Smart meter incorrect installation caused increased energy usage

QrizB

matt_drummer said:

With regards, to your eps, it's a battery, it must be charged up somehow. Although you are sure it is not turned on to power anything it must still be connected somewhere. The battery in the eps needs to be charged, otherwise it wouldn't have any power in the event that you needed it to keep appliances operating.

I'm pretty sure (but happy to be contradicted by the OP) that the EPS is a function of their hybrid solar inverter and its battery. It is not a separate standalone system.

Qyburn

Kateg28 said:

I will turn solar system off in a bit but in the meantime the latest readings are really confusing me (now have tv and dishwasher on)  it seems the house is giving 4kw and the solar is giving just over 2kw and the grid is getting just over 2kw and 3.8kw to the  battery (the dots are moving in the directions described above).

Again, imagine the grid is being measured backwards. That would become 2.285kW coming from the grid, of which 1.784kW is going to the solar system. That means the house is using 501W. 

Apart from the meter sanity check, which I think has still not been done, you really need to stop the battery charging from the grid to remove one variable.

markin

Kateg28 said:

Ok, I am off to work now but will do some more investigations in the morning. I will leave one more photo of my solar app. The house is in the top right and the direction of the arrow shows it taking 8kw from house and giving it to the grid and the battery. That is impossible as the house is a taker of energy. I appreciate everyone taking time to help. I will update in morning. 

I still cannot believe there is a rogue appliance taking 7kw of energy. 

This shot would make far more sense if all arrows were reversed, home use 7.9, With the Battery and grid providing the 3.6 and 4.22. 

With the inverter only being 3.6 kwh you need to stagger the use when home to prevent import, Never have the oven /washer/dryer/ or electric shower if you have one on at the same time.

Kateg28

Every suggestion that is made you dismiss, I guess you believe the smart meter is the cause of the problem as it all started after it was installed.

I am not dismissing it at all, in fact I have made a list of everything electrical in the house and have turned off, at the isolater switch, everything I can (ovens, washing machine, dryer, etc). In addition I have bought those plug monitors which are arriving tomorrow.

We have set aside several hours tomorrow to systematically work through everything in the house together so we can check it. Each item will take 5 mins so we can check the flashing red light and the solar app. 

Everything electric in our house is between 12 and about 5 years old and our bills have been consistent in usage (not in amounts sadly) since we bought the house. I know this as I did all the maths before buying the solar system. I was told the EPS was separate and would disconnect our entire system from the grid and draw from the solar panels/battery if we turned the knob on. 

Everything was dandy and then a smart meter gets installed and suddenly everything turns to ….  And I am spending hours trying to root it all out. 

I have also contacted our electrician and hopefully they will answer on Monday. 

Current readings (i am not there, I am at partners business)

house giving 6.3
grid receiving 3.3
panels giving 1
batteries receiving 3.8

everything adds up except how is the house giving anything?

matt_drummer

It doesn't add up.

If the batteries are getting 3.8 kW and you are exporting 3.3 kW that is 7.1 kW in total.

Your panels are producing 1 kW, where is the other 6.1 kW coming from?

Have you turned off any of your freezers to eliminate them as the culprit?

Have you reversed the ct clamps in your meter cupboard to see if that is the problem?

Have you actually looked at the meter to see what it is actually doing?

matt_drummer

Kateg28 said:

Everything was dandy and then a smart meter gets installed and suddenly everything turns to ….  And I am spending hours trying to root it all out. 

The old meter may have been hiding your problem because it was aggregating the import and export.

Now they are separated the problem is clearly visible.

Something is not right with your wiring, the smart hasn't caused it, it has just made it visible to you.

How much attention did you pay to your solar app before the meter change?

It sounds like you have mainly been focussed on your electricity bills.

They may have been being reduced artificially by deducting your exports from your imports, making you think you use less than you actually do.

The difference with the smart meter is now you are paying for all of your imported electricity and getting nothing for your exports.

I suspect  that the old meter was deducting your exports from the imports, you were effectively being paid for your exported electricity at you import rate.


What is your inverter and battery set up? 

I don't recognise the app.

Maybe there is a forum associated with the brand that is worth looking at?

Kateg28

Not yet as am not there. We have bought the plugs and then we are both going to go systematically through every electrical item in the house together tomorrow. 

I have the list of items. 

I haven’t reversed the clamps as have no idea what they are. I am intending to look at this and also do the meter checks tomorrow when both of us are there to cross check everything

Spoonie_Turtle

If you're not sure about the clamps, maybe your electrician could do it for you.

matt_drummer

Is there any reason you haven't been back to your solar/battery installer?

Surely they would be best to look at their own work?

theoretica

One thing, which ought to be on your list, is to check the relationship between what your app shows and what your meter shows.  Will the app total up to show kWh or do you need to do it manually?  If the app shows an import of X and export of Y over 24 hours how much have the meter readings changed by?  Or look at the history of both over a longer time.