 4 cables sticking out the bottom.

(Pictures of consumer unit and meter may help here)

They don't have any timers or controllers, they are wired to a switch which only allows me to turn them on or off.

I'm not home at the minute but the meter has at least 4 cables coming out of the bottom of it.

SnakePlissken said:

ElectricShock136 said:

My energy usage over the last month has been much higher than usual. I am on Economy 7 with EDF.

After checking the meter yesterday, I noticed that the time is a few hours out. EDF claim that this will not effect my costs but using storage heaters etc I am sceptical and worried I am being charged higher rates than I should be. 

I've pushed for an engineer to come out but EDF are very reluctant to do so. Any advice? 

If your storage heaters and water heater are on a seperate circuit that kicks in when E7 is on it should not  make a difference to cost. Just means they will charge at a different time.

Only thing it would affect is using dishwasher etc if you run them on a timer.

If you check meter you should be able to see if units are still being used on E7 rate.

I have an anolgue meter with a timer clock and a meter with 2 rates. Meter indicates which one is active on it. 


How far out is the time is it constant or is time changing constantly?

Power cuts can put clock out. It may even work in your favour.

I had a clock that went fruitloops, only noticed when imersion heater was coming on at various time in day over a few months. Was runing fast or slow i think and looped round 24 clock over a month or 2.

I let distributer know and they sent an engineer who swapped out with refurbed kit. 

The time is 2 hours or so out. I've only noticed as I've been setting the dishwasher etc to finish at 7.30 or so for the morning and the day usage has been much higher than normal. How can I tell if the storage heaters on a separate circuit? Would it be as simple as checking the unit at 12.30 when e7 is supposed to kick in?

An easy way to check is see if light for imersion comes on or checking meter.

Or check meter for if day or night is

(

Meter looks like this. Ill keep an eye out for immersion light later!

If you know which rate on meter is day/night on meter you should see which one is active as it will be one increasing.
Or check each day and see which rate goes up and check bill and historically which register matches day rate and night .