Smart meter incorrect installation caused increased energy usage

theoretica

Petriix said:

I strongly suspect that your grid CT clamp has been fitted the wrong way round. As a consequence, when you're exporting the battery 'thinks' you're importing so pushes out more and when you're importing it sees this as export and tries to store it.

A simple sanity check would be to reverse the CT clamp and see if it fixes it. I'm fairly certain it will. It's not tricky, just unclip it and put it back on the same wire with the arrow pointing the other way. 

And that might explain the genuine increase in use - if the battery has been charging off the grid.

cm4ever

.... it's only taken another 6 pages of posts to return to where I entered this thread with my 2p worth post 

At least hopefully the OP has learnt some useful information along the way....

CSI_Yorkshire

Gerry1 said:

As an aside, take great care if you're reading a meter similar to that shown by @QrizB.

Many people would submit 498021, but it's actually 388020 !  The bill would be about £36k too high.

In theory The Mysterious Third Party should spot the mistake, but if it's five years since a meter reader called...

Those were fun - although I'd read it 387020, which I suppose shows how much of a pain it is.

[Deleted User]

Petriix said:

I strongly suspect that your grid CT clamp has been fitted the wrong way round. As a consequence, when you're exporting the battery 'thinks' you're importing so pushes out more and when you're importing it sees this as export and tries to store it.

A simple sanity check would be to reverse the CT clamp and see if it fixes it. I'm fairly certain it will. It's not tricky, just unclip it and put it back on the same wire with the arrow pointing the other way. 

Very easy to check. The CT clamp fitted is similar to this. The arrow inside the clamp should point towards the consumer unit not the meter. It is a 5 second job to check.

matt_drummer

Dolor said:

Petriix said:

I strongly suspect that your grid CT clamp has been fitted the wrong way round. As a consequence, when you're exporting the battery 'thinks' you're importing so pushes out more and when you're importing it sees this as export and tries to store it.

A simple sanity check would be to reverse the CT clamp and see if it fixes it. I'm fairly certain it will. It's not tricky, just unclip it and put it back on the same wire with the arrow pointing the other way. 

Very easy to check. The CT clamp fitted is similar to this. The arrow inside the clamp should point towards the consumer unit not the meter. It is a 5 second job to check.

I am sure the arrow on their casing is pointing in the correct direction looking at the photographs provided a couple of days ago.

It may not be that simple though.

When my system was fitted we had a problem.

There was a batch, or some batches of clamps that had been manufactured with the magnets fitted in the case back to front. The flow was measured in the opposite direction to that indicated on the case.

One of the installers electricians had a message about this but the electrician carrying out my install was not aware of this.

It prevented GivEnergy completing my install until we discovered the issue.

We got some strange power flows on the app. 

Swipe

Reversing the clamp was suggested many pages ago.

matt_drummer

Swipe said:

Reversing the clamp was suggested many pages ago.

Yes, it was, I don't know why they don't just try it, it takes seconds and does no harm.

Qyburn

If the old meter a type that could run backwards that would explain a real increase in billed electricity consumption.

If the CT is round the wrong way it would explain the stupid readings shown by the solar app. It might also cause the solar and battery system to operate incorrectly.

It's a bit frustrating that even the easy check which don't involve changing anything still haven't been done.

For example compare the instantaneous Smart Meter reading, kW import or export, with the solar app. That would (a) confirm or deny the CT being round the wrong way, and (b) confirm whether there are truly some high loads in the house.

victor2

I can appreciate the OP's apparent reluctance to change anything attached to the installation around the meter and consumer unit(s). Most people will not feel comfortable doing anything beyond switching a breaker.
There are some very knowledgeable posters contributing here, but they are just anonymous internet posters to the OP.
It has also been pointed out more than once that the OP is mixing up kW and kWh. Two very different figures.
There does seem to be a problem, which the installer will hopefully sort out, but equally the OP needs to understand a bit more about their system and the expectations from it. Just my opinion as another poster of course!

chris_n

I had a quick Google for a Fox ESS manual. This confirms your CT is the wrong way round :-
This inverter has an integrated export management function. To enable this function, a power meter or 

CT must be installed. The CT should be clamped on the main live line of the grid side. The arrow on the 

CT should be pointing towards the grid. The white cable connects to CT+, and the black cable connects 

to CT-.